Final Drive Woes in Grand Juction, CO

July 9, 2008

So.. was out on a week and a half long trip with my brother-in-law. We rode out from Wisconsin thru Iowa and Kansas to ride Colorado and Utah. Had some great riding in Durango, Silverton, Ouray and other spots. Headed over to Torrey and drove all over southern Utah (if you ever get the chance, go down the little county road out of Boulder, UT, also called Burr Trail road. 15 miles of absolute beauty, didn't see a single car, like our own private national park).

We then turned and headed back east again. While passing through Green River, I noticed the bike was vibrating a bit when I slowed down. We looked over the bike, didn't see any thing. Thought perhaps the head bearings were a bit lose, so we make an executive decision to head to Denver on I-70 (nearest dealer I thought). Got to Grand Junction at about 8 pm and noticed a Harley Dealer with a BMW sign up. By the time the vibration was getting MORE than noticeable so we got off and headed over.

While looking over the bike, I noticed what seemed to be excessive brake dust on the rear wheel. While moving the wheel, I noticed I could move the rear wheel back and forth over and INCH! AIEEE!!

We got a hotel and headed over to the dealer at 8:30 this morning. Turns out they just opened as a BMW dealer about 3-4 weeks ago. They do have a BMW tech on staff. He did look at the bike by 10 and agreed the final drive was toast. Based on another he was rebuilding with similar issues, he thought my best bet to get out of there was to just replace the whole unit (They have almost no spare parts on hand yet).

Problem is.. the parts guy has never had to deal with BMW warranty. Needs some kind of authorization before he can order the drive. Didn't get it today. I'm ticked now. I'm stranded for another 2 days at least. They won't be able to get the part for at least a day and then have to install.

Mileage you wonder? 15,893 miles. I'm sorely disappointed in the bike. I've NEVER had a vehicle strand me anywhere in my entire life. I drive them all over the country and if it's a bike I can't trust to do that, I'm not sure what to do. I bought the spare key ring antenna before I left bringing it along hoping to kill that issue. I can't handle bringing along a spare final drive...

I'm disappointed at two levels. One that the bike failed, but I can forgive that. Two, that I spent the entire day here and the part was never ordered. At this point I'm not blaming the dealer, but I am blaming BMW. Come now.. someone stranded and you can't get a part on it's way?

If I end up keeping this bike, it's going to take quite a while to restore my trust in it...

Right now I'm sitting at La Quinta Inn having to pay to sit here while this is resolved. (we normally camp). I'm telling my brother-in-law to head for home tomorrow and not sit here with me. At least they have a computer in the lobby with Internet access so I post my tale of woe... :cry:

It's going to be a long 2 days. Not much within walking distance. I suppose I could rent a Harley tomorrow and ride for the day, but I'd like to make sure things happen at the dealer. I spent the entire day there hanging out today....

July 9, 2008

RedMac

So sorry to hear about your final drive woes. I lost the universal joint on my K bike years ago and it was the first time I was ever stranded on my bike. On the bright side at least you made it to a BMW dealer. I have been in that area and there is a lot of nothing out there. Beautiful scenery but not many BMW m/c dealerships. The next closest BMW dealer is 250 miles away in Denver so you did very well to make it to G.J. I would work on getting the part ordered and see if the dealer will cut you a smokin deal on a rental bike. If you get a bike take Rt. 141 south out of G.J. towards Naturita then Rt. 145 to Telluride and 62 to Ridgway. Then Rt. 550 South to Ouray. Then head north on Rt. 550 to Delta. Rt. 92 to Hotchkiss and Rt. 133 north to Rt. 82 and back to I-70. I-70 west back to G. J. That should keep you busy for a day with some fantastic scenery. Rt. 133 is awesome. What I laid out is a big loop. Let us know the outcome with the final drive.

July 9, 2008

Yes,get them to loan/rent you a bike,take off and enjoy the day!

