BMW G650X Issue Log (xCountry, xChallenge, xMoto)

In lieu of the various electrical gremlins a lot (all?) of the G650xCountry owners seem to be running into, I thought it would be a good idea to assemble a list here of just the facts of what is going on with everyones bikes. I want to keep this as factual as possible, without any sort of rif-raff. I feel it'd be a great resource for those who run into issues can reference this post and hopefully diagnose, fix, and be back on the trails ASAP!

Below I've got a simple format. If anyone feels there should be anything added to it to help make this log more descriptive\accurate, please let me know and I will change it quick snap.

Model: (xCountry, xMoto, xChallenge)
Year:
ABS:
Mileage at time of issue:
Date of occurrence:
Modifications (if any):
Description of Failure(s):
Resolution (if any):
Reference Thread:

Again, if there are other things that could be added that would help keep track, let me know.

Andrew

Model: xCountry
Year: 2009
ABS: No
Mileage at time of issue: approx. 3000mi
Date of occurrence: May 15th 2009
Modifications (if any): Heated grips, power for GPS, otherwise stock.
Description of Failure(s): After a minor crash, bike no longer held a charge.
Resolution (if any): Replaced battery with a Yuasa YTZ10S. Bike has run like a champ since, and holds a charge quite nicely.
Reference Thread: NA

Model: xCountry
Year: 2009
ABS: No
Mileage at time of issue: approx. 4000mi
Date of occurrence: June 16th 2009
Modifications (if any): Heated grips, power for GPS, otherwise stock.
Description of Failure(s): Engine lost all power from mid range to top end. Felt like a plug was stuffed in the exhaust.
Resolution (if any): Dealer found the Catalytic converter had broken inside exhaust. Exhaust was replaced with aftermarket unit.
Reference Thread: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=479425

Andrew

model x-country
ABS
2007
mileage 400
no mods
bike would not start. battery would not accept a charge. took battery to dealer who tested & agreed battery is dead. replaced under warranty.

**************

mileage 2,000
during heavy rain riding, LCD display blanked. remained blank during rain. slowly returned (faded in) when rain stopped (took 30 minutes to return)

**************

mileage 8,000
all warning lights on or flickering all the time. includes oil warning light. took to dealer who saw the display. tested for error codes. no codes. lights went out during test (dealer said).

**************

Mileage 11,000
Same as first. Bike will not start (no starter - not even a click) Headlight will not come on. LCD display shows some wonky messages. Remove battery & hike to auto repair place. Nice lady opened up for me & let me put battery on charger / tester. Battery will not hold charge.

This one is far away and by the time I gave up, it was night & Sunday. I will try to recover the bike Wednesday. This occurred after several days straight riding - maybe 800 miles in 3 days so it wasn't like the bike ever sat. I switched off to stretch my legs (take a leak) & bike is dead dead dead. First time same thing - switch off and it won't switch on again.

****************


Can't help but note that over the same time I've owned this bike, our two Triumphs (Tiger 1050 & new Bonnie) have not had a glitch or any unscheduled maintenances

Model: xCountry
Year: 2009
ABS: Yes
Mileage at time of issue: approx. 1500-3500
Date of occurrence: Numerous, Feb-Jun
Modifications (if any): none
Description of Failure(s): Periodically the bike would not start. After a time (Usually 10 min) it would start up without any problems. It would resurface many times without pattern. The exception would be, that it would always start when cold. It would also flash A15 occasionally. It probably means low battery.
Resolution (if any): The shop said it was a defective battery and this is a known defect. They replaced it under warranty, however the problem did not get resolved. Later the same day I picked it up, the bike failed to start at a routine dry cleaning stop. It started again 10 min later.
Reference Thread: NA

Model: xCountry
Year: 2009
ABS:YES
Mileage at time of issue: approx. 4000
Date of occurrence: June 26th 2009
Modifications (if any): Heated grips, PIAA lights, otherwise stock electrically.
Description of Failure(s): When at a routine ATM stop the bike would not start. It did not come back to life. It would also flash A15 occasionally. It probably means low battery.
Resolution (if any): Replaced battery with a Yuasa YTZ10S and charged the OEM BMW battery. While the OEM battery was run down quite a bit, it did accept a charge and I put it back in the bike after a few days as per instructions from BMWOM. My original plan was to get it back in the shop, but the way they dragged their feet the last time, I decided to just carry an extra battery and see if I could figure it out. Even with a full charge, you could hear that the OEM battery doesn't have the same cranking power. Also, the shop used non-standard hardware for hooking up the battery and used pieces of rubber as spacers under the nuts. I used the nuts that came with the Yuasa when I put the OEM back in.
Reference Thread: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480302

