Our 2021 BMW R-18 First Edition has Catastrophic Failure

Hey guys, I wanted to post something that has been hidden within the BMW community.

A client of mine recently purchased the New 2021 BMW R-18, First Edition. My client was excited to finally receive his bike and immediately put a 100 miles on it. However, to our disbelief, we noticed that the left exhaust pipe started to blow blue smoke. We sent the bike back to the BMW dealership that we purchased it from and they had BMW mechanics evaluate the engine.

BMW deemed that the engine had catastrophic failure. After a few weeks, we were told that BMW would only replace the left cylinder head. My client was not happy with the news, as an engine with “catastrophic failure“ should have fully been replaced.

After doing some research, we noticed that not many criticisms/issues have been reported on the these bikes. It seems that BMW is trying to keep negative reviewers silent. However, another manufacturing issue that came up in the motorcycle community is that the fork head screw is not torqued correctly. I have link a video below for you guys, leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

 
Well, gents, it's been fun. Since I just learned that my R18 may "catastrophically" break at any moment and thus isn't worth a dime, I'll just be leaving it on the side of the road. I expect that y'all will do the same. Anonymous Internet Guy said that there was an issue with one R18. Never mind that he didn't show an invoice or name a dealership, his word is good enough for me. And, can you believe it? The proposed repair wasn't exactly what his buddy thought it should have been. Crazy times. Anyhow, I'll get the lights if someone wants to just shut this forum down, no need to continue.

Nate
 
Well, gents, it's been fun. Since I just learned that my R18 may "catastrophically" break at any moment and thus isn't worth a dime, I'll just be leaving it on the side of the road. I expect that y'all will do the same. Anonymous Internet Guy said that there was an issue with one R18. Never mind that he didn't show an invoice or name a dealership, his word is good enough for me. And, can you believe it? The proposed repair wasn't exactly what his buddy thought it should have been. Crazy times. Anyhow, I'll get the lights if someone wants to just shut this forum down, no need to continue.

Nate
Cant inform people about issues with the bike? I didn't show invoices for clients' privacy.
 
I'd like to thank you for adding a little excitement to an otherwise kinda drab forum. We post things we've done to our bikes and it's fun and all, but this? Catastrophic failure? It's fantastic! I can't wait to see details, like the email chain of correspondence between your client and the dealership where he/she expresses his discontent with the proposed repair. I'm sure that things must've escalated to him or her reaching out to BMW itself, only to be snubbed. I bet that email is amazing; full of things like "we're doing our best to hide these failures from our customers, so please don't go on an enthusiast website with a link to your YouTube video..." Oh and then I'm dying to see an invoice with the words "catastrophic failure" written on it, perhaps with an exclamation point or two and, of course, the name of the dealership at the top of the piece of paper so inquiring people can contact that dealership and let them know that you're promulgating questionable information about products they sell and the service they provide.
 
Funny how it was reported here on 11/21/2020 about the OSTOP310001 issue. Also, I’m curious what forums are talking about this “Catastrophic Failure”. Now, it doesn’t surprise me that someone had a problem with the bike. It is designed by humans and put together by humans. Hundreds of suppliers are involved in its production along with thousands of people. If you look at the volume of R18’s made and compare that with the known failure rate, it is far better than the Boeing 737MAX.

If anyone on this forum had an issue we all would know.
 
This thread reminded me that I once owned a Mercedes g-wagon which broke down. The alternator failed. Yup. I wanted a brand new g-wagon but the dealership insisted on only replacing the faulty alternator. I was so disappointed. I didn’t suspect a cover-up at the time, but given how rarely people complain about mechanical issues with that truck, that’s like proof that there IS a cover-up. Just FYI in case any of you are looking to buy a g wagon.
 
The video was interesting AND uninformative at the same time.
"Catastrophic engine failure"? WTF? I wonder if anyone at BMW really used that phrase. It's apparent that the left cylinder/cyl. head assembly was getting excessive oil into the combustion chamber. There are a number of things that can cause such a situation, but VERY FEW can be bad enough to justify replacing the entire engine. The most likely causes of excessive oil consumption will be reasons for replacing the cylinder head and/or the cylinder and/or the piston assembly.
Obviously some folks need to "take a chill pill" or something. There has never been and never will be a model of motor vehicle of any type that never has an occasional example of mechanical failure. The owner of that machine bought a new motorcycle that came with a manufacturer's warranty and I have no doubt that BMW will make it right. Having said that, I also have no doubt that BMW will also do their best to downplay the bad press that this example will garner. Thanks to the internet and social media, coupled with ignorant people who "knee jerk" their minds into insisting that the manufacturer should immediately replace the entire engine (if not the entire bike!), every manufacturer responds with whatever they can think of to downplay the issue. The lawyers and marketing folks at BMW are squirming in their seats like steped-on worms. They won't be able to pull their shorts out of their bums for months!
 
