Rear Wheel Recall

[CVA-42]

I think D.R. brings up some excellent points, several of which I had not fully considered. The possibility of some future personal liability does seem improbable but I wouldn't say impossible. In any case, regular inspection of the flange seems impractical to me unless one's definition of "regular" is at, say, every tire change and those are pretty long intervals. Meanwhile, there is always the chance that something could go wrong and, from some of the pics that are making their way around the internet right now, BAD wrong. I've got two bikes affected by the recall. I pulled the rear wheel off each to check the flange shortly after the issue was made known. Both were fine with no evidence of cracking. But if BMW wants to install a steel flange at no cost to me, then fine. I do much of my own work and, with the exception of just a few people, generally don't like anyone else mucking around with my bikes but I think the possible consequences of not having this work done, or waiting to have it done, outweigh the liklihood of a dealer screw-up. I had the first one done this morning. In and out in less than ninety minutes. The second one goes in tomorrow.

[Alfred02]

Reality is that I spoke to multiple riders that had a recall notice about the flange.

NONE use forums and were not aware of the issue. And none ever looked at the rear flange. Why should they? The average user doesn't crawl under their car to check if their axle is ok. This is a manufacturer defect and I just can't see how BMW would get out of a claim if a rider would crash due to the flange giving away.

I am seriously suspecting that there has been a case overseas with a possible out of court settlement (which why we would not have heard about it).

I am happy to defend BMW in a lot of cases where I feel that owners simply expect too much, but in case of safety, I make no compromise.

[Sonor]

I received my letter yesterday, May 14, 2015. Took a while but I got it which is the main thing.

[smiller]

... generally don't like anyone else mucking around with my bikes but I think the possible consequences of not having this work done, or waiting to have it done, outweigh the liklihood of a dealer screw-up.

I'm wondering, in the real world how many flanges have failed resulting in an accident? 1%? 0.01% Any? Ever?

[Timmer]

Received my recall letter today.

[w2ge]

Me too... I was inspecting mine today and it looks perfect but while they change it I might as well take out a 2015WC RT for a spin!

[dirtrider]

... generally don't like anyone else mucking around with my bikes but I think the possible consequences of not having this work done, or waiting to have it done, outweigh the liklihood of a dealer screw-up.

I'm wondering, in the real world how many flanges have failed resulting in an accident? 1%? 0.01% Any? Ever?

 

Afternoon Seth

 

I can't speak to accidents but can speak to one very unhappy GS rider that broke his wheel flange (all ears broken) w-a-y back off-road 20 some miles from the nearest accessible recovery point.

 

No way to get the bike out, or get a trailer back there, (narrow 2 tracks & very steep sugar-sand hills) so he went in with 4 wheelers & a borrowed final drive & bucket full of tools. Took him a few trips & some buddies to finally get it out (it sat back there for a week while he tried BMW recovery & some other recovery companies (no go on that), then lined up a final drive to borrow).

 

 

I believe he is singing the "no BMW in his future" song now.

 

[smiller]

I believe he is singing the "no BMW in his future" song now.

That's always more like a chorus

 

Well so there's at least one out of 50,000.

[Guest Kakugo]

I got the letter this week.

 

No real hurry to have the repair done: flange has held almost 100000km so far and will hold a little longer. My dealer knows he can put my bike in the queue no problem and in return I usually get a nice discount on servicing.

[Twisties]

Both our wheel flanges inspected and look good. No letters yet.

[TestPilot]

NHTSA has posted additional documents relating to this recall on their web site. They include:

 

Owner Notification Letter - Link 1

 

BMW Service Bulletin - Link 2

 

[TXR1200ST]

Letter arrived in the mail yesterday. So time to take it and do the fuel pump, fuel strip and flange all at the same time.

 

 

[lkraus]

As far as I know, the there has been a fuel strip warranty extension, but not a recall - BMW will only replace the strip if it is not working.

 

The wheel flange replacement and fuel pump reinforcement/replacement are full recalls - the work is done even if the part has not yet failed.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Received letter mid-week. Just talked to dealer, they are being inundated with queries about this. My appointment is scheduled for June 5, the earliest available date.

[DenverWayne]

flange replaced while having fork seals replaced this week.

Local dealer had parts. Parts was good no signs of issue. My bike has 51000 + on odometer. Service manager says part was aluminum, they have found 0 defects so far

 

Happy trails to you.

[Burt]

I went to our dealership this morning, and had the flange replaced. It took less than an hour.

