Fuel Strip

[its.metony]

This may be old news or "new old news":  Subject:  BMW America class action lawsuit circa 2006-07:  Fuel Strip Failure.  I learned just Friday from a BMW dealer/service manager BMW has finally redesigned and is marketing a new fuel strip within the past year.  I was quoted $267 for the part;  $500 for the repair including recalibration of the new unit with a full 2 year warranty if installed by BMW.  Service Manager that cause of failure was/is ethanol gasoline;  that the strip was originally designed for European models where ethanol is nonexistant; and that he knows of 100's of repairs with no callbacks.  Many of us with this problem know BMW made "multiple" repairs during the warranty period,  advising owners of certain failure and with the warranty expiration, actual refusals to perform or warrant the repair. Some of had serious decline in market value because of it.   Seems to me there may be cause to research the class action for "inconsistencies",  what BMW knew about the failures and ethanol, and chose submission to class action results, rather than post a recall and do the repairs, and respect the consumer.  It's commonly know both the auto and motorcycle operations have a corporate culture of the "shortest distance between A and B ... screw the American consumer" philosophy.  Suggestion:  research that case for inconsistencies, if found:  reopen or refile this.  There has to be hundreds of thousands of GS and RT afflicted models ... it is an American story.  As is product liability law. There has to be a lawyer/rider/enthusiast somewhere in America who cares about this.  Why couldn't the strip have been redesigned then??? Absent any furture favorable actions available for us:  It may be nothing.   It would be nice to know that.  Then put this nasty subject behind us.  Or maybe, with luck, get some help from BMW. 

 

Respectfully submitted:  its.metony,    lifelong BMW owner, cars and motorcycles, present:  '06 R1200RT.  '11 328i Convertible. 

[dirtrider]

37 minutes ago, its.metony said:

This may be old news or "new old news":  Subject:  BMW America class action lawsuit circa 2006-07:  Fuel Strip Failure.  I learned just Friday from a BMW dealer/service manager BMW has finally redesigned and is marketing a new fuel strip within the past year.  I was quoted $267 for the part;  $500 for the repair including recalibration of the new unit with a full 2 year warranty if installed by BMW.  Service Manager that cause of failure was/is ethanol gasoline;  that the strip was originally designed for European models where ethanol is nonexistant; and that he knows of 100's of repairs with no callbacks.  Many of us with this problem know BMW made "multiple" repairs during the warranty period,  advising owners of certain failure and with the warranty expiration, actual refusals to perform or warrant the repair. Some of had serious decline in market value because of it.   Seems to me there may be cause to research the class action for "inconsistencies",  what BMW knew about the failures and ethanol, and chose submission to class action results, rather than post a recall and do the repairs, and respect the consumer.  It's commonly know both the auto and motorcycle operations have a corporate culture of the "shortest distance between A and B ... screw the American consumer" philosophy.  Suggestion:  research that case for inconsistencies, if found:  reopen or refile this.  There has to be hundreds of thousands of GS and RT afflicted models ... it is an American story.  As is product liability law. There has to be a lawyer/rider/enthusiast somewhere in America who cares about this.  Why couldn't the strip have been redesigned then??? Absent any furture favorable actions available for us:  It may be nothing.   It would be nice to know that.  Then put this nasty subject behind us.  Or maybe, with luck, get some help from BMW. 

 

Respectfully submitted:  its.metony,    lifelong BMW owner, cars and motorcycles, present:  '06 R1200RT.  '11 328i Convertible. 

Morning its.metony

 

Unfortunately, in the USA, BMW saw the potential legal issues coming so they preemptively stepped in & offered a 12 year unlimited milage fuel strip warranty for all the 1200 fuel strip equipped  motorcycles. 

 

That pretty well takes them past any recall commitments in the USA. 

 

 

[6speedTi]

If it's ethanol affecting the fuel strip I wonder what other components in the fuel system is going to fail over time.  Without documented complaints about ethanol related failures here in the states I doubt ethanol was the culprit.  I'm not a fan of ethanol but that's just my opinion on the cause of fuel strip failures. 

[TassieRT1200]

I had the new improved part fitted about 6 mths ago. Working great no issues at all

But do use only 98 Ron fuel,no ethanol.we don't have a lot of ethanol fuel here in Australia

 

 

[BerettaRacer]

I've gone thru 4-5 of the fuel strips in the last 2-3 yrs. The first few I was still in the 12 yr window, so warranty.

 

After the last warranty unit that went in, I had to park the bike for about 6 mos due to a knee injury. First ride that unit failed, had less than 100 mi. but had been sitting in garage.

 

But now I was out of the warranty period and I had to buy the next unit, around $500 with install.

 

It soon failed.

 

Then a litttle over a yr ago that unit was replaced, under it's 2 yr warranty, with the "so called" new part number unit. It's still working but it is "reliably innaccurate", in other words, it works reliably, and fuel level indication is repeatable, but the calibration is waaaay off. I don't know what the calibration procedure is, and dealer refuses to service the bike.

