That was fun while it lasted

So you've waited 6 months for these parts? Or am I reading this incorrectly?
Kind of…. This issue is really about the piston just passing a lot of oil. We decided to do it in the winter but the piston set was unavailable. So, yes but its not like the bike was unusable or at risk somehow. Then… from mid December to March I dont ride much at all. Parts and accessories are a nightmare for this bike due to supply train issues. The parts are on their way from Germany
 
Kind of…. This issue is really about the piston just passing a lot of oil. We decided to do it in the winter but the piston set was unavailable. So, yes but its not like the bike was unusable or at risk somehow. Then… from mid December to March I dont ride much at all. Parts and accessories are a nightmare for this bike due to supply train issues. The parts are on their way from Germany
That sucks. I hope you get this resolved to your satisfaction and back on the road.
This might be a good litmus test for the rest of us on BMW customer/warranty service. Keep us posted. Be safe.
 
That sucks. I hope you get this resolved to your satisfaction and back on the road.
This might be a good litmus test for the rest of us on BMW customer/warranty service. Keep us posted. Be safe.
Bike runs fine already but oil would gather in the cylinder and blow smoke all over. Also the bike is using a lot of oil. I have been riding warranted BMW bikes for over 25 years and simply… I never had one break. I was a bit surprised to see as many troubles as my bike has had given that record. Bad piston, mangled clutch cable, some loose bolts I fixed myself…

There is no doubt dealer/BMW will take care of you, supply train issues and an overwhelming number of defective bikes and recalls on other bikes has been an issue with timing.
 
people get all worked up, see above statement. I have ridden a BMW to the moon and back and it always got me home. My Piston problem showed up on day two and the clutch started leaking at about 6 weeks. I just wrapped a paper towel and some duct tape around the fitting until it could be replaced. I haven‘t missed a day of riding
 
Man, don't scare me! I I only have about 20mi on mine. So far, so good.
The problem starts around 2-3 miles.Now that you have 20 miles,you should be good...;)Just kidding..
 
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On a serious note.It sounds like there was a area in the cylinder where the nikisil was incomplete and was not fully coated into the entire cylinder liner.
The bike would run as described by Mr E.
 
The fix is not a new cylinder liner I believe. It is a new piston and ring set
Oh okay.
The nikisil cylinders are definitely harder than the ring.
I am curious though.Please check and see if they sent a new cylinder with the piston.

Thx,TK
 
Oh okay.
The nikisil cylinders are definitely harder than the ring.
I am curious though.Please check and see if they sent a new cylinder with the piston.

Thx,TK
Installing a new Cylinder and new Piston w/rings doesn't sound unreasonable.
Good luck and hope you get things sorted.
 
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Sooo.... BMW of North America has come to their senses after 8 months of hemming and hawing and finally done the right thing (enough) and I actually will be keeping my bike. SOme observations on the final resolution:
A. BMW North America customer service is perhaps the worst customer service organization I have ever encountered. I am not embellishing; I am a banker and if I was this laissez faire about a defective product or misleading statements, The FDIC or OCC would fine my bank a jillion zillion dollars.
B. This was a serious issue and they tried to let a basic customer service guy handle this; it escalated because the person had no power to actually do anything
C. The dealer kinda booted this but it was lack of availability of any parts to repair the defective bike that took me to the stratosphere.
D. I have ridden BMW motorcycles hundreds of thousands of miles. I have purchased four brand new ones. After this experience I can promise you I will never give them another dollar. What a nightmare

Anyway... now I can get back to the regularly scheduled programming. Let's ride
 
Sooo.... BMW of North America has come to their senses after 8 months of hemming and hawing and finally done the right thing (enough) and I actually will be keeping my bike. SOme observations on the final resolution:
A. BMW North America customer service is perhaps the worst customer service organization I have ever encountered. I am not embellishing; I am a banker and if I was this laissez faire about a defective product or misleading statements, The FDIC or OCC would fine my bank a jillion zillion dollars.
B. This was a serious issue and they tried to let a basic customer service guy handle this; it escalated because the person had no power to actually do anything
C. The dealer kinda booted this but it was lack of availability of any parts to repair the defective bike that took me to the stratosphere.
D. I have ridden BMW motorcycles hundreds of thousands of miles. I have purchased four brand new ones. After this experience I can promise you I will never give them another dollar. What a nightmare