[Matts_12GS]

got my letter today, my appt is already set

[lawnchairboy]

Got my letter today also, work done already

[Bob_Minor]

Has anyone with an RT seen significant cracks? With the crowds showing up at the dealers this time of year I'd prefer to wait until Fall to get mine replaced.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Has anyone with an RT seen significant cracks?

 

My dealer claims that the problem is almost exclusive to GS bikes, on which there is a much greater tendency to do roadside flat repair followed by reinstalling the wheel without a torque wrench. This could explain the cracks at the lug boltholes, but it doesn't explain why the bolt holes for the brake rotor often develop cracks.

[dirtrider]

Has anyone with an RT seen significant cracks? With the crowds showing up at the dealers this time of year I'd prefer to wait until Fall to get mine replaced.

 

Morning Bob

 

I'm not sure what they are finding at dealer level but I have replaced a few for friends over the past few years that ran from small hairline cracks to ears totally broken.

 

The worst one was on a guys 1200RT that always used correct wheel bolt torque. But he admitted that he always lubes the wheel bolts & that significantly changes the required torque.

 

Nether my personal GS or RT has any cracks in the wheel mounting ears or rotor mounting ears & I ride the dickens out of both, many times returning with purple brake rotors. I also put rear tires on about every 5-6K so lots of rear wheel removals.

 

But I run lower tire pressures than most (not sure it that makes any difference or not but definitely reduces peak flange shock load)

 

 

[Bob_Minor]

I know my wheels have never been installed without a torque wrench as I'm the only one to ever take them off. And I've never used grease on the bolts.

 

With the wheel on I can't see any sign of cracks. I'll be replacing my rear tire before summer is up so if all looks good I think I'll stick to my Fall plan.

[lawnchairboy]

I had no cracks, mostly my own wheel & tire work, never lubed a wheel bolt, always a torque wrench. Dealer down here says only have seen a couple with cracks.

[The Rocketman]

The dealer told me if you were to find cracks, they probably wouldn't be on the side facing the wheel, which is the easy side. They said most of the cracks they have found were on the side facing the FD.

[Bernie]

Has anyone with an RT seen significant cracks? With the crowds showing up at the dealers this time of year I'd prefer to wait until Fall to get mine replaced.

 

At 150,000 miles my 07 RT has 2 cracks on the brake disc mounting ears

and 1 crack on a wheel mounting lug.

[Bernie]

They said most of the cracks they have found were on the side facing the FD.

 

That would be the aera with the mounting ears for the rear brake disc, and I am sure your dealer doesn’t think that the rear brake is very important.

You could always remove the disc and the brake caliper and stop the way the stop on the old bikes, with the heel of your boots.

Dealers and there staff are very amazing animals.

[Alfred02]

My 2005RT had cracks which never became any worse over the short period I owned the bike.

Having purchased it as a used bike and just found out about the possible problem via BMW forums, I don't know how long they had already been there.

My cracks were on 3 ears that mount the rear wheel (none on the brake disk).

These could have been caused by over tightening the wheel lugs of the previous owner or dealer/tire shop.

No matter what...they should never crack. It doesn't happen on other manufacturer's bikes.

 

A similar argument was pulled on our previous Mitsubishi Verada car (also known as Mitsubishi Magna). It had warped brake disks. According to Mitsubishi, caused by over tightening the wheel bolts.

Didn't happen on previous models nor later models.

 

Never mind, at least BMW is now correcting it at their costs.

[BMWED]

My RT has 3 brake rotor flanges with cracks. Were barley visible last season, but now you can clearly see them. I'll wait until midsummer, when the dealerships are quieter and the have refined the procedure. We here in Canada have as yet not received recall letters as far as I know.

I'm sure if I called the dealer, they would have no problem changing it.

Ed

[Dann]

My RT has 3 brake rotor flanges with cracks. Were barley visible last season, but now you can clearly see them. I'll wait until midsummer, when the dealerships are quieter and the have refined the procedure. We here in Canada have as yet not received recall letters as far as I know.

I'm sure if I called the dealer, they would have no problem changing it.

Ed

 

I haven't received a letter either, but I called the dealer and they are aware of the campaign. I've already booked an appointment for next week to have the flange replaced.

[Fubar]

I got my recall notice Saturday, scheduled the repair for 1st week of June (1st available). No cracks visible to my feeble, naked eyes but will feel better with the repair done. Glad I didn't know about it before my recent trip to the Keys. I developed a slow leak in the rear tire on that trip though I can't see how that would be related.

[Der Kaiser]

got my letter a few days ago, made appt. at brown's bmw, got it done today while I waited, about 1-2 hrs

[Dann]

Got mine today from BMW Canada

 

Looks like the canpaign has officially started in Canada.

