S1000XR owners - rattly engine sorted

[308mate]

My XR has sounded like someone left a cutlery set in the engine on a previous service, for a while. Rattles on start up briefly then once up to temperature, really badly at and above 3800rpm. Sound like the cam chain flapping against the engine casing, in my opinion. So I took it the dealer i got it from who rode it for half an hour and declared that there was no noise. I put up with it for a bit. Took the bike back there again for its (dreaded) 18k mile service and asked again "Please don't give it back to me still making that noise". Got it back and they said "We gave it to our master technician, he couldn't hear anything." Annoying. There might not be an actual fault but the presence of the noise was fairly unequivocal, I thought. They blamed the worn chain but I knew it was engine speed related, not road speed.

So yesterday it was at a different dealer for a new chain and sprockets and I asked again about the noise and commented that as the internet is awash with similar stories, maybe BMW want to stop dancing around it. Got it back yesterday and whilst that engine will never be sewing-machine-like, its fixed!
The notes from the mechanic (not transferred onto any of my paperwork mind you) were that it was "noisy at around 4000 rpm", diagnosed as a "loose cam chain tensioner cap". Replaced under warranty. Apparently this is NOT a recall by BMW but it is a "Puma case". From what I can gather this means BMW begrudgingly accept its an issue on some bikes and begrudgingly fix it if you whinge loudly enough, but its not serious enough to warrant a recall. Either way I don't care, the engine is much quieter and the bike is much nicer to ride.

Now wrestling over whether I bother writing to the first dealer to tell them I wasn't crazy and their master tech is either deaf or in on the scam.

[black-k1]

Standard BMW approach. They don't do recalls unless they ABSOLUTELY have to.

An issue is worth complaining and ensuring it's recorded at the dealers that you are not happy. If it's in any way a "common issue" BMW will do a campaign and it will get sorted.

Either that, or the just added some sawdust to your oil!!!

Anyway, I'm glad it's sorted.

[scarble]

Well they did put off recalling cars that randomly lose all power until after it resulted in a fatality

[Unbusy]

Jeeez, that’s not a good advert for the bike. I’m looking to try one soon with an eye on buying one quite soon. Deffo have to be a secondhand one from a dealer with the guarantee to cover things like this.
Glad you got it sorted 308.

[trickywoo]

Unbusy said:

Jeeez, that’s not a good advert for the bike. I’m looking to try one soon with an eye on buying one quite soon. Deffo have to be a secondhand one from a dealer with the guarantee to cover things like this.
Glad you got it sorted 308.

BM support for poor quality / manufacturing is notoriously poor. See also GS suspension failures. Apart from that I’d like a S1000 engined bike of theirs but the risk just isn’t worth it for me.

[308mate]

Unbusy said:

Jeeez, that’s not a good advert for the bike. I’m looking to try one soon with an eye on buying one quite soon. Deffo have to be a secondhand one from a dealer with the guarantee to cover things like this.
Glad you got it sorted 308.

Mine is a 2015 and the good news is that newer ones feel a lot smoother, imo. If you ride a current one, its an absolute weapon and the engine properly sings. Any used bike from a BMW dealer will be covered by the 2 year warranty anyway.

• the 18,000 mile service is a very expensive one - be warned

• heated grips aren't great on earlier models when its proper cold, greatly improved now (that goes for the whole range since they switched the handle grip design)

Other than that I cant fault it and mine does 55 miles everyday from Surrey to Canary Wharf and back.

Crack on mate, its an awesome bike.

Edited by 308mate on Thursday 16th August 08:08