Anyway... now I can get back to the regularly scheduled programming. Let's ride
Interesting... Please, tell us what was finally the problem with the bike and the solution they gave to you
 
Well, Luis; The day after I bought the bike it started spewing smoke... and I mean a lot of smoke, out of the left cylinder. Clearly something was permitting a lot of oil to seep through the left cylinder and then when the bike was started or when it felt like it, oil would burn through the exhaust. I'm not one to overreact; It is a known issue and BMW had a PUMA... and in the short term I know no harm would happen. But I was concerned about all that extra loose oil and long term effects on the left side of the engine. I told the dealer, after they informed me the parts weren't available, that fixing it last winter would be fine.

Then, the clutch line started leaking and it took them over a month to address it. This was my first run in with BMW Motorrad North America's useless customer service group. It is insane, and I mean insane, to think you couldn't fed ex a tube from Germany and fix the bike. The people on the phone were utterly useless and it was addressed. I reminded the dealer to fix the piston this winter.

February came, no phone call. I went to the dealer and they acted like it was an utter surprise to them. They ordered the parts...

May came, no phone call. I sent BMW NA a certified letter and asked for them to refund my money for the bike. All of a sudden I had an utterly useless case manager to the problem (and he was utterly useless) Then I find out the dealer has the parts. They never called me; the principal telling me they were "swamped". That didn't help. 2 weeks go by, I have my counsel send BMW NA another letter...

So we came up with a solution amenable to me only after I inform them "yes, I'm going to sue you." We have settled the matter, the bike is finally getting fixed while I'm on vacation and all is right with the world.

But I was shocked about the sheer lack of response or care given to the matter. I mailed my 500,000 mile award back to them yesterday and told them to stuff it and the thing that toasts my cookies the most is if they treat me like that, how do you thin they's treat someone else? They didn't for a moment think about their reputation when folks see one of their bikes spewing oil in a gas station parking lot.

I really wanted this bike because it is a cool representation of the BMW that WAS. My first road bike, at 15 was a neat old Earle's fork R60. I love the bikes of the 30's. I really really wanted it. The BMW that is... they can keep it. When I got rid of my GS, with over 100,000 miles on the clock last year I ordered a Harley PanAmerica. Now to get a bike as good as the GS, I had to order all available factory options and it took them a year but I can also tell ya the Pan America flat kicks the GS's butt on all fronts (and I do ride on dirt and gravel) and cost about $3000 less. I can also tell ya that when I weedled my thug Dyna to their shop (and this bike is highly modified and Harley has no responsibility for it) they fixed it in an hour!

I really was torn between a softtail slim (which inspired BMW to make the R18) and the absolutely gorgeous R18. Really torn. Its a bit sad to know now it was a ridiculously bad decision. Live and learn.
 
Well, Luis; The day after I bought the bike it started spewing smoke... and I mean a lot of smoke, out of the left cylinder. Clearly something was permitting a lot of oil to seep through the left cylinder and then when the bike was started or when it felt like it, oil would burn through the exhaust. I'm not one to overreact; It is a known issue and BMW had a PUMA... and in the short term I know no harm would happen. But I was concerned about all that extra loose oil and long term effects on the left side of the engine. I told the dealer, after they informed me the parts weren't available, that fixing it last winter would be fine.

Then, the clutch line started leaking and it took them over a month to address it. This was my first run in with BMW Motorrad North America's useless customer service group. It is insane, and I mean insane, to think you couldn't fed ex a tube from Germany and fix the bike. The people on the phone were utterly useless and it was addressed. I reminded the dealer to fix the piston this winter.

February came, no phone call. I went to the dealer and they acted like it was an utter surprise to them. They ordered the parts...

May came, no phone call. I sent BMW NA a certified letter and asked for them to refund my money for the bike. All of a sudden I had an utterly useless case manager to the problem (and he was utterly useless) Then I find out the dealer has the parts. They never called me; the principal telling me they were "swamped". That didn't help. 2 weeks go by, I have my counsel send BMW NA another letter...

