Dynamic ESA hiccup today '14 RTW 1700 miles

[Larsman]

I had an odd hiccup with the Dynamic ESA today. I put the bike away 5 days ago like usual. I went to start the bike up this morning and the amber triangular warning indicator persisted along with an amber ESA warning symbol displayed above the Riding Mode area on the Multifunction Display. Shut everything off. Turned everything back on and allowed the self check to complete (I always do this). Started bike again. Cycled through Ride Modes. No change...Same ESA warnings. I carefully rode the RT about 50 yards with an obvious lack of suspension. Shut everything off/Started back up. No change. Rode back to garage ready to give up. Tried one more cycle and warning indicators disappeared. I went on a 150 mile ride stopping/starting along the way and everything is now back to normal.

 

Glad it is now working but I really do not like the fact that the ESA was completely disabled during the hiccup, making the bike unsafe and arguably unrideable. I wish instead that it would simply be "stuck" in the last modes until the problems are resolved. Maybe this isn't possible and if so is an obvious disadvantage compared to the non-ESA equipped bikes.

[Guest Kakugo]

You should report this issue to your dealer ASAP.

If your bike was one of those included in the recall it's possible there was a mishap during reassembly.

If not, it's an issue BMW should be aware of.

[C Wallace]

I had the same problem with my RTW soon after I bought it, before the shock recall. It took four or five recycles of the ignition before it finally cleared. Never saw it again. Hope I never do, as you point out the bike is pretty much unrideable like that.

If a lot of us see this we might need to start reporting it to our dealers.

[Alfred02]

Take it back to the dealer and make sure that the dealer opens up a Puma to BMW.

Then ask him and record the number of the Puma.

This will not just guaranty that BMW will be informed of the incidence, but also guaranty should anything ever happen to you or the bike that you have prove of having notified your dealer and BMW.

[Larsman]

I have emailed my service manager and I will keep you up to date on any developments. They are closed Sun-Mon. Thank you for the advice.

[Larsman]

Service Manager replied today:

 

"Thanks for the information. This is the first ESA issue we've heard of

(besides the recall) on the RT's. Please keep me posted on any other

developments. If you are in the area- stop by and we'll look for any codes!"

[Larsman]

Service Manager wrote back again:

 

"I just received a bulletin from BMW that sounds like what is happening with your ESA. The fix is just a re-program of your ESA. We are slowing down with this cold weather - so whenever you can come down we can re-program your bike."

 

I'm going tomorrow morning since the weather promises to stay above freezing for a day.

[Larsman]

I got the update to my ESA programming today that should correct the problem. My Service Manager showed me the Bulletin (on screen) which referenced the specific problem I described in this thread. If you experience this before you can get the update, rest assured that they believe the problem only surfaces on start-up. No worries that ESA will cut out while underway in other words. The temporary remedy BMW recommends is just what some of us discovered on our own. Repeated ignition off (wait at least 1 minute for Canbus to go to sleep) and ignition back on until the ESA fault disappears. This can take several cycles.

 

Hoping to stick a fork in this now.

[Bill_Walker]

The temporary remedy BMW recommends is just what some of us discovered on our own. Repeated ignition off (wait at least 1 minute for Canbus to go to sleep) and ignition back on until the ESA fault disappears.