2007 RT Fuel Strip Went South

[jaherbst]

Would you beleive I am on strip #5 and my warranty is up in Jan.

This whole fuel strip thing SUCKS!

Jack

[deilenberger]

Would you beleive I am on strip #5 and my warranty is up in Jan.

This whole fuel strip thing SUCKS!

Jack

If your strip #5 fails within 2 years of installation by your dealer - it is still under warranty, and you'll get #6 for free, and so-on and so-on..

[deilenberger]

On another note, the dealership also suspects that BMW has secretly replaced the electronic strips with floats in the new 2011 R bikes....

Gee, that was last year's (2009) rumor on the 2010 bikes.. and it wasn't true then. (See my note on "usual dealer blather" above..)

[flemmings27]

I ran out of gas b/c of a broken fuel sensor indicator on the way to the most recent Color in the Catskills - it was a monsoon. The local dealership I wound up going to told me that they replace that often. Another rider up there suggested that we Beemer riders should report this to the NTSA's website - apparently there's a place to do that somewhere. He says he thinks BMW will be forced to listen if a complaint is registered. Ah dunno, maybe that's the way to go, b/c what good is it to have an item replaced with the same type of faulty item?

[marchyman]

NHTSA [link] doesn't care about reliability or perceived safety issues. They only care about actual documented harm. This was a recent topic of discussion on the BMW Tech mailing list. If you can not document the fact that Joe Blow was injured on such-and-such date for such-and-such reason the NHTSA doesn't really care.

So... who has been injured due to a failed fuel sensor?

[norhasken]

I lost one on my 2007 at about 10 months old, dealer replacement under warranty.

Due to work related travel, I did not use the bike for about 2 months with the tank at half full. Guess what, no readings of fuel level and flashing yellow triangle.

I decided to leave the fuel tank full and the bike on it's center stand in the future for times it sat unused. After a few refills of the tank over a few week period, the sensor returned to full function. No issues since, this was about 6 months ago.

Strange, but true.

[802]

My fuel sensor failed on the way to have the brake line re-call done, literally. It was replaced and the dealer said to use a little Marvel mystery oil in the tank to protect in between the layers of the strip. Does this sound right?
Thanks,
Rich

Rubber down.

[deilenberger]

My fuel sensor failed on the way to have the brake line re-call done, literally. It was replaced and the dealer said to use a little Marvel mystery oil in the tank to protect in between the layers of the strip. Does this sound right?
Thanks,
Rich

Rubber down.

Rich,

Sounds like more dealer voodoo.. The "strip" is one piece of plastic with a deposited resistive pattern on each side. There are no layers.

[SteveAikens]

946 miles later, another one has been replaced on Oct 3rd.

I'm not impressed with a part of any kind that lasts less than 3 weeks.

BMW needs to get it's collective act together and solve this. Speculation of them going back to the float system of the R11 series would be less accurate but Over the years, I've only known one to fail that wasn't tampered with in some way.

So the new one now has 290 miles on it. It was working when I put the bike in the garage. I'll know today if it's still working.

This is a very disappointing component failure in and otherwise fine machine.

[dogsneeze]

My first fuel strip failed after 30 minutes, but the second lasted well into three months. After several weeks of procrastination, I'm having Mortons install the third strip next week. By the way, the folks at Mortons are polite, thorough, and they provide loaner bikes.

Yes, I've used the odometer for decades and if there was no fuel gauge I probably wouldn't miss it. But that glowing signal of malfunction drives me nuts.

This sloppy engineering bugs the hell out of me, but is it enough to turn me off to BMW Rs? Probably not. My previous daily rider is still running fine after 35 years. If 35 years from now the only problem with my R1200R is the crappy fuel gauge, I'll probably get yet another BMW. That is, assuming future medical advances will allow replacement of my various body parts that will have failed entirely by then.

[mpmarty]

This sloppy engineering bugs the hell out of me, but is it enough to turn me off to BMW Rs? Probably not. My previous daily rider is still running fine after 35 years. If 35 years from now the only problem with my R1200R is the crappy fuel gauge, I'll probably get yet another BMW. That is, assuming future medical advances will allow replacement of my various body parts that will have failed entirely by then.
__________________

It seems like a race between the machines and their owners as to which one wears out first. As the average age of BMW owners increases perhaps their physical inability to ride will make the mechanical problems moot.

[802]

It seems like a race between the machines and their owners as to which one wears out first. As the average age of BMW owners increases perhaps their physical inability to ride will make the mechanical problems moot.

Arrgg!

[greenwald]

It seems like a race between the machines and their owners as to which one wears out first. As the average age of BMW owners increases perhaps their physical inability to ride will make the mechanical problems moot.

When I first read the preceding post, it got me laughing out loud for several seconds..................... then I realized it might very well be true. Damn!

I too have been victimized by a faulty fuel sensor strip (BMW - Bring back the float system! )

On my recent foray to the Smoky Mountains, I always made it a point to zero one of my tripmeters whenever I fueled up - that way, if (when) the sensor fails again, I can ballpark my way along to the next gas station.

Always make that a practice, so you don't get burned.

As for the NHTSA, they are reluctant to react to anything that hasn't caused a serious injury or death. Even FD failures that have burned up BMW's on the roadside don't set off any alarms or buzzers in that agency - our tax dollars at work.

If you want to annoy them, though, here's the link:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm

Safe Riding!

[dbriggs2000]

BMW is running a great risk here. Any injury to any BMW rider that is injured due to a faulty gas gauge, and the faulty gauge is known to BMW...BMW's pockets won't be deep enough! Scenario, a close friend had a faulty fuel gauge for his Volvo sedan. He unwittingly ran out of gas (gauge showed half full) on an overpass with no shoulder. A truck hit him and sent him flying 40 feet. His injuries were serious, though not life threatening. He received a multi-million dollar out-of-court settlement from Volvo. The next week there was a 100% recall of that model car and the problem was corrected. The longer this goes on, the greater risk and liability accrues to BMW.

[chrisz]

FWIW:

"If the fuel gauge in your 2010 or 2011 BMW 5-Series sedan or 5-Series Gran Turismo tells you that you've got plenty of petrol, you may want to hit the gas station before going on that long trip anyway. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website reports that 6,080 5-Series sedan and GT models built between January 12 and July 1, 2010 are being recalled for a faulty fuel sensor."

Why not a recall for a bike faulty unit? Safety is at risk also.