So we came up with a solution amenable to me only after I inform them "yes, I'm going to sue you." We have settled the matter, the bike is finally getting fixed while I'm on vacation and all is right with the world.

But I was shocked about the sheer lack of response or care given to the matter. I mailed my 500,000 mile award back to them yesterday and told them to stuff it and the thing that toasts my cookies the most is if they treat me like that, how do you thin they's treat someone else? They didn't for a moment think about their reputation when folks see one of their bikes spewing oil in a gas station parking lot.

I really wanted this bike because it is a cool representation of the BMW that WAS. My first road bike, at 15 was a neat old Earle's fork R60. I love the bikes of the 30's. I really really wanted it. The BMW that is... they can keep it. When I got rid of my GS, with over 100,000 miles on the clock last year I ordered a Harley PanAmerica. Now to get a bike as good as the GS, I had to order all available factory options and it took them a year but I can also tell ya the Pan America flat kicks the GS's butt on all fronts (and I do ride on dirt and gravel) and cost about $3000 less. I can also tell ya that when I weedled my thug Dyna to their shop (and this bike is highly modified and Harley has no responsibility for it) they fixed it in an hour!

I really was torn between a softtail slim (which inspired BMW to make the R18) and the absolutely gorgeous R18. Really torn. Its a bit sad to know now it was a ridiculously bad decision. Live and learn.
So, do u have the bike back now?
 
Well, Luis; The day after I bought the bike it started spewing smoke... and I mean a lot of smoke, out of the left cylinder. Clearly something was permitting a lot of oil to seep through the left cylinder and then when the bike was started or when it felt like it, oil would burn through the exhaust. I'm not one to overreact; It is a known issue and BMW had a PUMA... and in the short term I know no harm would happen. But I was concerned about all that extra loose oil and long term effects on the left side of the engine. I told the dealer, after they informed me the parts weren't available, that fixing it last winter would be fine.

Then, the clutch line started leaking and it took them over a month to address it. This was my first run in with BMW Motorrad North America's useless customer service group. It is insane, and I mean insane, to think you couldn't fed ex a tube from Germany and fix the bike. The people on the phone were utterly useless and it was addressed. I reminded the dealer to fix the piston this winter.

February came, no phone call. I went to the dealer and they acted like it was an utter surprise to them. They ordered the parts...

May came, no phone call. I sent BMW NA a certified letter and asked for them to refund my money for the bike. All of a sudden I had an utterly useless case manager to the problem (and he was utterly useless) Then I find out the dealer has the parts. They never called me; the principal telling me they were "swamped". That didn't help. 2 weeks go by, I have my counsel send BMW NA another letter...

So we came up with a solution amenable to me only after I inform them "yes, I'm going to sue you." We have settled the matter, the bike is finally getting fixed while I'm on vacation and all is right with the world.

But I was shocked about the sheer lack of response or care given to the matter. I mailed my 500,000 mile award back to them yesterday and told them to stuff it and the thing that toasts my cookies the most is if they treat me like that, how do you thin they's treat someone else? They didn't for a moment think about their reputation when folks see one of their bikes spewing oil in a gas station parking lot.

I really wanted this bike because it is a cool representation of the BMW that WAS. My first road bike, at 15 was a neat old Earle's fork R60. I love the bikes of the 30's. I really really wanted it. The BMW that is... they can keep it. When I got rid of my GS, with over 100,000 miles on the clock last year I ordered a Harley PanAmerica. Now to get a bike as good as the GS, I had to order all available factory options and it took them a year but I can also tell ya the Pan America flat kicks the GS's butt on all fronts (and I do ride on dirt and gravel) and cost about $3000 less. I can also tell ya that when I weedled my thug Dyna to their shop (and this bike is highly modified and Harley has no responsibility for it) they fixed it in an hour!

I really was torn between a softtail slim (which inspired BMW to make the R18) and the absolutely gorgeous R18. Really torn. Its a bit sad to know now it was a ridiculously bad decision. Live and learn.
BMW really couldn't be worst about the R18 management. Certainly the COVID19 was against the completely new model because the "containers problem", but things like your issue could be better answered, for example simply changing your bike for a new one and not trying to deal with an unknowledge product versus an excellent client
 
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