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, BerettaRacer said:

. I don't know what the calibration procedure is, and dealer refuses to service the bike.

Afternoon  BerettaRacer

 

To calibrate it correctly you need to remove it, then completely dry it out, then calibrate it to your system using a GS-911, dealer computer, or possibly a MotoScan, then reinstall it. 

 

If your gauge reading is inaccurate then the installing dealer probably didn't calibrate it, or at least didn't calibrate it correctly.  

 

If it isn't reading correctly then it has basically failed so at 1 year it should still be under warranty. Call BMW customer service get them involved.  Tell them your BMW dealer refuses to warranty it.   

[KetoSoi]

Overall, I find BMW's behavior a bit disturbing in the entire fuel-strip affair. Granted, they gave a long ' extended warranty' on fuel strips after the issue became too big to ignore... however, this new solution magically appears as most of the affected bikes are effectively out of that extended warranty period. To me, that timing is highly suspect, and has all the signs of a money grab. There is absolutely no excuse to have waited this long for an updated design.

 

K

[TassieRT1200]

I got the dealer to install the new improved part(getting the warranty) and then calibrated it myself using the motoscan app

 

I rode the bike until it had about 4 litres left in the tank then calibrated it.

 

Works great. 

[CoarsegoldKid]

I suspect there's a new part number for the new improved fuel strip.  What might that [part number be? My 2005 RT needs one.  I have a GS911 so I guess I could do the calibration.

[dirtrider]

7 hours ago, CoarsegoldKid said:

I suspect there's a new part number for the new improved fuel strip.  What might that [part number be? My 2005 RT needs one.  I have a GS911 so I guess I could do the calibration.

Morning Joe

 

Does your 2005 1200RT have the onboard computer? You first need to verify that your 05 1200RT came with a fuel strip as some the 2005 1200RT's were outliers. Some (possibly all) 2005 1200RT's (without onboard computer) came with a float rather than the fuel strip. 

 

If your 2005 has a fuel level strip then here is what I have as of about 2 months ago__            New Updated Fuel strip from BMW     P/N_  16141600132 FUEL LEVEL SENSOR      $263.01

 

As far as calibrating the new strip, if you are going to do that you might as well install it yourself.  To properly calibrate the fuel strip with a GS-911 it needs to be calibrated dry (but plugged into the motorcycle harness hanging outside the tank), then installed in the fuel tank. 

 

The MotoScan might be able to sort of calibrate the strip wet but a while back  I worked with a rider (remotely) that had issues using the MotoScan to calibrate the strip after installation as it showed it worked OK but he ran out of fuel with some still showing on his dash gauge. (like I said above, I didn't have the motorcycle in front of me so it could have been a MotoScan issue or user error). 

 

 

[CoarsegoldKid]

Thank you D.R.  I believe my '05 R1200RT has the onboard computer as it offers more information on the display than the '07 R1200 RT I recently acquired.

As an aside comment I prefer the front brake on the '07 because it's not nearly as touchy during slow parking lot speeds.

I haven't a clue as how one reaches the fuel strip but like a lot things I usually dive in and make it good.

[John Ranalletta]

18 minutes ago, CoarsegoldKid said:

Thank you D.R.  I believe my '05 R1200RT has the onboard computer as it offers more information on the display than the '07 R1200 RT I recently acquired.

As an aside comment I prefer the front brake on the '07 because it's not nearly as touchy during slow parking lot speeds.

I haven't a clue as how one reaches the fuel strip but like a lot things I usually dive in and make it good.

You can do it.  Swapped mine out last spring.  It wasn't without some self-induced drama.  Likely easier if you've got just a few more brain cells than moi. 

[dirtrider]

41 minutes ago, CoarsegoldKid said:

Thank you D.R.  I believe my '05 R1200RT has the onboard computer as it offers more information on the display than the '07 R1200 RT I recently acquired.

As an aside comment I prefer the front brake on the '07 because it's not nearly as touchy during slow parking lot speeds.

I haven't a clue as how one reaches the fuel strip but like a lot things I usually dive in and make it good.

Morning Joe

 

It isn't difficult but requires the plastics be removed.

 

You really should have a service manual handy but basically you need to remove the fuel pump assembly from the fuel tank  (fuel strip plugs into the bottom of that).

 

And also remove the fuel filler neck (well lift it up a ways anyhow) as the top of the fuel strip is clipped to that. 

 

The bottom of the fuel strip just slides into a plastic guide molded into the bottom of the fuel tank.

 

To do it without extra hassle the fuel level in the tank should be as low as possible. 

[CoarsegoldKid]

Terrific guys.

[John Ranalletta]

1 hour ago, CoarsegoldKid said:

Terrific guys.

Upon re-installing the fuel pump assembly, I misaligned the gasket before tightening the ring.  That's a big no-no.  If it's crimped, you'll re-enact the Exxon Valdez on next fill up.  I'd bow to DR's advice but suggest a new gasket.  I think it was less than $20.