The video was interesting AND uninformative at the same time.
"Catastrophic engine failure"? WTF? I wonder if anyone at BMW really used that phrase. It's apparent that the left cylinder/cyl. head assembly was getting excessive oil into the combustion chamber. There are a number of things that can cause such a situation, but VERY FEW can be bad enough to justify replacing the entire engine. The most likely causes of excessive oil consumption will be reasons for replacing the cylinder head and/or the cylinder and/or the piston assembly.
Obviously some folks need to "take a chill pill" or something. There has never been and never will be a model of motor vehicle of any type that never has an occasional example of mechanical failure. The owner of that machine bought a new motorcycle that came with a manufacturer's warranty and I have no doubt that BMW will make it right. Having said that, I also have no doubt that BMW will also do their best to downplay the bad press that this example will garner. Thanks to the internet and social media, coupled with ignorant people who "knee jerk" their minds into insisting that the manufacturer should immediately replace the entire engine (if not the entire bike!), every manufacturer responds with whatever they can think of to downplay the issue. The lawyers and marketing folks at BMW are squirming in their seats like steped-on worms. They won't be able to pull their shorts out of their bums for months!
It's click-bait. Take away the fact that his "client" very well could've had a problem, that's neither here nor there. The member started a thread--his very first interaction at all on this forum--with a link to a YouTube video he made about the issue he brought up in the thread. It's a move meant to generate traffic which is kinda sad but tolerable. The part that goes off the rails is his claim that there's a cover-up by BMW to squelch negative reviews and to downplay issues and that proof of this IS the lack of reported problems. Huh? This is simply crap. As far as squelching is concerned, we've all seen all the video reviews. Just off the top of my head, here's some negative impressions I remember: the pegs scrape all the time, the only worthwhile riding mode is 'Rock', the saddle is really uncomfortable, the pipes are ugly, accessories are too expensive, it's monstrously heavy, HP and torque stats are mediocre, there's no fuel gauge, the information in the dash menu is weird, the cylinders are cartoonishly large, and nobody is buying expensive cruisers.

There is no shortage of complaints/issues with our R18 and there is no cover-up.

/the saddle is uncomfortable and I do wish that it had a fuel gauge
//love to take her for a ride now but it's 23 F outside.

Nate
 
In the video he says ”They it is going to catastrophic failure” not that it did.

On his ”client’s“ request for a new engine - and a counter from BMW “replace the left cylinder” well he’ll man shoot for the moon but settle for the repairs offered.

I once had a brand new R1200C. It had issues; some man made some defective parts. I will not disclose the issues dealing with BMW Motorrad USA; but I will say they took care of this customer; then I had another R1200C.

Thanks BMW!
 
In the video he says ”They it is going to catastrophic failure” not that it did.

On his ”client’s“ request for a new engine - and a counter from BMW “replace the left cylinder” well he’ll man shoot for the moon but settle for the repairs offered.

I once had a brand new R1200C. It had issues; some man made some defective parts. I will not disclose the issues dealing with BMW Motorrad USA; but I will say they took care of this customer; then I had another R1200C.

Thanks BMW!
The R1200c issue was with the bolt hole for the upper tree mount to the frame. It had to be re-tapped. I have an R1200c also and it had the recall done.
 

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Well, gents, it's been fun. Since I just learned that my R18 may "catastrophically" break at any moment and thus isn't worth a dime, I'll just be leaving it on the side of the road. I expect that y'all will do the same. Anonymous Internet Guy said that there was an issue with one R18. Never mind that he didn't show an invoice or name a dealership, his word is good enough for me. And, can you believe it? The proposed repair wasn't exactly what his buddy thought it should have been. Crazy times. Anyhow, I'll get the lights if someone wants to just shut this forum down, no need to continue.

Nate
I agree. Seems Fake News
 
I didnt have a catastrophic failure but mine did breakdown and had to be recovered after I'd done about 20 miles due to a problem with a camshaft sensor. Funny because the bike still worked but went into 'limp mode' so you could pootle around at about 15mph. Sorry that wont work in London! Anyway wasnt a good start to see a brand new bike on a recovery van.
 
I didnt have a catastrophic failure but mine did breakdown and had to be recovered after I'd done about 20 miles due to a problem with a camshaft sensor. Funny because the bike still worked but went into 'limp mode' so you could pootle around at about 15mph. Sorry that wont work in London! Anyway wasnt a good start to see a brand new bike on a recovery van.
So you only had 20 miles, TOTAL, on the bike when the camshaft sensor failed? Is that correct?
 
Hey guys, I wanted to post something that has been hidden within the BMW community.

A client of mine recently purchased the New 2021 BMW R-18, First Edition. My client was excited to finally receive his bike and immediately put a 100 miles on it. However, to our disbelief, we noticed that the left exhaust pipe started to blow blue smoke. We sent the bike back to the BMW dealership that we purchased it from and they had BMW mechanics evaluate the engine.

BMW deemed that the engine had catastrophic failure. After a few weeks, we were told that BMW would only replace the left cylinder head. My client was not happy with the news, as an engine with “catastrophic failure“ should have fully been replaced.

After doing some research, we noticed that not many criticisms/issues have been reported on the these bikes. It seems that BMW is trying to keep negative reviewers silent. However, another manufacturing issue that came up in the motorcycle community is that the fork head screw is not torqued correctly. I have link a video below for you guys, leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Hello, Erik from France. Just got My R18 on Saturday. Went for a ride on Sunday. Just had the exact same problem after about 20 miles... Decided to let it run and it completely disappeared after 2 or 3 miles. we've done about 100 miles after this "episode", nothing happened... I will let BMW know about it and I Will keep you posted... Erik
 
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