[Bob K]

As an owner of a 2017 BMW R1200RT, I am now faced with a major and expensive repair bill. During routine maintenance at a local BMW dealer it was discovered my camshafts are wearing prematurely. The bike was purchased this past June with 13K and now has 17K. At this time, I am waiting to hear from the BMW dealer to see if they will offer an assistance with the cost of repairs. Did I mention the cost is $3,500! 😳 What I find most interesting is BMW acknowledged there were existing problems with premature wear on camshaft. If so, then why not fix the problem? So I sit waiting to hear if they will offer any assistance. So be aware such problem do exist.

 

[motorhead1977]

That sucks. Hopefully BMW step up and take care of it. Where are you and what dealership? Keep us posted.

 

[Bob K]

That sucks. Hopefully BMW step up and take care of it. Where are you and what dealership? Keep us posted.

I’m from Pittsburgh. The bike is currently at Kissell Motorsports in Altoona Pa. Will keep you posted.

 

[muffin]

As an owner of a 2017 BMW R1200RT, I am now faced with a major and expensive repair bill. During routine maintenance at a local BMW dealer it was discovered my camshafts are wearing prematurely. The bike was purchased this past June with 13K and now has 17K. At this time, I am waiting to hear from the BMW dealer to see if they will offer an assistance with the cost of repairs. Did I mention the cost is $3,500! 😳 What I find most interesting is BMW acknowledged there were existing problems with premature wear on camshaft. If so, then why not fix the problem? So I sit waiting to hear if they will offer any assistance. So be aware such problem do exist.

Is this a new problem on RT's? I have never seen anything regarding premature wear on camshafts, also I assume they had to remove the camshafts and check the lobe sizes and conditions to confirm this has just using feeler gauges would likely point to shims needing swapped out.

I have a 2015 RT with 33k on it so this is something that would concern me.

 

[deserttan]

I’m from Pittsburgh. The bike is currently at Kissell Motorsports in Altoona Pa. Will keep you posted.

That’s the dealer I use, I live in New Alexandria if you have ever heard of that small town. Please let us know the outcome, I have two RT’s.


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[Bob K]

Is this a new problem on RT's? I have never seen anything regarding premature wear on camshafts, also I assume they had to remove the camshafts and check the lobe sizes and conditions to confirm this has just using feeler gauges would likely point to shims needing swapped out.

I have a 2015 RT with 33k on it so this is something that would concern me.

Can’t answer that it’s a new problem but it does exist. I did check some other BMW forums where others have reported the same issue. During the valve adjustment procedure is when they discovered the premature wear. To him it was very noticeable. Again, BMW was aware this has happened in the past. Just something to pay attention too.

 

[Boxflyer]

Is this a new problem on RT's? I have never seen anything regarding premature wear on camshafts, also I assume they had to remove the camshafts and check the lobe sizes and conditions to confirm this has just using feeler gauges would likely point to shims needing swapped out.

This has been discovered in "some" bikes with varying mileages from the first valve service at 12k to others that it doesn't become obvious until upwards of 60k+.

The way it is discovered is by observing the peak of the lobe, where all the load is during the action of opening the valve. The back side (base circle of the cam) is completely unloaded, hence the clearance of the feeler gauges during normal service and would be very unlikely to show any wear at all.
Most folks find this issue by dragging the tip of your fingernail across the face of the tip of the lobe to feel it grabbing or snagging on the irregular grooving.

 

[PadG]

Is this a new problem on RT's? I have never seen anything regarding premature wear on camshafts, also I assume they had to remove the camshafts and check the lobe sizes and conditions to confirm this has just using feeler gauges would likely point to shims needing swapped out.

I have a 2015 RT with 33k on it so this is something that would concern me.

This is a quality problem that was discovered on the earlier years of the wetheads, yours (and mine) are included. There are quite a few discussions on the issue, in this forum, in the past. BMW had been taking care of the issue, when discovered in the past, and hopefully they will also take care of the issue now!

BTW, muffin, there is another issue that was discovered on the earlier wetheads that you may want to keep in mind. It seems that the earlier years wetheads have another quality issue from the factory, where the cams and position sensor were out of position from where they are supposed to be! Lee (LAF) had done very extensive report on this issue, and had helped many riders to bring their cams into specifications. Three special tools are required, and they are not cheap. I had mine checked by my dealer (whom I trust completely) when my RT went in for new tires, and my cam timing was fine, while the position sensor was off, and therefore was adjusted. I would have had the work done earlier, but my RT had been running quite well, and therefore I didn't think that I had any issues. Lee had also offered to do the work for me, but in this case I wanted to support my dealer a little, since I do all of the maintenance works myself.

