“The below account is a condensed version ... I could easily write war and peace ...
Expected so much from this bike, and BMW. Bought this bike new in 2015 from BMW Park Lane at a cost of nearly £12k. I have done the whole superbike thing having had Yamaha R1's, Kawasaki ZX-10R's etc. etc. and wanted to try a Supernaked for the road.
After lots of research into what would keep me satisfied after having historically owned 200 bhp rockets nothing really sparked my interest until the BMW S1000R was launched due to the reputation of the S1000-RR which I had also test ridden.
For the record ... the S1000R is fast ... but not in a scary way like the a 1000cc superbike is. It leaves me a little underwhelmed ... however the handling is great due to the DDC set-up on the Sport version I purchased. The handling can be a bit dim-witted with a pillion on board as the electronic suspension can't seem to adapt to the extra weight ... not so good for a £12k supernaked which is designed with road in mind.
But then it started to go really wrong. About a year into ownership (June 2016) whilst cruising on a motorway at 70 mph I heard a metallic rattle (I had ear defenders inserted into my ears so it must have been quite loud for me to hear the noise over motorway noise, wind noise, plus helmet on) and the bike lost almost all power.
It was clear there was an engine fault as the bike also went from sounding like an inline-4 to a faulty V-Twin. Luckily the bike still ran rather than throw me off onto the road on a motorway with fast moving traffic, and I was able to pull over safely.
I called BMW recovery and waited for recovery. Recovery took over 3 hours to arrive. What made the matter worse is that this was a Sunday approaching 3 p.m. I knew that the bike would need to be recovered to a BMW Motorrad dealer so planned ahead and called BMW Park Lane (from where the bike was purchased) to make hem aware the bike had gone faulty and would be recovered to them for repair under the 24 month factory warranty.
Spoke to someone on the phone from BMW Park Lane who told me I was not allowed to recover the bike to Park Lane ... as the workshop (which is not located at the showroom) would be closed as it was a Sunday. I politely explained this was not my problem, and that I would have the bike recovered to the showroom so they could transfer the bike to the workshop Monday morning.
This fell into the "too difficult" box for BMW Park Lane and was told recovery to the showroom was not an option. Not good!!!
Realising I was getting nowhere with BMW Park Lane, and as it was now approaching 4 pm, I decided to call BMW North Oxford to advise them of what had happened. They said that by the time the bike was recovered to them they would be shut, but advised to leave the bike outside their shutter so they could deal with the fault on Monday morning.
To cut a very long story short ... once BMW North Oxford had investigated the fault, it transpired that one of the valves had snapped/broken. Not Good!!!!!! Realising as well as I did that this most likely caused untold damage to the cylinder, piston head, cams, etc. the first thing they suggested was a new engine.
They submitted photos to BMW corporate who subsequently only authorised the broken valve replacement. Not Happy. After many weeks of complaining, emails, phone calls, explaining the story to someone new every time I called I got nowhere. Very Disappointed.
Bike was repaired (in a loose term) , and was returned to me with very poor silicone sealing on the engine cover which they opened in the repair process, damage to the engine block, a scratch on the chassis, rattling engine, and down on power.
Much more complaining, emails, explaining the story a hundred times, and phone calls, and was basically told to go away.
Few weeks later, when the routine service was due, the engine service light came on. Having just had a valve change the oil, oil filter etc. had been changed so effectively had said service. North Oxford did not reset the service timer in the process. Doh!!!
After all the drama I had already suffered I was annoyed to say the least, especially as it meant a 70+ mile round trip just to have a service light reset.
Appreciating mistakes do happen, and phoning ahead, I made said 70+ mile round trip.
When I got to BMW North Oxford I explained everything again. I was the told that they could not reset the service light as I needed an oil change, even though I was told over the phone it wouldn't be an issue. I politely explained that the oil service had just been carried out due to a valve replacement but they basically told me to go away and would not reset the service light unless I paid for another oil change.
Thinking on my feet I told them that the valve work was carried out under warranty, so any follow up to this repair would also be under warranty!?! I politely asked to book my bike in for an oil change under warranty. The assistant then walked away, came back, and said "It's OK ... we'll reset the service light for you!".
I couldn't believe what had just happened. When it came to me paying for an oil change they were adamant the oil needed changing, but when it came to them changing the oil at their expense, it was OK to reset the light. Unbelievable!!!
To make matters even worse, all the work that should have been carried out under the service, namely a brake fluid change, was also not done. The bike had to be sent in AGAIN to have this work done.
The latest drama is that since the work has been carried out, the bike still sounds rattly, feels down on power, and is now loosing coolant after every ride even though there are no coolant leaks.
My Advice ...steer well clear of BMW. I will be. Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover how I feel.”