Model: xCountry
Year: 2007
ABS: Yes
Mileage at time of issue: approx. 6000mi
Date of occurrence: August 30th 2007
Modifications (if any): Autocom system for bike to bike and ipod, otherwise stock.
Description of Failure(s): After bike turned off for one hour, no power to anything
Resolution (if any): Replaced main 15amp fuse, no problems since
Reference Thread: NA

Model: xCountry
Year: 2009
ABS: No
Mileage at time of issue: approx. 500 miles to current 3000 miles
Date of occurrence: November 2008-Present
Modifications (if any): No Canister (problem was there prior to removal),
LED tailight, various cosmetic changes.
Description of Failure(s): Bike will start and idle initially and then after a few miles die when clutch is engaged. Bike refuses to idle when restarted. Issue resolves itself after 5 min-2 hours of sitting. No fault codes thrown when taken to dealer. This has happened maybe once every 3 weeks since buying the bike. (My hand is never on throttle when engaging starter)
Resolution (if any): Waiting to be picked up to return to dealer when they decide on a game plan to trouble shoot.
Reference Thread: NA

Model: xCountry
Year: 2009
ABS: yes
Mileage at time of issue: 3000
Date of occurrence: June 2009
Modifications: HID lights, HotGrips, GPS
Description of Failure(s): battery died after one hour riding with HID lights on. (ABS light came on, low fuel light came on, tripmeter reset to "0". Stopped bike, turned everything off, cycled the key, but battery was dead.) Bump started bike, rode for 30 min without HID's, all OK after that. Did not use HID's again after that.
Resolution:

1. Tested alternator with RPM's at 3000, HID lights "on", HotGrips on "high", headlight on "bright", GPS powered "on" -- voltmeter on bike showed 13.5 volts. So the alternator was putting out enough juice for everything I got. But the battery still died, and after only one hour of riding with just the HID's and the GPS - HotGrips were off.
2. Described problem to dealer - South Sound BMW. They said, "no BMW recall on this battery but it sounds like a bad battery - still covered under warranty - using HID's perfectly fine and should not cause a problem - bring it in and we'll test the battery and replace i if needed."
3. Brought it in. They tested the battery and alternator and voltage regulator -- all OK. Bike running at 13.5 volts at 3000 rpm with accessories off. Voltage dropped to 12.5 volts at 3000 rpm with HID lights turned on. Verdict was that HID lights are too big a draw. The battery will drain out and go flat at 12.5 volts.
4. I'm going to buy an Odyssey battery. It won't fix the problem, but it might take the abuse a little better.

Model: xChallenge
Year: 2007
ABS: no
Mileage at time of issue: 8000-11000
Date of occurrence: latest - 07/24/09
Modifications (if any): leo vince exhaust, sm wheels, ohlins shock, raised bars, custom seat, heated grips, heated vest harness, gps harness
Description of Failure(s):
The bike would blow the main 15A fuse, repeatedly. This first happened before I installed my electrical stuff (grips, etc), so I don't think my wiring causes it (and everything was off when it happend last time). It also flickers the neutral light when on rough road or when it gets hot - not sure if it's related.

The latest fuse blowage incident was just today, it blew the main fuse again in the morning, after running warming up for about a minute. It was foggy and damp in SF, so perhaps it's a factor (it was dump under the seat when I removed it). I had two spares, which it promptly blew just as the ignition is turned on.
I let it sit there for a while, disconnected all my wiring (it is wired through their own fuses, so I just pulled them), and the bike started again (with the last remaining spare fuse), but then after a couple of minutes it blew again. Had to tow it to the dealer (still under warranty) where it remains as of today.

Definitely a short somewhere. It blows just as I turn the key, before I press the starter button. A couple of times it died on me (again, with the fuse) while I was riding (not a pleasant experience), sometimes it dies on warm up.
Would appreciate any ideas.

Resolution (if any): none yet
Reference Thread: none

Mine's been at the dealer for two days now. Odd but so far no resolution. Implies that things are a bit more complex than just another dead battery. I will go there tomorrow to meet & confer.