JR356

July 9, 2008

It's a shame if it didn't get VOR'd yesterday; it would be there this morning provided it's in a warehouse (which it usually is). You can't blame BMW if they didn't receive an order.

Where exactly in the FD assembly is the looseness? Between the wheel flange and the axle tube, or between the axle tube and the housing? An inch of movement is a whole lot, obviously.

July 9, 2008

Sorry for your troubles.

You don't by chance have a roadside assistance plan w/trip interruption, do you?

That would recoup $$ if not time.

Part should've been VOR'd and you'd be on your way.

More than once our dealer has taken the part from a bike on the floor to get someone on the road again.

July 9, 2008

You have a better dealer obviously. I made the suggestion yesterday which was not given much thought. This is mostly a Harley Dealership which has just started selling BMW's. At this point I wish I had been able to get to a bigger dealer in Denver.

I have towing on my insurance but I don't believe I have any trip interruption.

I have a couple of choices now in front of me.

If the part does get ordered today I'm here another day and hope that it comes in on time.

BMW makes them tear into the final drive and won't send the whole unit without a complete disassembly. That will delay things a few days at least.

I can:

A. Wait it out, but with ONE tech here and the part not ordered yet, that one worries me.

B. Pay for the part myself ($1800) and try to fight BMW about getting reimbursed.

C. Rent a truck and haul the bike home (about $1100 for the truck and gas)

D. Fly out and fly back and get the bike when it's finally repaired. That one is the cheapest option at about $600.00

I'm starting to lean towards D. If the part isn't actually ordered today, I'm probably flying home tomorrow.

Doesn't anyone have a contact at BMW I can press to get them to approve the part? This truly seems ridiculous to have to resort to any of the above.

The dealer opens at 8:30. I'm headed over at 9 to see if they have approval yet.

July 9, 2008

Any chance that another dealer, like in Denver (or SLC), if they had a drive on hand would transfer to GJ--you could rent a car and go pick it up.... just grasping at stuff...

July 9, 2008

I would consider the possibility of buying a $1000.00 pickup, putting the bike in the back, and driving home.. Then sell the truck when you get home.

July 9, 2008

My thought is that they won't transfer it for free.

The issue isn't really with the dealer yet (well.. kinda). They won't order the part unless BMW authorizes the warranty work (obviously they don't want to get stuck for an $1800 part). The dealer is new and the parts guy is a Harley parts guy who doesn't understand how BMW works really since they are new.

I tried calling BMW customer service last night, but they said all they can do is call the dealer. Well.. I'm living at the dealers practically. I did open a case with them. Late in the day yesterday I got the owner engaged in this whole thing. I'm not sure the parts guy was really bending over backwards to help out. But I'm willing to give them the benefit of a doubt through today. I'm not going to be a happy camper if I have to fly out of here.

I did talk to BMW about having the bike towed to Denver, but I'm already AT an authorized BMW dealer. No dice.

July 9, 2008

I would sit down with the dealership's owner and say, "I need to know *exactly* what you have done so far and what the response (if any) from BMW has been. I am 2000 miles from home and have some very costly choices to make. Please help me out here."

If they've talked with BMWNA, there are only 2 possible answers here (kinda like binary )--either they WILL fix it or they WON'T. All you need is an answer--yes or no. Why should that take 2 days if *someone* is actually talking with BMW ?

July 9, 2008

Or rent a 14' U-Haul, load the bike, drive it home and give the truck back....

July 9, 2008

If you have the time, you might want to add your information to this list: http://www.bmwfinaldrive.com/fd_failure_entry.php

July 9, 2008

I'll do that when I get home, Thanks.

Right now it's looking more and more like I'm flying home. The parts manager STILL doesn't have approval to order the part. When I query him, all I get is "I'm working on it". He obviously doesn't seem to have any sense of urgency, I don't get a good feeling about this.

I'm waiting for the owner to get in to try one final time to get some definitive word on this. I see this could go on for days...

