BMW 1250 Technical Recall

Finally picked up a replacement drain valve today and fitted myself, Pretty flimsy, can see why they might get pushed in as there is only a flange on the inside, there should really be one on the outside to hold it securely in place

valve.jpg



Made some measurements in case useful, had a look online but could not find any valves with these exact measurements:

Duck-Bill-Drain.jpg
Aliexpress have a good selection of them. A double lip one is on my list of things to order when I get really bored https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-silicone-duckbill-valve.html
 
Aliexpress have a good selection of them. A double lip one is on my list of things to order when I get really bored https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-silicone-duckbill-valve.html
Hi Victor, I did mine myself as well and I agree its really tricky. I put superglue on the lower face of the flange and pulled down - my fingers stuck together and I couldn't use my fingerprint scan on my phone for a couple of days! As you commented, these should really have a lower flange to stop them being pushed inside. They are obviously a preparatory item and not specific to our bikes. I searched hard on Ali Express and could not find anything suitable. When I thought I'd found what I needed, there were no dimensions! Looking at one of your photos, it doesn't look as if the rubber valve was fully pulled 'home'. I say this as I think I can see the bare aluminium of the drilled hole.
 
Hi Johnny M,

The photos are mine, and the valve is fully pulled home, the bare aluminium is left from the rough job the dealer did drilling the hole. I fitted this valve myself to replace one that went missing. As others have attested to it's virtually impossible for the valve to fall out because of the inner flange but very easy for it to fall in to the casing because of the lack of an outer flange. I inspected again today and any slight pressure on the underside of the valve will cause it to move in, its quite a loose fit, I'd imagine hitting a pothole or bump on the road could easily dislodge the valve inwards. It's a very poorly thought out and obviously poorly tested fix by BMW. I wonder if they have done a better job on factory fitting the valve on later 1250's and 1300's?

I decided to try to make my valve better secured today using some silicone gasket sealant, time will tell if this helps or not.

valve3.jpg
 
Hi Johnny M,

The photos are mine, and the valve is fully pulled home, the bare aluminium is left from the rough job the dealer did drilling the hole. I fitted this valve myself to replace one that went missing. As others have attested to it's virtually impossible for the valve to fall out because of the inner flange but very easy for it to fall in to the casing because of the lack of an outer flange. I inspected again today and any slight pressure on the underside of the valve will cause it to move in, its quite a loose fit, I'd imagine hitting a pothole or bump on the road could easily dislodge the valve inwards. It's a very poorly thought out and obviously poorly tested fix by BMW. I wonder if they have done a better job on factory fitting the valve on later 1250's and 1300's?

I decided to try to make my valve better secured today using some silicone gasket sealant, time will tell if this helps or not.

valve3.jpg
I’ve just done exactly the same with mine today. Popped a cable tie (securing end first) up it and pushed the valve up into the casing. Cleaned the mating faces with brake cleaner, applied a good film of silicone sealer and gently pulled the valve back into place. Also smeared sealant around the underside, where the exposed alloy is, which should add to the security and help to prevent corrosion. If it doesn’t hold, then I’ll source a double lip version.
 
I’ve just done exactly the same with mine today. Popped a cable tie (securing end first) up it and pushed the valve up into the casing. Cleaned the mating faces with brake cleaner, applied a good film of silicone sealer and gently pulled the valve back into place. Also smeared sealant around the underside, where the exposed alloy is, which should add to the security and help to prevent corrosion. If it doesn’t hold, then I’ll source a double lip version.
Unfortunately that idea was a failure for me, after 1/2 day riding on wet roads on Sunday, the gasket sealant failed, I inspected today and the valve was loose and easily moved inwards again. I have seen many photos on various threads on other forums of missing valves or pieces of valves visible inside the drilled holes where they fell in. It's difficult to imagine any valve fitted per the BMW retrofit method remaining in place for very long on any bike regularly ridden on normal roads.
My latest attempt is zip-tieing the valve to a short piece of 10mm hard plastic tubing which is then inserted into the hole, It's a much tighter fit but even at that I wouldn't be super confident it will stay in place, but let's see how it fairs.
I did pull back the rubber boot on the drive joint for a brief inspection of what I could see of the driveshaft and knuckle joint, It looked pretty OK, but I believe now after reading other threads that the best thing to do is remove the rear wheel drop the final drive and lube the driveshaft splines and then do this regularly at 12K intervals. The drain valve or even just the hole without a drain valve is probably worth having to keep any large quantities of water from accumulating in the housing and accelerating corrosion, but a regular visual check and lubing of splines seems to be what many have decided is the best preventative maintenance solution.

valve5.jpg
 
Unfortunately that idea was a failure for me, after 1/2 day riding on wet roads on Sunday, the gasket sealant failed, I inspected today and the valve was loose and easily moved inwards again. I have seen many photos on various threads on other forums of missing valves or pieces of valves visible inside the drilled holes where they fell in. It's difficult to imagine any valve fitted per the BMW retrofit method remaining in place for very long on any bike regularly ridden on normal roads.
My latest attempt is zip-tieing the valve to a short piece of 10mm hard plastic tubing which is then inserted into the hole, It's a much tighter fit but even at that I wouldn't be super confident it will stay in place, but let's see how it fairs.
I did pull back the rubber boot on the drive joint for a brief inspection of what I could see of the driveshaft and knuckle joint, It looked pretty OK, but I believe now after reading other threads that the best thing to do is remove the rear wheel drop the final drive and lube the driveshaft splines and then do this regularly at 12K intervals. The drain valve or even just the hole without a drain valve is probably worth having to keep any large quantities of water from accumulating in the housing and accelerating corrosion, but a regular visual check and lubing of splines seems to be what many have decided is the best preventative maintenance solution.

valve5.jpg
I don't think instant gasket is the correct stuff for the Application tbh .

Sika would be more appropriate applied to a cleaned with alcohol dry and dust free area.

The gasket should also let water out as prevent it coming in. I think your plastic addition would prevent water out.
 
I don't think instant gasket is the correct stuff for the Application tbh .

Sika would be more appropriate applied to a cleaned with alcohol dry and dust free area.

The gasket should also let water out as prevent it coming in. I think your plastic addition would prevent water out.
Why do you think the plastic pipe would prevent water exiting? It’s flush with the inside of the casing.
 
Sorry it appeared quite long. Assumed it would not be surface flush
No problem. It stayed in place today for the commute, but I removed and cleaned everything tonight and super glued in. Hopefully it may stay in place. It can’t get pushed into the casing anymore, worst case it falls out and I’ll replace it
 
I tapped the hole and put a 5mm bung in there.I treat it like a chain drive now and spray chain lube through the hole and onto the splines every few hundred miles.Works ok.
 
I tapped the hole and put a 5mm bung in there.I treat it like a chain drive now and spray chain lube through the hole and onto the splines every few hundred miles.Works ok.
just had mine done and was thinking exactly this… regular squirt of lube might be a good thing to do
 
That’s an interesting suggestion , but
a) It’s not moly paste so could it remove the moly paste that ‘should be there’ ?
b) You could miss the joint ?
Could be a good idea
 


Back
Top Bottom