Poll about Final Drive (Bevel Gear) Oil Spillage on the rim and tyre

[1911tex]

called the dealer to record warranty differential/final drive leak with one month of standard warranty remaining. I also drew out 30 mils. of lube and took on another hundred miler yesterday. No oil leaks so far. I will run it some more today.

Just a thought, if you drew out 30ml, add back 20ml. and experiment. That is less than 7oz.; Too low is not good. Find that sweet spot! When it is time to replace, carefully measure what came out and replace the same amount with fresh fluid.

 

[oldslodog]

just returned from a 60 miler, she's leaking. Dealer says send pictures to record, I'm on it.

 

[manhattan]

Dear all,

I want to ask you if you have in the US the same problem of oil spillage of the final drive as in Germany.

On our German Forum we have an opinion poll running and of 33 participants up-to-now 12! have this problem (including me, pictures are from me).

We talk here about a motorbike (although the 9 come from all production years) which is 9 months old, was never driven in rain, only hand-washed (no high pressure), never driven above 80 miles/hour with a milage of 3.000 now. So no special cause to be seen here. Certainly passed the first service at 700 miles.

You see the spillage over the final drive in fine but many lines.


which reach the rims


and now it becomes dangerous also reaches the tire. When you look closely one line actually reaches already the tread of the tire.


Hell, how much to we enjoy oil between tire and asphalt

I have reported it to the BMW headquarters already.

So what I recommend is that everybody checks his final drive to avoid an accident. Several of our riders said they did not have the problem until they had a close look on the rim and final drive.

What would interest me how many of your bikes are affected as well. Therefore the poll.

Present causes mentioned to drivers from BMW dealers:
- during factory assembly too much grease was put into the final drive which comes out especially during long drive and hot weather
- rust: then typically the shaft seals or the whole bevel gear are changed

maybe overfilled?
only 210ml required
i would immediately pull the drain plug and see what you got in there.

 

[manhattan]

i purchased my bike from a dealer that sells Japanese machines too
pretty big dealer but is the mechanic onsite bmw certified?
i think an actual bmw dealer has a certified mechanic but the others may not.
i service all my bikes but the bmw is different in many ways and i had to learn about the bike myself and the internet
5000 miles and two engine oil changes along with the rear drive
not that bad to do yourself

 

[Noelpolar]

My dealer changed my fluid for the first time recently, they charged me for 180ml of oil..... so my takeout is a "wet fill" after a quick'ish "busy workshop" drain of a "not so hot" final drive is 180ml...... seems logical to me.

 

[425]

For most of the final drive leaks it could be the breather, which is not exposed and eventually pain to be replaced ….

 

[BluebobbeR18]

I haven’t read this whole thread but my son bought an older k 1100 and it kept leaking oil on the tire. Very hard to find where it was coming from. Tried crush washers made from silver metal and it kept leaking. I told him to try a copper washer because it would be softer. He rode back from Michigan to Maryland this past week after getting married, not one leak. 730 miles in one day in a horrendous rain. Guess I will have to address him as “Ironbutt Boss.

 

[425]

I haven’t read this whole thread but my son bought an older k 1100 and it kept leaking oil on the tire. Very hard to find where it was coming from. Tried crush washers made from silver metal and it kept leaking. I told him to try a copper washer because it would be softer. He rode back from Michigan to Maryland this past week after getting married, not one leak. 730 miles in one day in a horrendous rain. Guess I will have to address him as “Ironbutt Boss.

Where exactly is the location of these crush washers, I suggest on the filling / drain plugs?

 

[1911tex]

Where exactly is the location of these crush washers, I suggest on the filling / drain plugs?

I believe for reference in this thread, the location is on the fill plug at the R18 final drive when changing oil. The drain plug at the final drive has an O-ring.

 

[BluebobbeR18]

Where exactly is the location of these crush washers, I suggest on the filling / drain plugs?

 

[BluebobbeR18]

Yeah, my bad. I see by looking at my own r18 fe they apparently changed the plugs to countersunk ones. My apologies. Guess they tried to improve them in the past 30 years!

 

[Dpolo1]

Is there a vent in the final drive that Could be clogged? Or maybe it needs to be vented ,pressure builds with heat . My 18 has 10 k no sign of it yet.

 

[oldslodog]

Is there a vent in the final drive that Could be clogged? Or maybe it needs to be vented ,pressure builds with heat . My 18 has 10 k no sign of it yet.

There is Dpolo1, you have to remove the rear wheel to access the thing.

 

[rem47]

There is Dpolo1, you have to remove the rear wheel to access the thing.