July 9, 2008

I'd call the closest biggest dealer (Denver) and ask what they could do for you. Though your trip is trashed, what you want is a seasoned team that has done this job before (and has all the random seals, clips, screws, tools at hand) and not a new team with an empty parts shelves learning the ropes at your expense.

Work for resolution - the standard customer service response will be to follow process - but I bet BMW has no special process to help new dealers deal with situations like this. Has the tech at the Harley/BMW shop ever swapped out a final drive?

July 9, 2008

My failure is the 4th from the bottom on that list. I'm trying to get BMW to look over my issue to see if they'll take responsibility for their poor design. I was out of warranty in time but it only had 29,000 miles on it.

Just last week my 2005 R1150RT broke down 180 miles north of Halifax Nova Scotia. I had it towed 210 miles to Moncton, NB where it sat for three days before getting worked on. I had to pay for the rebuild just to get it done. That cost me $1,000.00 not including a rental car, meals, and hotel for the 4 days. It took them 12 hours to do a job that should only take 6 hours. They did compromise there and only charged me for 8 hours.

This is my 3rd RT because I really like the model. How BMW handles this will determine if I get the K1200GT I've been wanting or the Yamaha FJR1300.

Good luck. Your not alone. The failure didn't cause a crash so you're healthy. Things could be worse.

My wife and I extended our vacation so that we would have good memories rather than bad ones. You should do the same!

Here are my photos: http://dgshaffer.com/bikephotos/novascotia-08/

July 9, 2008

Having had to wait over six weeks for a $25 part on my '06RT while the bike sat at the dealers, I would suggest you fly home and come back when the bike is ready to go. As you are starting to discover you are caught between BMWNA and a dealer that you did not buy the bike from. The dealer just want to be compensated for the work they are going to do, BMWNA wants to get off as cheap as possible and you just want to get back on the road. Sorry to say but (amazingly) customer satisfaction is not in the equation.

I wish you the best getting this resolved. BTW, there are a few good wineries in Palaside about 15 miles east of you that are worth checking out if you can rent a car. Good luck.

July 9, 2008

Update -

I had called BMW customer service last night. The guy from BMW just called me back. He did say he followed up on this, this morning as he was very concerned about me (nice to hear I think). The part is approved, they are VORing (express I guess) the part today at their cost (I offered to pay for express shipment even yesterday). Should be here tomorrow. They will replace the entire final drive as a unit.

The tech here IS a trained BMW tech, not a Harley tech. They hired him from a BMW dealer in Phoenix. I talked to him for a bit yesterday and he seems like very knowledgeable guy who knows what he is doing. Another guy came in on a trailer yesterday (K1200GT) from Germany who shipped his bike over and is touring America. Bike wouldn't start. Tech diagnosed it within an hour as a bad fuel filter and will also replace the fuel pump as a precaution.

More updates to come. I'll put my info in the final drive stuff later today if the computer here at the hotel is free.

July 9, 2008

I'm starting to think that I'm too young to own a BMW and take long trips. I clearly need at least 5 weeks of vacation and a few thousand lying around in the bank when I go on vacation.

As it is... I can't imagine what I'd do if I was in this situation. I only have 2 weeks of vacation, so I couldn't extend my stay. I'd have ot rent a car or fly home. Then negotiate the repairs over the phone... followed by a marathon drive on a Friday after work to Colorado to pick-up the bike on a Saturday and drive home on Sunday.

I like to beleive how isolated these problems are, but they seem to happen compeltely randomly, and more frequently than I'd like to see.

July 9, 2008

I don't get a good feeling about this.

I'm afraid that if they ever intended to show any real concern they probably would have done it by this point. I think I might consider renting a truck and carting it home, at least then you'll be working with a dealer who (presumably) cares about making you happy. What if you fly home and the dealer then reports that BMW won't authorize the repair or some other type of complication?

