Steve Kolenda Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 On Saturday my wife and I set out on our 2000 R1100RT which has a little over 81,000 miles to enjoy a scenic route which would take us along route 201 in Maine and then on to Quebec city. About 350 miles into the trip I noticed a strange low frequency noise which I thought was a flat tire. We pulled over to the side of the road and examined both tires only to discover that the tires were fine and attributed the noise to the pavement that we were riding on. We got back on the bike continued on, at first the noise was gone but within a mile or so the noise came back and I knew we were in trouble. I pulled into Berry's Market in West Forks Maine to further investigate. We got off the bike and as I was placing it on the center stand, fluid started to flow from the rear end. It appears that we were lucky in the sense that we were about 50 miles from the Canadian border with no other place to stop in between. Called insurance carrier and had bike towed 200 miles to the dealer. I am wondering if from my description if anyone could tell me what the likely damage is and what is the estimated cost to repair. Link to comment
smiller Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 Man, when it rains it pours... Steve, do a search on '+final +drive' and you will pull up several failures like yours (which is probably a crown bearing failure) in the last few weeks. Odd that there's been such a rash of these lately, or maybe its just the 'failure of the month'. Cure will be either a rebuild or replacement of the final drive. The former is cheaper if the dealer has the skills to do it right, although at 88k miles you might want to consider an outright replacement... which unfortunately will run in the neighborhood of $1500 at list parts/service prices. There are other less expensive options, depending on your mechanical skill. Link to comment
RussInParis Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 I feel your pain. I really, really do. http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/541217/an/0/page/0#541217 Russ Link to comment
Steve Kolenda Posted July 31, 2005 Author Share Posted July 31, 2005 Russ, I have pictures nearly identical to yours except there in the US and not France. Link to comment
BARTMAN Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 I just got in from a "short trip" and noticed that my rear wheel (r side under shaft) was completly cover with oil, which appears to be comming from inside rubber cover at front of shaft. I had this same problem last July on the way home from MOAin Tacoma. was bad gasket and seal then replaced under warranty. BUTT wait there's More!! my bike went outta waranty the 5th of this month (july) 36months, just turned over 34,500miles this am. btw its a 2002 model Link to comment
Curmudgeon Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 If all else fails there is a final drive on Ebay Item number: 4565490288 It came off a 96 but should be the same. Good luck. Link to comment
Steve Kolenda Posted July 31, 2005 Author Share Posted July 31, 2005 A couple of questions, does anyone know what the percentage of these failures is and who is the manufacture of the bearing? Hopefully the percentage is very low which would mean the probability of having two failures would be unlikely. Link to comment
smiller Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 A couple of questions, does anyone know what the percentage of these failures is and who is the manufacture of the bearing? Hopefully the percentage is very low which would mean the probability of having two failures would be unlikely. That reminds me of the guy who was caught carrying a bomb onto a plane. When asked why he said it was for increased safety... after all, he wasn't going to set his off and what were the odds of two bombs being on the same plane? Link to comment
kevdog6 Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 I just got in from a "short trip" and noticed that my rear wheel (r side under shaft) was completly cover with oil, which appears to be comming from inside rubber cover at front of shaft. I had this same problem last July on the way home from MOAin Tacoma. was bad gasket and seal then replaced under warranty. BUTT wait there's More!! my bike went outta waranty the 5th of this month (july) 36months, just turned over 34,500miles this am. btw its a 2002 model Just came home from a day trip and noticed the very same wet spot on my '02 with only 15K on the odometer. This will be failure number three, only this one is not under warranty like the first two. I'll be calling BMW tomorrow to see if they'll make good on an obviously defective part. Link to comment
James Clark Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 A couple of questions, does anyone know what the percentage of these failures is and who is the manufacture of the bearing? Hopefully the percentage is very low which would mean the probability of having two failures would be unlikely. It's been "pre-disastered". "The odds of another plane crashing into this house are infinitesimal." Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Not to be picky, but...... There is a world of difference between a failed seal on the input to the transmission that allows some oil to leak out...... as compared to losing the main bearing (and it's seal) that supports all the weight of the bike. About the only thing they have in common is they both leak from the same oil supply. Stan Link to comment
ShovelStrokeEd Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Bartman, Yours is a different problem. The failure described by the OP is of the crown wheel bearing. The seal starts leaking after the bearing fails. Yours is the pinion shaft bearing seal which, no doubt, your dealer replaced. Problem is, if the reason for the seal failure is a badly machined or damaged sealing surface on the pinion shaft, replacement of the seal will not cure the problem. You have a record of a warranty repair to the seal, the new part came with its own 1 year warranty regardless of the age of the bike. I would, at the minimum, push for a replacement seal and it could be said the the subsequent failure argues that the pinion shaft should have been replaced originally. Link to comment
chrisx Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 my experiences in bearing/drive failures (albeit non bmw m/c) is that almost all failures are actually lubrication failures. esp if at high heat/load. as such i always endeavour to use the best possible lubes and change then well ahead of schedule. my choice is amsoil, but if history repeats itself, the choice of lubes is a contentious subject...at least on the saab forum i belong to. Link to comment
Stan Walker Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 almost all failures are actually lubrication failures Ed must be asleep...... Link to comment
Steve Kolenda Posted August 1, 2005 Author Share Posted August 1, 2005 Chris, All maintenance is up to date and since very early on I have used synthetic. Don't know how much difference the synthetic makes but the cost difference is minimal. Link to comment
ShovelStrokeEd Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 almost all failures are actually lubrication failures Ludicrous in this case. Always plenty of lube and in many cases, short time after normal service is reported. I will agree that quality of lubricant in terms of wetting and film strength can help a marginal situation such as we seem to have here. It would tend to support the too low speed thing. Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Cure will be either a rebuild or replacement of the final drive. The former is cheaper if the dealer has the skills to do it right, although at 88k miles you might want to consider an outright replacement... which unfortunately will run in the neighborhood of $1500 at list parts/service prices. There are other less expensive options, depending on your mechanical skill. Brand new, $700 from Chicago BMW. Even comes with new pivot bearings installed. If you're mechanically inclined, you install it yourself for free. I did this last summer when mine blew up at 85K. Link to comment
smiller Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Brand new, $700 from Chicago BMW. Even comes with new pivot bearings installed. If you're mechanically inclined, you install it yourself for free. I did this last summer when mine blew up at 85K. Yep, unless you can find a low-miles take out unit that you really trust at a reasonable price (which is not very easy due to obvious reasons) the above advice is probably the best way to go for someone in this predicament. Depending on the state of one's tool kit you may have to put another $100 or so into tools (30mm socket, 12mm allen, and a torque wrench) but the work itself is pretty easy... only slightly challenging part for an inexperienced person might be setting the preload on the pivot bearings, but that's not very difficult to get the hang of. Some have also been successful by just replacing the crown bearing (about $110 for the part) but that option would be for the more experienced home mechanics. Excellent link here, even if you don't want to go anywhere near the innards of the final drive yourself the pictures will show you what failed. Pick any of the above, or pay double the cost of a discounted brand-new final drive for a dealer repair. Link to comment
BUSTED Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 I had rear diff crown bearing failure this summer while on a trip. Plenty of Mobil 1 lube in it. Cost me $395.00 for the service call and rear end rebuilding by Bruno's in Kitcnener, ON. Link to comment
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