So my 09 GSA went in for 42K mile service recently and I get a strange report from the service tech. There is a round ABS plastic doo-hicky pressed onto the the throttle body that has someting to do with the butterly action on the throttle body. Apparently mine is cracked, tech claims they all crack. Also claims half of the police fleet they service has to have the throttle bodies replaced because of this fault. I go in to check it out and sure enough, he shows me the plastic disc on the trhottle body and it has a big crack in it. Still not sure what this plastic disc does but because of this, it won't allow a correct throttle body sync according to the tech. I tell him that the idle was a little rough and my mileage was a little off and he says this is why. The bad news is my bike is an 09 with over 42K ... no more warranty and a throttle body is is $500. Yep you guessed it, the plastic doo-hicky is pressed on to the body and not a replacable part. The good news is the tech came up with another throttle body (maybe one of the police bike fixes ???) and replaced the original . WOW! The bike has transformed, I just thought a valve adjustment and throttle sync were in order as it had been running rough. All because of a crack in a plastic doo-hicky on the throttle body. Anyone else have this issue ... ever heard of this?
I have just had the same issue but the ring was broken inside both throttle bodies. They found one and the warranty company said the mechanic could have broken it and refused payment then they found the other and the warranty sent a guy out to look at it and the paid for both. I have an 2010 R1200GS with 53640 miles on it. It took two weeks the get the bike back since they had to send to Germany for the parts. Well I got the bike back and a week later when I pushed the bars hard to the right, (maybe parking or such) the revs climbed, so I thought throttle cable adjustment(they put a new cable on along with the bodies. I paid for that.) I wasn't in a hurry to take the bike back, but did so for the adjustment today, after only two weeks and 331 miles the plastic swivel where the throttle cable attaches to the NEW throttle body is broken. No little replacement of the $4 swivel NO, a whole new $530 throttle body this time under BMW parts warranty but at least another 3 days in the shop. I am very lucky that they gave me a deal on an extended warranty as I was walking out the door they dropped it from $2300 to $1200 so I bought it. The last bill for a leak between the crankcase and drive and two throttle bodies was $2350 and now another $530 throttle body and labor for the next bill. I found your old post with no replys. Isn't anyone having the same problem ? Please post ! I haven't been through all the posts yet. I think this is pure BS on BMW side and dangerous having these weak plastic parts on a vital part of a motorcycle. Lucky I noticed the revs rising when I pushed hard to the right but with the broken swivel it could have jammed the throttle wide open when I was at speed.
Last day of a 5 day trip headed home and when I try to pass a car, the throttle goes flat. Rolled to the shoulder, turned the engine on/off and rolling on the throttle chokes the engine. Removed the shroud over the throttle cable on the right grip to inspect and the throttle cable is limp, no tension. Called my mechanic and he diagnosed it as throttle disc crack. Bike had to be towed 2 hours, delivered to the shop - thankfully Omar at Motoghost in Phoenix met me at 9PM at night to open the shop and give me a ride home. Doubt any dealer in town would have done that. Diagnosis confirmed a few days ago - and when one throttle body is cracked, as mentioned above, the other is recommended for replacement. I'm out over a grand in parts alone. Sent an email to Sarah Schilke at BMW NA and she connected me to the customer service team. I'm not holding out high hopes for my 2010 with 36K on the odometer, but we'll see what they say. Parts, like mentioned before, are not readily available stateside so I am waiting for a part to arrive from Germany: 2 weeks estimated ETA. This is my 4th GS and I am deeply disappointed that I have been left stranded by it, particularly since I'm told that this part was metal in the R1150GS models, but converted to plastic. Seems a critical component and plastic feels out of place for this German marque that commands a premium price.
