my BMW C650 is toast
Discussion
Bought one of these very maxi scooters 5 years ago for commute and broke the habit of a lifetime and used main dealer to service....
Lovely when it worked but every time it went to BMW it generated biblical bills. It's most recent service was in August 2024 at 18k miles. Bike had £2.6 k worth of work done and I came away with a ten page document explaining matters (I didn't read this).
It had sounded "rattly" to me for a while and my thinking was it was transmission related and so cracked on but it started to get louder. Earlier this year the ignition switch failed ending up with recovery to BMW for a new one. On dropping it off I asked the the service manager to assess the increased noise, it was starting to sound like the slipper clutch on one of my old Ducati's.
On pick up, the issue was not mentioned.
Last week, en route to work the noise slightly changed pitch but the bike got me there with no loss of power or anything to suggest something was about to go pop. Went to start in the morning-planning to go back to BMW for more open wallet surgery and the thing failed to proceed.
Recovered to said dealer and then got their usual video, describing the condition of my wheels/brakes etc but this then ended with the chap pointing to the front of the engine and informing me that "your timing has slipped"
Estimate for repair £7k. It's a 2013 bike on 24k miles and so I chalk it up as one of those things and get it recovered.
Another chap then comes to collect it to break the thing and literally the first thing he says is "I have had loads of these, they have a cam tensioner that lets go and the engines are then scrap"
Mildly intrigued, I pull out the paperwork from the last service and in the "notes" it states "cam chain tensioner intermittently noisy"
When I collected the bike this was NOT mentioned to me. I have an aversion to such issues having lost a lovely Cayenne to a similar component that failed. I simply would not have used the bike if I had been made aware.
More than mildly intrigued I then google the issue and it's a BMW recall, known problem and an expensive one. Emailed my service advisor to ask if there is anyway to find out if my bike had the recall and he is not responding.
I am not usually one to chase matters like this and generally just get on with things but I would be grateful for any thoughts as to how others would proceed.
Breaker bloke is going to be keeping the engine intact, if I need it back.
Lovely when it worked but every time it went to BMW it generated biblical bills. It's most recent service was in August 2024 at 18k miles. Bike had £2.6 k worth of work done and I came away with a ten page document explaining matters (I didn't read this).
It had sounded "rattly" to me for a while and my thinking was it was transmission related and so cracked on but it started to get louder. Earlier this year the ignition switch failed ending up with recovery to BMW for a new one. On dropping it off I asked the the service manager to assess the increased noise, it was starting to sound like the slipper clutch on one of my old Ducati's.
On pick up, the issue was not mentioned.
Last week, en route to work the noise slightly changed pitch but the bike got me there with no loss of power or anything to suggest something was about to go pop. Went to start in the morning-planning to go back to BMW for more open wallet surgery and the thing failed to proceed.
Recovered to said dealer and then got their usual video, describing the condition of my wheels/brakes etc but this then ended with the chap pointing to the front of the engine and informing me that "your timing has slipped"
Estimate for repair £7k. It's a 2013 bike on 24k miles and so I chalk it up as one of those things and get it recovered.
Another chap then comes to collect it to break the thing and literally the first thing he says is "I have had loads of these, they have a cam tensioner that lets go and the engines are then scrap"
Mildly intrigued, I pull out the paperwork from the last service and in the "notes" it states "cam chain tensioner intermittently noisy"
When I collected the bike this was NOT mentioned to me. I have an aversion to such issues having lost a lovely Cayenne to a similar component that failed. I simply would not have used the bike if I had been made aware.
More than mildly intrigued I then google the issue and it's a BMW recall, known problem and an expensive one. Emailed my service advisor to ask if there is anyway to find out if my bike had the recall and he is not responding.
I am not usually one to chase matters like this and generally just get on with things but I would be grateful for any thoughts as to how others would proceed.
Breaker bloke is going to be keeping the engine intact, if I need it back.
trickywoo said:
If you have full BM service and the recall wasn t done you might have had a claim but as it s already gone for breaking its game over. BM are never going to accept the engine unit out of the bike.
Thanks. You probably have more experience with them than me. From where I am sitting I'm not sure that what's happened to the bike before the service I had when a known issue was identified and after that time is relevant. Neither is (potentially) it's service history. In August 2024 they had it, did lot's of work on it and have documented noise from the cam tensioner. They know that's it's a failure point and that it's on them to rectify. Said part has now (I suspect) failed and the bike has been lost. At no stage was I informed.
Breaker has said I can have engine back and have it opened to confirm that the recall part has failed.
My question to my service advisor (and he is usually good at responding) is "are BMW able to confirm that the recall has been done on this bike" because if it was, apparently these engines are good for 50k + miles. Mine is scrap at 24k.
Sorry to learn of that. It sounds crap.
I assume they're not one of those dealers who do video reports that are sent to the owner?
It's reasonable to assume that a main dealer who has a vehicle for service work would ensure all recalls and TSBs are done or at least inform the customer?
What's the point of using a main dealer if they don't inform owners of recalls and TSBs?
It all seems a bit one sided, they take the money but keep important information that relates the product they're servicing secret?
I suspect trickywoo may well be right in that you've lost the opportunity to get anywhere with BMW if the bike has already gone.
I don't know if a solicitor who's an expert on such matters may know of previous cases where damages have been secured after the defective product has been disposed of. Hindsight etc.
I assume they're not one of those dealers who do video reports that are sent to the owner?
It's reasonable to assume that a main dealer who has a vehicle for service work would ensure all recalls and TSBs are done or at least inform the customer?
What's the point of using a main dealer if they don't inform owners of recalls and TSBs?
It all seems a bit one sided, they take the money but keep important information that relates the product they're servicing secret?
I suspect trickywoo may well be right in that you've lost the opportunity to get anywhere with BMW if the bike has already gone.
I don't know if a solicitor who's an expert on such matters may know of previous cases where damages have been secured after the defective product has been disposed of. Hindsight etc.
Edited by carinaman on Saturday 8th November 09:44
carinaman said:
Sorry to learn of that. It sounds crap.
I assume they're not one of those dealers who do video reports that are sent to the owner?
It's reasonable to assume that a main dealer who has a vehicle for service work would ensure all recalls and TSBs are done or at least inform the customer?
What's the point of using a main dealer if they don't inform owners of recalls and TSBs?
It all seems a bit one sided, they take the money but keep important information that relates the product they're servicing secret?
I suspect trickywoo may well be right in that you've lost the opportunity to get anywhere with BMW if the bike has already gone.
I don't know if a solicitor who's an expert on such matters may know of previous cases where damages have been secured after the defective product has been disposed of. Hindsight etc.
Thanks. I assume they're not one of those dealers who do video reports that are sent to the owner?
It's reasonable to assume that a main dealer who has a vehicle for service work would ensure all recalls and TSBs are done or at least inform the customer?
What's the point of using a main dealer if they don't inform owners of recalls and TSBs?
It all seems a bit one sided, they take the money but keep important information that relates the product they're servicing secret?
I suspect trickywoo may well be right in that you've lost the opportunity to get anywhere with BMW if the bike has already gone.
I don't know if a solicitor who's an expert on such matters may know of previous cases where damages have been secured after the defective product has been disposed of. Hindsight etc.
Edited by carinaman on Saturday 8th November 09:44
They love doing video reports. Saves you actually meeting with the people that are up close with your bike.
It's a main dealer. Engine has not gone. I am collecting next week.
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