There is more to it than just removing the rear wheel. You have to remove the cush drive rubbers, you may then be able to inspect the breather by looking through one of the holes in the drive plate that locate the rubbers (see post 35 on this thread, you can see the photo of the breather - a rubber bung). Mine was clean. If there is a leak here you would see it on the bevel side housing around the bung. Taking the drive plate off to access/replace the breather is no trivial task.

No one on this thread has shown any evidence of an oil leak form the bevel lateral drive shaft seal or breather, all the photos can be explained as grease, unfortunately the title of the thread is misleading folks "final drive oil spillage". Its excess grease that has reached its melting point flung from the drive plate, the originator of this thread has also stated this is BMWs explanation.

The debate will no doubt go on? A seal may just fail one day, If you really think its oil I would expect a drip or two or pool on your garage floor or wheel rim as a result of gravity (not centrifugal force) when the bike has been stationary on its side stand after an episode. If it is transmission oil it will smell distinctly sulphurous (the test used by old British bike owners to trace the source of an oil leak - engine or gearbox), to my knowledge grease or engine oil wont.

 

[oldslodog]

There is more to it than just removing the rear wheel. You have to remove the cush drive rubbers, you may then be able to inspect the breather by looking through one of the holes in the drive plate that locate the rubbers (see post 35 on this thread, you can see the photo of the breather - a rubber bung). Mine was clean. If there is a leak here you would see it on the bevel side housing around the bung. Taking the drive plate off to access/replace the breather is no trivial task.

No one on this thread has shown any evidence of an oil leak form the bevel lateral drive shaft seal or breather, all the photos can be explained as grease, unfortunately the title of the thread is misleading folks "final drive oil spillage". Its excess grease that has reached its melting point flung from the drive plate, the originator of this thread has also stated this is BMWs explanation.

The debate will no doubt go on? A seal may just fail one day, If you really think its oil I would expect a drip or two or pool on your garage floor or wheel rim as a result of gravity (not centrifugal force) when the bike has been stationary on its side stand after an episode. If it is transmission oil it will smell distinctly sulphurous (the test used by old British bike owners to trace the source of an oil leak - engine or gearbox), to my knowledge grease or engine oil wont.

 

[oldslodog]

 

[oldslodog]

This is not misleading the leak is actual! I have washed away many times it is not assembly lube rem47. I lowered the level to 180ml. It only leaks on extended runs of 200 miles plus. Seems like after good and warm. I am starting to think possible breather problem. It is a very slight leak as it only lost 5 ml. in acouple thousand miles. the leak is so slight you don't even notice the streaks until some dust is on the tire.

 

[Klaus FRA]

Hello, just experienced this “leakage” on rear angle diff and rear wheel rim. Drops on the floor over night, doesn’t look and feel to be grease but much more oil, even after three days sitting in the garage.
It appeared after 1h ride at 120-140km/h ride at 5-7 degrees Celsius.
(R18 100yrs from sept ‘23, 6500 kms).
Showed this to the dealer, issue is known (didn’t tell me exactly what the root cause is), but insisted to drive as little as possible.
I’m curious what will be the fix …

 

[Anibal]

Does the leakage puddle increases in size with time after a few days the bike has been seating in your garage? Bearing in mind that you may have a bit of fluid still travelling out.
I only ever had these tiger stripes after a hot day at a ride with sustained high speeds (a one off)
In my case I did not have a leakage on the floor, just very thin stripes like the ones in your pictures and I simple washed the bike afterwards and they have not re appeared since.
I believe what I had was a bit of assembly grease that came out a bit due to high centrifugal forces. Needles to say I don’t ride past 70mls/h, only going to 75mls/h in a short burst to overtake or something.
If you ride at 87mls/h fairly regularly, this could be the cause. Although I have not studied the rear end on details, one will expect that the rear end can sustain these speeds and forces, but like everything else, a sustained stress can lead to some aftermath events. The fluid inside the differential will expand due to a rise in temperature and pressure, which may need to vent out somehow.
Wash the bike and keep normal speeds for a while and see if they re appear. If they do, then have the bike checked by a BMW shop.

 

[oldslodog]

Wow must be a bad leak, mine leaves no puddle. Must only leaks during use. I took it to the dealer a week ago for inspection. Still waiting to see how they approach it. Mine had seal replaced at 1900 miles but leak persists. I suspect a problem with the breather personally. I make my assumptions upon experience as master mechanic. It does not leak while setting, only after extended run 150-200-mile range. I ran it 200 miles Saturday got off and there was streaking present.