Is this the end of another ESA system?

[Philbie]

Riding back from picking up my bike last week (2nd Hand 2006 R1200RT 26,600 k's) well out of warranty, i was trying out the suspension settings. Noticed a difference on the dampening settings between each mode ok. During last weekend and again tonight, i tried to adjust the Spring Preload settings on the bike with no results.

 

With the bike in neutral, on the centre stand, and idling, i pushed the ESA button and held it down on each setting. The different pictures come up, moving between the helmet, helmet & luggage and two helmets. However, the manual says that when you stop at a particular setting it should flash whilst it adjusts to that setting.

 

Mine doesn’t flash. Nor does the bike suspension move at all. I have also tried it sitting on the bike, and not sitting on the bike whilst standing beside it off the stands. It toggles through each of the options, but nothing else happens. Also, i am unaware of what mode it is actually in.

 

I ride one up 99% of the time, and every now and then on the trips i fill my panniers up. so, , just how critical is it for me to do anything anyway? does it really matter? Will it only be on the trips that i need worry about it?

 

Anyone got the heads up on this? Or like the other posts am i destended for a big bill or new suspension?

[Teddy]

Could be?

 

You are correct it should flash when its adjusting & you will notice the ride height changing. I get no flashing & no change in the symbols either so it is the next stage of failure from where you are.

 

You could try and get a dealer to reprogram the system & that may work for a while. I had the same symptoms as you describe above and the dealer did fix it for a while, (of course it was under warranty then) now they say the electronics have gone bad and its out of warranty. (3 months that is!)

 

If you ride one-up most of the time & the bike is not bottoming out with panniers full then you are probably OK.

 

I ride pillion occasionally & the increased weight of the pillion definitely needs more preload & guess the system applies more damping as well.

 

Good luck with your system.

 

Teddy

[Kerry in Mpls]

I shot this video a while back showing the display as I switched from 1-up, to 1-up + luggage, to 2-up, and back to 1-up.

 

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=fubcx4&s=4

 

[Philbie]

well, thanks for the video, that's what i thought it was meant to do. But it doesn't.

 

I too think it's on the way out. I've only had the bike a week. Fool me - it's the only thing i didn't think to check prior to purchase.

 

I have emailed the BMW dealer I bought the bike from. (in Australia you get a 3 month warranty on second hand bikes), but somehow i don't like my chances or replacement.

 

I gather the good news is, in the worst case scenaro, Ohlins becomes my next best friend.

 

 

[anvo]

That's exactly how mine was behaving when I bought it used. They tried a software update, but that didn't fix it so they had to replace the rear shock under warranty. Would have been a $2k repair out of warranty. Of course, since it's been fixed I've pretty much never used it other than checking every once in a while if it's still working. If you ride 1-up most of the time and they won't replace it for you for free I wouldn't bother personally. I pretty much leave the damping set to normal all the time as well. I find the changes rather subtle to be honest and normal feels good to me for the riding I do.

[IanW]

Philbie

Take it back to the dealer, he should fix it under warranty. But before you do take the manual with you and work through the settings, I found I had trouble understanding the proceedure and then it came to me in a flash of light.

Ian

[Bronx Cheer]

I wonder if having it on the center stand has anything to do with it. I adjust mine in neutral just standing over the bike.

[John in VA]

I gather the good news is, in the worst case scenaro, Ohlins becomes my next best friend.

 

Ohlins becoming your next best friend is the best case scenario!

[Philbie]

After another ride today, i have now noticed that none of the settings adjust at all. It's off to BMW for a diagnotic check to see the problem.

[Dave_C]

mine is broken too. Let me know what you do. My dampning adjustment works, not the preload, though. i am waiting to spend the $$$, I am not sure what I want to do.

[Philbie]

Tomorrow it's check time, A day off work to ride up and have the issue worked out. It seems that wiring did have a part in this problem back in the early days too. A replacement loom was issued to offending bikes. along with re calibration (???). If it went further than that, It would be a replacement issue. Goodwill, service history and milage all have a part in the next scenaro, and it's up to the people at BMW HQ to decide the outcome.

Fingers crossed it's a minor issue. see you tomorrow.

[Teddy]

Yep let us know, I think your chances are better than mine of getting it fixed.

[Philbie]

Just got back from the BMW dealer. a 600km round trip. That's a thousand k's in a week and a half.

Well, it was an interesting day. Service tech worked on the bike for four straight hours.

 

He got it working after an hour. Full pre-load and dampening was working. it was tested three times and then given to me to test. It failed straight away.

 

Back on the machine, and the next option was to "reprogram the limit switches. This took a long time.......and with the latest software upload, they got it working again but this screwed with the temp senor. apparently, it was -40 degrees outside. Anyway, they got this working again, and after many many tests by them and me we were happy that it was working again.

 

a second trial, testing the system whilst i was sitting on the bike and scrolled through the three settings over and over again. Working fine each time.

 

Set off for home and 40km's from the dealer I stopped for water and tested it again.

 

Nothing. This time the pre-load was stuck on single rider and comfort setting for the dampner. This also didn't change once i hit the road again.