 

I had mine changed last week anyway

 

[Dtrux]

I have a 2008 RT, took mine in, and they said it already had the steel flange, so no replacement necessary. Strange.

[Ponch]

They look different. Take a picture and post it.

[Bob_Minor]

Or just see if a magnet sticks to it.

[Sonor]

I went to the dealer on Saturday and made an appointment. Apparently there are three recalls on my bike; the flange, the fuel strip, and something with the fuel pump. Guy said, "Why didn't BMW come out with these recalls back in October when we needed the business." My appointment is a month away.

[Dann]

The fuel strip is not a recall.

It's an extension to the warranty (12yrs on US bikes)

[Guest Kakugo]

I went to the dealer on Saturday and made an appointment. Apparently there are three recalls on my bike; the flange, the fuel strip, and something with the fuel pump. Guy said, "Why didn't BMW come out with these recalls back in October when we needed the business." My appointment is a month away.

 

Just one month?

I booked last week and my appointment for the rear flange (plus fixing a weeping rear drive seal, nothing major) is on 24/8/2015.

Apparently local Wethead owners aren't even able to change a light bulb and need the dealer for everything.

 

Truth to be told they had a much earlier opening but, as usual, we haggled a bit: I leave them a bit of elbow room and I get a rebate.

[Ponch]

I made an appointment a week in advance and I am going this Friday.

[bigwally]

My dealer inspected but did not replace the flange since it "appeared normal" and BMW's Tech Bulletin's language "was ambiguous" on replacement vs inspection alone if old flange was intact. I pointed out that BMW's letter said "...the flange would be replaced" and asked wherein the ambiguity existed. Had to get BMW involved and make another trip to dealer whereupon the flange was actually replaced. Dealer continued to blame BMW's language in the Tech Bulletin as the problem.

This same dealer also blew the fuel pump flange recall by not replacing the fuel pump (another "ambiguous" situation?) and that fuel pump failed approx 3 months later very nearly causing me to be run over from behind by a semi on a 2-lane mountain highway. When the fuel pump completely fails you instantly lose all power - and worse - the rear wheel locks up further hastening deceleration. If you're not quick on the clutch and able to find an escape route it gets dicey fast. Sadly, this is the only dealer for >120 miles in any direction or I'd have already changed dealers.

[Ponch]

Was this Van Wall?

[ed may]

Does anybody know if the crown bearing has anything to do with the flange replacement? The play in my bearing has gone from .005 a year ago to .020 now, and I don't like it one bit. Dirtrider has told me the limit is something like .049 but if it takes only a little extra, or no extra work to replace the crown bearing, I will be pursuing that when I get my flange done. I've got the letter.

[davell]

My flange was replaced a few weeks ago, with no apparent cracks. That was amazing, because I accidentally dropped the bike on the rear rotor with the rear wheel removed. I had to tweak the rear rotor with a crescent wrench to true it. The final drive seems fine. (Knock on wood).

[Ponch]

They tried to sell me a outer seal. It had the slightest of weeping and he took the dust cover off looking for it. Business must be slow.

[lkraus]

Does anybody know if the crown bearing has anything to do with the flange replacement? The play in my bearing has gone from .005 a year ago to .020 now, and I don't like it one bit. Dirtrider has told me the limit is something like .049 but if it takes only a little extra, or no extra work to replace the crown bearing, I will be pursuing that when I get my flange done. I've got the letter.

 

Reading through the repair procedure , it does not appear that the crown bearing is involved at all.

 

Did you measure the play at equal temperatures? There is a noticeable difference in play between hot and cold.

[dirtrider]

Does anybody know if the crown bearing has anything to do with the flange replacement? The play in my bearing has gone from .005 a year ago to .020 now, and I don't like it one bit. Dirtrider has told me the limit is something like .049 but if it takes only a little extra, or no extra work to replace the crown bearing, I will be pursuing that when I get my flange done. I've got the letter.

 

Morning Ed

 

BMW spec is (up to) .039" (cold)-- temperature makes a difference on that bearing play so to do apples to apples you need to do it at about the same temperature.

 

Personally I would rather have them a bit loose than tight on the 1200RT--Tight bearings don't last very long.

 

While your wheel flange needs to be removed to replace the crown bearing the bearing is pressed on the spool so the entire side cover (spool & all) would ADDITIONALLY need to be removed to replace the crown bearing.

 

They might give you break on the bearing replacement but it still won't be a cheap repair.

[ed may]

Thanks DR