Rust in Peace - Spots of Rust and Corrosion on your R18

McEnroe

McEnroe

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Hello everyone, I wanted to open a dedicated thread on this topic of corrosion and give everyone the opportunity to find out about rust spots / corrosion spots in advance and to take the appropriate prevention.

So please share the vulnerable areas you found here - please try to share a photo - as well as possible remedies (other than going back to the dealership ;-) )

I discovered three rust spots near the rear brake. The holes for the side license plate holder are very vulnerable. After washing, when the motorcycle is on the side stand, there is water in the holes and corrosion occurs.
As a remedy, I cleaned the holes very laboriously, with a brass brush, rust remover, some rust converter for the remaining rust, which I could not get out. Then I cleaned the correct screws (M8X20-8.8-MK; part number 07129908415) - mine were already free of microencapsulation because they were used before - and then coated them with Loctite 243 medium-strength. I then screwed these hand-tight into the holes - this should permanently eliminate the problem. The holes are on both sides of the swing arm - three in total.

I have reached out to BMW in Germany directly - I will keep you updated on this.

Thank you, McEnroe
 

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Crs443 said:
Is that road salt on your bike? It kinda looks like road salt spray in the pictures
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No, it is just dust from wax, which I just rubbed of and light reflections. I did clean the bike before I found the rust spots.

But I rode the bike on streets with dry road salt (never wet or in the rain) and washed it with cold water very thoroughly after use (as described in the manual). That is why - I guess - there was a rest of water in the affected areas. Nevertheless - a €25k bike should not produce this type of rust so quickly. If the area is vulnerable, they need to seal it off with a simple screw as I just did. I am quite disapointed that this happend. The bike had just 372miles (600km) and 3 x washed with cold water (actually, just rinsed down from top to bottom) to get rid of any road salt.
 
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I discovered this rusty indicator connector to the right side. Yuk. Looks like something BMW should change under warranty.
 

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Crs443 said:
I hope rust doesn't become a common issue with the bike. Looks like quality control issues
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Probably right. The rusty pin/ball joint is only on one side, the other is ok (so far).
 
McEnroe said:
Someone posted the same issue with his indicator light in a German R18 forum. BMW did exchange this part without any discussion. I would expect nothing less.
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(y) She's going in to have some TLC on the 8th so they should do it then.
 
McEnroe said:
Hello everyone, I wanted to open a dedicated thread on this topic of corrosion and give everyone the opportunity to find out about rust spots / corrosion spots in advance and to take the appropriate prevention.

So please share the vulnerable areas you found here - please try to share a photo - as well as possible remedies (other than going back to the dealership ;-) )

I discovered three rust spots near the rear brake. The holes for the side license plate holder are very vulnerable. After washing, when the motorcycle is on the side stand, there is water in the holes and corrosion occurs.
As a remedy, I cleaned the holes very laboriously, with a brass brush, rust remover, some rust converter for the remaining rust, which I could not get out. Then I cleaned the correct screws (M8X20-8.8-MK; part number 07129908415) - mine were already free of microencapsulation because they were used before - and then coated them with Loctite 243 medium-strength. I then screwed these hand-tight into the holes - this should permanently eliminate the problem. The holes are on both sides of the swing arm - three in total.

I have reached out to BMW in Germany directly - I will keep you updated on this.

Thank you, McEnroe
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As promised, here is my update: BMW immediatly offered to replace the rear part of the frame. As this is major work to the frame, I decided against it. I have fixed the situation myself and sealed the holes with proper screws. But I wanted to let you know that there was no discussion and BMW immediately offered to fix this.
 
Deleted member 213 said:
I discovered this rusty indicator connector to the right side. Yuk. Looks like something BMW should change under warranty.
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Incredible ! How is that possible ! Was this bike made in China ? for the amount of money we paid , In 2021 , this kind of thing is just cost cutting and needs to be really fighted back , no excuse for BMW .
 
It is indeed a know problem - it seems they had a charge of bad connectors. BMW will replace this without any issues. At my Harley Davidson Deluxe (2018) I had rust in my tank and water in my speedo - Harley did absolutely nothing. So, I guess every company has issues - but I have absolutely no complaints on BMW's willingness to fix things so far.
 
PhilBret said:
Incredible ! How is that possible ! Was this bike made in China ? for the amount of money we paid , In 2021 , this kind of thing is just cost cutting and needs to be really fighted back , no excuse for BMW .
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The last bad BMW parts that caused a general recall were manufactured in South Carolina.
K1600 Shifter forks.
 
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