Really sorry to hear about your having to go through this. These kind of incidents are why I'm almost relived when a warranty expires.

July 9, 2008

Or rent a truck and drive it to Denver for a little more experienced help and fly home until it's done. Plenty of ways in and out of Denver

July 9, 2008

+1 getting it to Denver! I think the dealer you're at has proven they are still a HD dealer at heart and don't seem terribly interested in helping you out. Maybe you need to be a scremeing and ranting PITA customer for them to get the point across.

July 9, 2008

I'm hoping it's resolved now (keeping my fingers crossed). After BMW called me I schlepped back over to the dealer. The parts manager claimed that he still didn't have word about the authorization. I called BMW again and asked them to resend the email to the parts manager. After about an hour of fooling around, he said he did finally get it and got the part on order.

I was getting kinda pushy but still trying to stay reasonable with them. You can usually get more cooperation with being nice instead of ranting.

Ultimately it was coming down to money for me. It would have been cheaper for me to fly out of here then truck the bike to Denver and fly out of Denver. The difference in airfare was only 100 bucks and it would have cost considerably more to truck the bike down to Denver. I figure ultimately BMW will have to repair this as I'm clearly under warranty.

I too have limited vacation and this pretty much screwed this week of it. I did get some great riding in while in Colorado and Utah. We had planned on riding mountains up to Steamboat and then meander across the prairie home. Now I'll *hopefully* get the bike back tomorrow and pound home on the Interstate. It's about 1300 miles so I can do it in two days.

The owner seems pretty on board about making it a great BMW dealership. He had to have some pull with BMW to pull off a combined BMW/Harley dealership. I wish his other employees had the same level of enthusiasm he seems to have, but I'm only seeing "Harley, Harley, Harley" at this point. That will need to get better for him to succeed with it.

July 9, 2008

Man thats a bad deal. I hope they fixed up and on the road soon. Does the dealer have a new Hexhead on the floor he could have robbed the FD from to get you going. I've heard of some dealers doing this for folks on trips.

Cheers

Steve

July 9, 2008

Mike

It sounds like the situation is progressing in your favor now. Finally!! If he has your bike torn down and ready to go with the new part it should not take long to install the final drive if it is the complete unit. Good luck and have a safe trip home.

July 9, 2008

He has not disassembled the bike yet. I suspect the tech wants to be sure the part really arrives (I don't blame him). He seems like a pretty cool guy, I've talked with him a couple of times.

Replacing the FD doesn't seem to be a big deal if you are just replacing it as a unit. I believe I could do it myself in the parking lot with the tools I have with me. He said about 1.5 hours to do the replacement.

As long as the part really arrives I think I'll be good. Lost 3 days out of my vacation and some nice riding but it's better than flying home and flying back.

Thanks for all the ideas and support from everyone. I'm going to email the owner when I get home and and have a chance to digest this with my thoughts. Overall, I should have been out of here today instead of tomorrow (really, had they taken a final drive from the R1200RT on the floor, I could have been gone the same day, but with a new dealer with only 1 RT in stock, that would be above and beyond).

Going forward, I have to wonder how long it will take til I trust the bike again. I admit when I bought this, I looked at Honda ST1300's but after my K1200RS, I wanted to stay with the BMW venue. This whole dealer experience has soured me a little. I'm damn lucky I didn't have it seize up near Moab or Torrey.

There was a guy at the dealer from Germany touring the US (nice guy, I offered him a stay at my house if he is passing through Milwaukee). His bike failed near Monument Valley and it cost him $1200.00 to have it towed here. He shipped his bike over from Germany and it was out of warranty.

I'm going back to the dealer one more time now to see if the parts manager got a tracking number so I can track this shipment. It's not over yet, but I'm very hopeful.

July 9, 2008

My thought is that they won't transfer it for free.