Model: (xCountry)
Year: 2009
ABS: no
Mileage at time of issue: 1900
Date of occurrence: July 29, 2009
Modifications (if any): none
Description of Failure(s): upshifting from first, I've increasingly found myself in neutral even when giving it a nice full uptick. It sounds and feels like a full uptick, and there goes the throttle revving and the neutral light.
Resolution (if any): none yet
Reference Thread:

While this issue has crept up in the short time I've had the bike, I must make the confession that I dropped my bike for the first time today

Yes, the dream of never dropping a bike is over. And it was just a dumb over reaction on some gravel that did it. Broke too hard going about 15-20 and before I knew it I was down.

Anyway, after I picked up the bike to move on, this issue with neutral was more pronounced than it was before. In fact, even when in neutral, upshifting it didn't take it out of neutral for a few tries. Really annoying. And I'm quite disappointed in myself.

I'm making a separate post about the crash which addresses a matter with the handlebars, here:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=491498

Ok... so, something I hadn't looked at closely... the shift lever was bent in a bit and was hitting the bike on the way up where it shouldn't. So, I bent it back out and it seems to work fine now. I hadn't considered that simple solution because I had been experiencing something similar before I'd dropped it.

Just took it for another test drive and all seems well at 30mph and lower.

Paul

Model: (xCountry)
Year: 2009
ABS: no
Mileage at time of issue: 1900
Date of occurrence: August 5, 2009
Modifications (if any): none
Description of Failure(s): this morning the XCo wouldn't start. It showed the oil light, but I just checked the oil a week ago and it was good. So, could be an electrical issue throwing a false reading. Checked the oil again anyway, and it looked to be a bit over max, which is odd because it wasn't touched since I got it from the dealer, and the last I checked it wasn't nearly that high. Is condensation getting in there? Maybe just a temperature thing. This is the earliest (morning) I've tried to start it, so I'm wondering if that is an influence.
Resolution (if any): none yet
Reference Thread:

Paul,

You mean it shows the oil light w/o the engine running? You say it won't start.

I showed an oil light (faintly) with the engine running. Took it to the dealer who saw it. Dealer kept it a few days. Reported oil light did not return upon further starts and no error codes.

Mystery remains.

I have two whole days to wait before I pick it up from the dealer. One of only 3 new bikes still available in NZ..

Resolution (if any): yes... owner turns out to be a fool. must have left the kickstand down while trying to start it. Works fine now!

I posted in the Index thread what I learned today while my XCh got its first service - as of about 2 days ago they are replacing the batteries with new Yausa batteries. They didn't have any in stock, so I need to return. I didn't think this was a big deal as mine had been trouble free. (and had had a battery replaced while it just before I bought it new in June under a separate campaign)

Had been. Yep, 30 miles from the shop in the middle of nowhere my battery crapped not even an hour after having its first service and state inspection. I was almost as pissed as I was when the the bike fell while being towed.

2007 XChallenge
795 miles
ABS: Yes
Aug. 08, 2009
Mods: Garmin 60CSx wired to powerlet
Failure: While traveling about 50 mph, the bike stuttered as if out of gas. A couple more times then died. Got it started and the voltage was over 14 while running (although right about 12 stopped). Got about 4 more miles and same thing (stopped voltage under 10V, running over 14V). Wnet about another mile and she was done (6V or so stopped, could hear the relay under the front shroud.)
Resolution: New battery and all seems well. We'll see how it goes and I will update if the problem recurs.

Edit: I removed the battery - it showed 12.7v. So I connected it back up and tested the voltage as I turned the key on (not crank, just on to start up the dash). The voltage immediately dropped to 7v then to 3v. I also saw the battery had a "deploy by" date of 6/09. Since my existing battery was apparently already replaced once while in inventory, I thought this was odd as I was under the impression these were newer batteries.

Edit#2: Resolution edited - new battery appears to have fixed it.

Marc,

Are they replacing working batteries or only after they fail? Mine just failed again stranding me 180 miles from home. I got another OEM battery but the dealer, being an honest fellow, said I'd be best off replacing with a non OEM battery on my nickel. I'd prefer BMW's nickel, of course.

Is the replacement policy BMW's or your dealer's?

Just in the shop checking the VIN # on my new purchase.

Dealer showed me a recall on the batteries, changing brands.

Suggest everyone call to have your dealer run your VIN #.

My understanding is exactly what Sailwing said. They are replacing ALL the Exides with new Yausas. They were going to replace mine, even though it had been working fine, but they did not have the new batteries yet. It was just irony that mine happened to fail after I left the dealer.

Thx. Next Tuesday I will be at Mr. Dealer.