 

Verdict? Another call to the dealer to explain what had happened. Equally unhappy, his remark was that a new shock will be required.

 

In fairness, the dealer did everything possible to try and fix the ESA on my bike. Like me, he thought it was good to go. even test riding it himself to double check.

 

I don't blame them, and i am happy with the way they have tried to help the situation. Now it's in his hands with BMW. They have told me they'll cover a new one, so I don't need to worry about that, But what does worry me is how long the next one will last and if i can get over the Bad stigma of this particular part, and enjoy the bike.

 

This was to be my last Bike purchase for some years, and I am beginning to wonder if i should have stuck to my gut feeling of no ESA.

 

I'm dissapointed really. The shine of my new machine has gone a week after the purchase, and regret has begun to set in. I research everything really well usually, and i thought i'd done well here too.

 

On the good side,

 

My dissapointment is kept at a minimum, by the fact that I enjoy the bike so much and find it such a pleasure to ride. I love everything else about it and hopefully i can see past the bad and have a fun time with the bike over the years to come.....

[Teddy]

Wow sounds like the dealer really tried to help you.

At least they will replace the shock under warranty for you, but when the company warranty expires beware, they might not be quite so helpful!

 

I tried to get some feedback from the service manager but all

I got was the company spin & no comment & that the rear shock was stuffed.

 

Will call them again this morning as they never got back to me yesterday, it is obvious that they want me to go away, so much for customer service!

 

Cheers Teddy

[JayW]

Will call them again this morning as they never got back to me yesterday, it is obvious that they want me to go away, so much for customer service!

 

Uh, wasn't yesterday a Monday (most dealers closed), and a holiday too???

 

Jay

[John]

Not in Australia, Jay.

 

 

[JayW]

Ah, of course! :dopeslap:

[tallman]

Don't know that it is a holiday over there, but many dealers are closed on MOndays.

Our local one isn't.

[Teddy]

Will call them again this morning as they never got back to me yesterday, it is obvious that they want me to go away, so much for customer service!

 

Uh, wasn't yesterday a Monday (most dealers closed), and a holiday too???

 

Jay

 

Not in Aus Jay, our next holiday is Queens birthday June 14th I believe.

Been waiting a week for a reply from BMW Germany though. Local dealer not too interested in helping saw them a few moments ago.

 

What pisses me off is they say they will call back but never do, I hope that my local dealer is not typical of BMW dealers around the country.

About to talk to BMW Australia now.

 

Teddy

[Indy Dave]

FWIW ~ I have 36K on my ESA shocks and have had no issues. I just replaced the factory shocks with the Works ESA shocks - new Works shocks built for my weight and riding style and they use the origional ESA motors.

 

All I can say is that the ESA still works fine - I tore some crap in my ankle and have yet to even ride the bike since I got the shocks on 3 weeks ago.

[Teddy]

A good outcome, BMW Aus have agreed to pay for the part!!!

I have to pay labour & diagnostic costs.

 

When it goes bad again I'll be looking for aftermarket then.

 

Cheers Teddy

[Indy Dave]

GREAT NEWS, Teddy!!

[Teddy]

GREAT NEWS, Teddy!!

 

Yep it will be a big relief, the service manager said that if the brake parts come in as well they will do the recall on that as well.

 

I priced the retrofittable ASC for my ST whilst I was there AU$1695 ouch but if it saves you once it has paid for itself. I tried searching for ASC on this forum but it looks like the board will not search for 3 characters!

 

Teddy

[Philbie]

well, all good news for the ESA on my bike. BMW came to the party and paid for the parts, and the dealer covered the labour content. New series 2 shock and series 2 black box to control it all. Along with a 30,000 service (i paid for that) and the red rocket is back to a happy machine.

 

Very happy with the service, and the whole experience has been easy to handle.

System works great and i played around with the settings during the 3 hour ride home. Subtle, they are, but very noticable none the less. Pre-load settings were very noticable, feeling the bike raising to the different settings.

 

My 2nd hand bike warranty is nearly run out now, so here's hoping all goes well for the future. This baby is a keeper whilst i put the kids through school - so we'll be going through some fun times together.

 

Let the fun begin!

[Rob L]

I went through all of the issues that you did when I converted to Hyperpo shocks with ESA option. My dealer was able to get it working. I learned a lot in the process.

 

The rear shock was updated in late 2006 to a newer system of limit switches. They are really not switches, but use a hall system to tell the computer what the preload setting is. The early model used a potentiometer. The new system has 7 wires on the sensor plug, the old system had only 4.

 

If all else fails......you can make the preload motor work by feeding 12volts to the motor and reversing it to move in the other direction. This means that with a DPDT switch, you could make the system work! This would be my next option if the computer refuses to operate the shock again!

 

Glad that yours is working and that BMW stepped up to pay for it.

[Teddy]

Good to hear that you are back on the road again & are happy with the service from the BMW dealer.

Mine has been working fine the last few times I have used it which admittedly is not a lot considering the disgusting weather of the last few days.

Today is bright & sunny and a top of 12C forecast so will be out on the bike later & putting it thru its paces.

 

Like me I bet you are looking fwd to some warmer spring weather!

 

Cheers Teddy