The issue isn't really with the dealer yet (well.. kinda). They won't order the part unless BMW authorizes the warranty work (obviously they don't want to get stuck for an $1800 part). The dealer is new and the parts guy is a Harley parts guy who doesn't understand how BMW works really since they are new.

I seem to recall the hexhead rear drive being more in the $1,000 range.. Just looked, list price at Chicago is $1300, their price $1,112 - meaning the dealer's cost is around $900 or so prolly.

I tried calling BMW customer service last night, but they said all they can do is call the dealer. Well.. I'm living at the dealers practically. I did open a case with them. Late in the day yesterday I got the owner engaged in this whole thing. I'm not sure the parts guy was really bending over backwards to help out. But I'm willing to give them the benefit of a doubt through today. I'm not going to be a happy camper if I have to fly out of here.

You have BMW Roadside assistance. The policy I read pays for some lodging expenses and I believe for alternative transport. Worth reading it..

I did talk to BMW about having the bike towed to Denver, but I'm already AT an authorized BMW dealer. No dice.

Next time you call BMW-Motorad, start escallating it - ask for the phone person's supervisor, talk to them. Once they have the rear drive (and BMW doesn't allow the dealers to rebuild them - they are all done on an exchange basis..) it should take about 30 minutes to install it.

Stress to the parts guy "VOR" Vehicle-Off-Road, it should get overnight delivery from BMW.

July 9, 2008

I seem to recall the hexhead rear drive being more in the $1,000 range.. Just looked, list price at Chicago is $1300, their price $1,112 - meaning the dealer's cost is around $900 or so prolly.

Interesting.. they quoted me $1800 to get it outright. Nice to know... Thanks.

You have BMW Roadside assistance. The policy I read pays for some lodging expenses and I believe for alternative transport. Worth reading it..

Thanks for that tip. I don't have the policy with me. I'll be making a call back to them tonight to see about reimbursement. MUCH appreciate that tip!

Next time you call BMW-Motorad, start escallating it - ask for the phone person's supervisor, talk to them. Once they have the rear drive (and BMW doesn't allow the dealers to rebuild them - they are all done on an exchange basis..) it should take about 30 minutes to install it.

Stress to the parts guy "VOR" Vehicle-Off-Road, it should get overnight delivery from BMW.

Just talked to the tech. He is going to start tearing it down tonight. The part has been VORed, Fed Ex should be here with it by noon tomorrow. I hope to be back on the road by 2.

Thanks for your input Don.. it's much appreciated. I should have escalated the first day, I might have been out of here one day sooner.

July 9, 2008

I seem to recall the hexhead rear drive being more in the $1,000 range.. Just looked, list price at Chicago is $1300, their price $1,112 - meaning the dealer's cost is around $900 or so prolly.

Next time you call BMW-Motorad, start escallating it - ask for the phone person's supervisor, talk to them.

I was given a price of 1600.00 including labor for install in KC.

Good luck escallating anything via BMW customer service. All they will do is keep calling the dealer to ask why they aren't taking care of things. You will never get beyond the very cordial and respectful 3rd party customer service guys.

July 10, 2008

Don,

Thanks again. Looks like BMW will pick up the hotel for 3 nights (which is how long I've been here) along with meals. Unfortunately, I didn't keep my meal receipts til tonight, so I will only get reimbursed for one meal.

You saved me over 300 bucks.

If you are ever in the Milwaukee area look me up and I'll buy you drinks and dinner at least!!!

Mike

July 10, 2008

Mike,

Glad it was helpful! I remembered reading the terms of the Roadside Assistance and thinking "jeeze, this is even better than the stuff you get with the BMW car's Roadside Assistance.."

Hope the repair gets done quickly now!

Best,

July 10, 2008

The final drive arrived this morning. I kinda stalled on the way over there (they open at 8:30, they are pretty tired of seeing me there now). I wandered over at about 9:30 and the tech was already at work on the bike removing the old one.