Update - contacted Sarah Schilke (sp?), a rider and the VP of Customer Service at BMWNA with a report on my breakdown. She answered my email, impressively, on Memorial Day and connected me to the BMWNA customer service team. Marc Pechko of the Executive Customer Care team communicated with me with the expected disclaimers re: warranty, recalls in the conversation on the phone. I received an email from him with what seems to me to be the expected template reply: Thank you for writing to BMW of North America, LLC regarding your 2010 R 1200 GSA. We are sorry to learn of the concern you have with your throttle body repair. We reviewed your request for assistance related to the repair and the warranty for your motorcycle provided coverage up to 3 years or 36,000 miles. The term of your coverage ended June 22, 2013. Although we empathize with your situation, due to the current age and mileage of the motorcycle, we cannot offer assistance in this case. There are no open recalls or campaigns for your VIN related to this complaint or any other repair issues. Your complaint has been documented. Although we are closing our file on this matter, our authorized Motorrad dealers are available to discuss the repair of this issue with your motorcycle. Thank you again for bringing this concern to our attention. My takeaway is this - I paid a premium price for a product with what feels right now like less than impressive customer service. That new Africa Twin looks pretty interesting. Until then, I'll cough up over a grand in repairs for a small plastic part (formerly metal in the R1150GS, I'm told) with a life expectancy of 5 or 6 years in hot, dry climates. Extended warranty seems like it is no longer an option for these beasts.
I see that the PLASTIC, special BMW is crap for the last 10 years. Having 2 BMW cars, the newer has all his plastic inside/outside creaked, broken or missing. The Germans need to get there act together on this Junk. And I am a German to. LOL
I'm keepin' my 2001 with metal TB pullys. I'm awaiting a new Chinese starter (the OE unit magnets came loose) whereupon I'll repair the original unit. IMO, the newer model GS is over priced and has a lot of poor quality components that can leave you stranded...the plastic TB issue being a good example. I'll not be buying a new BMW.
Yeah well Mr. Smarty Pants, I went to my dermatologist today and she told me to start moisturizing because I'm going to live to 98 and I do not use any commercial references for repairing my GS, just the factory Reprom which was available free on the WWW for my model. Older is better...just think about whisky.
All these failures should be reported to the NHTSB defect site. They get a dozen or so complaints and they start to watch. If anyone crashes (hope not) they need to report. The only way to make BMW stop this is by the government action. All previous repairs get refunded if they take action. ROD
Well Ja Ja, if it were me, yes....keep the old model. That photo looks like cheap crap from China and I know of what I speak...my company used to overmold plastic over metal at our Shanghai facility and I designed the tooling. That design is seriously flawed. 1 Wrong material. 2 Return spring attachment Wrong 3 Metal overmold piece design, Wrong. 4 The design is overly costly, does not allow for repair and generates some forces that are destructive. 5 Design engineer is in wrong line of work. The design is just plain incorrect for the application.
Now I see what we're talking about. Looks like there's no way to check the state of the part without removing the throttle body. Guess they figured a failures not their problem. The kool-aid is really not tasting to good lately.
Update from my May 23rd post: After getting both throttle bodies replaced two weeks later the plastic guide where the throttle cable runs into the body broke. The whole body had to be replaced again but this was under BMW parts warranty. 3 total throttle bodies in less then two months. I had also asked that the old throttle bodies be kept so I could look into an aftermarket rebuild. They told me I would have to wait for the warranty company to release the parts, when I didn't hear from them I called and was told the janitor threw them out by mistake , $1100 worth of parts. No recompense.They also told me that it is rare that this problem happens on the throttle body. I don't believe them. Looking at the part, and where it is I think there is a lot of bikes out there with this disc broken but it is not detected till a throttle body is pulled. I am not too sure if there is any "problem or danger" riding with the disc's cracked, maybe Jim VB can give us an answer on this. I love the GS but am not a happy camper with the 2010 model, has this been addressed in the water-cooled model ? In the discussion, it was suggested that the way I ride could be an issue ? I have been riding since I was 16 years old and am now 75 and am not exactly Valentino Rossi !
As these bikes age this problem is starting to come to light, but it is still fairly rare. I would rather not comment on whether or not this condition is dangerous, but I would ride it. Knowing they were cracked I would not ride too far though. Personally I would look into having a replacement made rather than replacing the whole TB for it. It would be cheaper and last longer made from metal. As for blaming it on the janitor, I call bullshit. The tech tossed them. Janitors will not toss parts out unless they are already in the trash.
The design is seriously flawed. As for danger, a TB could get jammed open causing damage and a possible crash. Now that I have seen this bad design, I would not recommend anyone buy a BMW motorcycle equipped with these throttle bodies. BMW engineers likely had only modest input into the TB design. Whoever manufacturers the TB (I assume it is Bing) should receive a scathing letter indicating the design is very amateurish and inappropriate for the application. BTW, you should be able to ride a BMW like Rossi without your TBs failing (remember the BMW Boxercup motorcycles that were raced?) These failing throttle bodies are horrible junk...the engineer should be fired.