I hope to be on the way by noon local time. I'm not sure if the drive is "prefilled" with oil yet. The tech wasn't sure either, he will check. I had kinda hoped to get one with the drain plug in it (like the new bikes) but it is the same as my old one. The first thing I'll do when I get home is change the drive oil as it will have 1300 miles on it by then (thinking of the 600 mile change on the new bikes).

Now two long freeway days to get home. I would have preferred our previous plan which was to wander up to Steamboat and go back across Nebraska on two lanes, taking 4 leisurely days to get home. But on the plus side, I'm not flying home and coming back to get the bike.

For those that live in Grand Junction and will be using him as a local dealer, my thoughts:

Service Dept seems pretty good. Overworked with both Harley and BMW work, but I know it's hard to even *find* good motorcycle techs now. The Service Manager told me they'd love to hire two more Harley guys and 1 more BMW guy but he can't find them. The brought the current guy up from Phoenix. I'll slip him a 20 to buy himself a few beers . They did put off some scheduled work to work on my bike the morning I came in. And they started on mine this morning the minute the part showed up. Good stuff...

The owner Scott is a good guy. He *wants* to be a successful BMW shop and rides all kinds of bikes. He has some great ideas and hopefully they come to fruition. It has the possibility to be a terrific combined dealership. While it would have been great had he pulled a final drive off an existing bike to get me on my way, I think they are still not comfortable enough with how BMW warranty or parts order stuff works so he was understandably hesitant. Plus with only 1 R1200RT in stock, it would leave him without one on the floor until the new part came in. This would have been going way above and beyond. While it would have been nice, I wasn't expecting that.

The parts manager is weaker link. His attitude is not great. He doesn't seem to understand the concept of customer service. For two days he basically told me he was "working" on getting the part without being able to give me any specifics of what "working on it" meant. I ended up having to call BMW customer service and they pushed on it from their end as well. They knew the part was approved to be shipped 2 hours before the parts manager did. I'll give BMW customer service a PLUS on this. The BMW customer service guy I talked to, Adam, seemed very concerned and worked to get me on my way. The service manager needs to either learn how BMW works and spend some time focusing on it, or they need to get someone else to handle the BMW stuff. I free admit to pestering him quite a bit, but given that he was leaving me hanging on the status, and the fact that I'm stranded, should be understandable. I was never anything but polite, even though I became extremely frustrated.

Thanks very much to EVERYONE on the board for all the different sorts of advice, support and so on. If it happens to you, remember about the reimbursement from Roadside assistance. I'll be submitting the receipts to them for the hotel bills as soon as I get home. I'll post my results from that .

Losing computer access as I'm checking out of the hotel.

July 10, 2008

Good thing I didn't check out of the hotel yet. Lower pivot bolt is frozen in place. He can't seem to get it out. arrrghh! this i turning into the trip from hell. I've checked on it twice and am trying to just stay out of his way... But being a hands on guy (I do my own work on the bike mostly), I'm having a hard time. I keep walking back and forth.

I may be flying after all... ouch.

July 10, 2008

Pivot bolt is out.. whew... He ended up having to build up a "Pivot bolt extractor tool". He has to do some cleanup work on the stuff around it. He's a real conscientious guy.

I may get out of here today after all.

I have to check out by 2, so hopefully it will be by then.

I looked over the new drive again. There IS a drain bolt. The bolt hole on the back is now on the bottom of the drive instead. Looks like this is the newer model drive (Hopefully more reliable). Still has to be filled from the sensor hole. I'll end up dropping the thing anyway when I drain it so I can lube the splines every 12K or so.

July 10, 2008

Great, one more thing that I'll have to add to my gear list:

-Underwear

-Toothbrush

-Comb

-Final drive + credit card

Unbelievable that BMW has not issued a recall for what seems to be a known defect. I hope nobody loses their life over a stupid financial decision that BMW has made. I'm betting that REDMAC's new final drive will never fail.

July 10, 2008

I was probably damn lucky it didn't seize up on me. Part of the problem is that he is having a tough time getting any of the old bolts out because the whole unit got pretty hot. He is working on the rotor now and having similar problems getting bolts free.

I was looking at the rotor and I believe it should be replaced, but I'll do that when (or if) I get home I think.

I freely admit some level of culpability here for the overheating.

Once I noticed the bike was handling funny, I should have parked it and called for a tow. However, the front end is what was wobbling and we did stop and check it in Green River, UT. We couldn't find anything loose and didn't think to check the rear at that point. I didn't notice the rear til we stopped here in Grand Junction and it was quite a bit worse at that point. Live and learn...

July 10, 2008

I'm betting that REDMAC's new final drive will never fail.

How much??$$

July 10, 2008

So far, not much. BMW Roadside is supposed to cover 3 hotel nights and food, so I should get reimbursed for that. The bike is under warranty, so that will be covered. Of course, I'm out 3 days of vacation (tues-thursday) and a long ride home on the freeway. You can't put a value on that.

If this came out of my own pocket, I'd be out about $2500 for this whole episode. I'm still not sure I'll make it out yet today. I have to be home on Friday evening or Saturday morning, so if by tomorrow morning it isn't ready, I'll be getting on a plane. That will cost me about $625 to fly home and fly back.

I have to check out at 2:00 pm (they gave me a late checkout). I did reserve another night tonight just in case (they sell out here every night pretty much). So at 2:00, I'll haul my last bag over to the dealer and sit there for the afternoon. IF I can get out of here today, I can ride about 300-400 miles today yet and do the other 900-1000 tomorrow.

July 10, 2008

I'm betting that REDMAC's new final drive will never fail.

How much??$$

Your a keen gambler Rob since this is a no win bet for me but I am a man of my words and will paypal you $25 if his final drive fails while he owns the bike. This offer is only good for Rob...

July 10, 2008

One question for Mike,

Since your bike is an '06 - which was before the BMW 600 mile oil change became "policy" - had the old rear drive ever received a change?

Failures of rear drives seem to have dropped off a bunch (or at least the reports of failures) since the oil has been getting changed.

July 10, 2008

Hey Mike,

I'm hoping we don't hear from you again today. And I'm hoping that that means you're on your way and the bike is spot on. I hope the weather is fantastic and the roads uncrowded. I hope you get some modicum of relaxation on your ride home because you deserve it buddy. Good riding. :thumbsup:

July 11, 2008

Hey Mike,
I'm hoping we don't hear from you again today. And I'm hoping that that means you're on your way and the bike is spot on. I hope the weather is fantastic and the roads uncrowded. I hope you get some modicum of relaxation on your ride home because you deserve it buddy. Good riding.

Mike - what Albert said. We don't want to hear from you till you get home. :thumbsup:

Safe Travels

Luis

July 13, 2008

Made it home. Left Thursday at 3:30 and made it to Sterling, CO in the evening (about 400 miles) and then rode 930 on Friday and pulled in at 10:00 pm Friday night.

I was pretty busy around the house today after being gone and haven't unpacked the bike yet. I'll be going over the rear end with a fine tooth comb and replacing the NEW final drive fluid this week (1500 miles on the new final drive, overdue!). It does have a drain plug now which is a plus. It looks like the brake rotor overheated, so I may just replace that. The lower pivot bolt was pretty gauled up from the heat and the tech had to sand it down to get it back in, so I think I'm going to replace that as well. Bike seemed fine otherwise. I have to check the brake pads. I replaced the rear brakes before I left but I know there was a TON of brake dust on the rear wheel after it failed, so I'm not sure how much brake pad I lost riding it 100 miles with a loose rear wheel.

I need to sleep on this whole thing a few days. I love this bike but this really left me with a sour taste in my mouth. I never thought I'd be part of the "Final Drive Club" partly because I"m a fanatic about maintenance, but there ya go... Seems like BMW has a problem they should just admit and fix. I pray they made CHANGES in the later final drive version so I don't have to worry about this again.

Thanks again to everyone for "listening" It was VERY comforting to have a sympathetic ear while this was going on. :) . You can't beat having a board like this and all the good folks that are on it.

July 13, 2008

Glad that you finally made it home.I only hope that I don't get to "join the club".

July 13, 2008

Man, what some people will do to get a drain plug installed... :grin:

Glad to hear you're home safely Mike.

July 13, 2008

One question for Mike,

Since your bike is an '06 - which was before the BMW 600 mile oil change became "policy" - had the old rear drive ever received a change?

Failures of rear drives seem to have dropped off a bunch (or at least the reports of failures) since the oil has been getting changed.

I purchased the bike used (with 7000 miles on it). I changed the final drive fluid the first time at 12K miles and then again at 13K (I used the wrong weight oil the first time, 90-140 I think, then back to the correct 75-90).

It did NOT look like an oil related failure. There was zero oil leakage. Non on the wheel or around the final drive. Basically the rear wheel was just really loose. I didn't get a chance to really examine the old drive after it was off (I should have), but I was just too concerned about the new one going on correctly. From looking at the back of the bike, the rear wheel could be moved back and forth over AN INCH.

Much has been written about which oil to use, when to change it, etc. I can't believe this is a simple lubricant failure. I have to believe there is a design flaw in the drive.

Yes.. I did do some VERY hard riding. We were up in the Rockies earlier in the week hard riding from Durango to Ouray (fast hard curves), I was at least pushing the bike to the limit of MY skill. And also in Utah from Torrey to Escalate. But hey.. why CAN'T I push the bike to the limit of my skill? I should be able to !!!!

July 13, 2008

It did NOT look like an oil related failure. There was zero oil leakage. Non on the wheel or around the final drive. Basically the rear wheel was just really loose. I didn't get a chance to really examine the old drive after it was off (I should have), but I was just too concerned about the new one going on correctly. From looking at the back of the bike, the rear wheel could be moved back and forth over AN INCH.

Are you sure the alloy adapter that holds the wheel and brake rotor didn't loosen on the axle spline? That would show gobs of dust but no fluid loss and a wiggly wheel.

July 13, 2008

Grasslander,

Nope.. I'm not sure at all. The tech is the one that examined the drive.

July 13, 2008

It really sounds like the alloy bit loosening up. That wasn't unknown on the rear drives, and there was an SIB on it. The SIB instructions were initially to replace the entire drive. There may have been (my memory is fuzzy) a revised one allowing the dealer to install a new alloy adaptor (heating it so it would fit on the splined shaft coming out of the drive).. BTW - this isn't a design flaw on the drive - it's an admitted assembly flaw.

Doesn't sound like a lubricant based failure.

July 13, 2008

It really sounds like the alloy bit loosening up. That wasn't unknown on the rear drives, and there was an SIB on it. The SIB instructions were initially to replace the entire drive. There may have been (my memory is fuzzy) a revised one allowing the dealer to install a new alloy adaptor (heating it so it would fit on the splined shaft coming out of the drive).. BTW - this isn't a design flaw on the drive - it's an admitted assembly flaw.

Doesn't sound like a lubricant based failure.

I thought I heard in other discussions that the other main reason for failure has to do with properly shimming the drive shaft. So again, an assembly issue. So maybe it's a matter of what day in the week the bike was made. I remember that used to be a running joke with American cars in the 80's and 90's.

July 13, 2008

I thought I heard in other discussions that the other main reason for failure has to do with properly shimming the drive shaft. So again, an assembly issue. So maybe it's a matter of what day in the week the bike was made. I remember that used to be a running joke with American cars in the 80's and 90's.

I'm hoping my new final drive wasn't made on a Monday! :dopeslap:

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Final Drive Woes in Grand Juction, CO

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