If you are interested in learning more about the cam timing issue, you can go through this long thread: 12K Cam Timing Lee also compiled a statistic on the number of boxers that he had checked and how many had issues. I believe that you will find the tabulation somewhere near the end of the thread. Hey Lee, if you are reading this, what is the latest model year boxer that you have seen with the timing issue?

 

[Bob K]

That’s the dealer I use, I live in New Alexandria if you have ever heard of that small town. Please let us know the outcome, I have two RT’s.


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Service Manager Joe has been very helpful. Very familiar with New Alexandria. I live in Penn Hills. I have two RT’s as well. 99 with 37K and the 2017. I’ll let you know the outcome.

 

[muffin]

This is a quality problem that was discovered on the earlier years of the wetheads, yours (and mine) are included. There are quite a few discussions on the issue, in this forum, in the past. BMW had been taking care of the issue, when discovered in the past, and hopefully they will also take care of the issue now!

BTW, muffin, there is another issue that was discovered on the earlier wetheads that you may want to keep in mind. It seems that the earlier years wetheads have another quality issue from the factory, where the cams and position sensor were out of position from where they are supposed to be! Lee (LAF) had done very extensive report on this issue, and had helped many riders to bring their cams into specifications. Three special tools are required, and they are not cheap. I had mine checked by my dealer (whom I trust completely) when my RT went in for new tires, and my cam timing was fine, while the position sensor was off, and therefore was adjusted. I would have had the work done earlier, but my RT had been running quite well, and therefore I didn't think that I had any issues. Lee had also offered to do the work for me, but in this case I wanted to support my dealer a little, since I do all of the maintenance works myself.

If you are interested in learning more about the cam timing issue, you can go through this long thread: 12K Cam Timing Lee also compiled a statistic on the number of boxers that he had checked and how many had issues. I believe that you will find the tabulation somewhere near the end of the thread. Hey Lee, if you are reading this, what is the latest model year boxer that you have seen with the timing issue?

I have never heard of this, I am disappointed in myself as I usually research a vehicle to death before I buy it so I know what I am getting in bed with!

I just did a quick look and it seems to be quite varying amongst all years of wetheads amongst varying miles, I am seeing a lot of people saying their local BMW dealer is fixing this issue free of charge when taken to them but I am not exactly sure I can go to my local dealer (douglas park in glasgow) and say "my cams are worn, it's a known issue, are you guys gonna fix it free of charge?" assuming they are also affected anyway.
My RT has a full BMW service history that is up to date so I would like to think it would have been spotted already, if not I would also like to think they would stand by their ownership of the issue and fix it considering it is a full BMW service history.

Thoughts?

I will look at that cam timing issue once I have munched my grub.

 

[Bob K]

I have never heard of this, I am disappointed in myself as I usual research a vehicle to death before I buy it so I know what I am getting in bed with!

I just did a quick look and it seems to be quite varying amongst all years of wetheads amongst varying miles, I am seeing a lot of people saying their local BMW dealer is fixing this issue free of charge when taken to them but I am not exactly sure I can go to my local dealer (douglas park in glasgow) and say "my cams are worn, it's a known issue, are you guys gonna fix it free of charge?" assuming they are also affected anyway.
My RT has a full BMW service history that is up to date so I would like to think it would have been spotted already, if not I would also like to think they would stand by their ownership of the issue and fix it considering it is a full BMW service history.

Thoughts?

I will look at that cam timing issue once I have munched my grub.

While I bought the bike used this past June, I don’t suspect anyone would be aware of this issue. I will certainly will have the cams replaced. The BMW dealer is waiting to hear from BMW to see what they will do with the cost of repair. Secondly, the BMW dealer is talking with the dealer I bought the bike from. Yes. Two different dealers involved in the situation. The dealer I bought the bike from is in the process of becoming the local BMW dealer in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. I’ll post more information as it develops.

 

[muffin]

While I bought the bike used this past June, I don’t suspect anyone would be aware of this issue. I will certainly will have the cams replaced. The BMW dealer is waiting to hear from BMW to see what they will do with the cost of repair. Secondly, the BMW dealer is talking with the dealer I bought the bike from. Yes. Two different dealers involved in the situation. The dealer I bought the bike from is in the process of becoming the local BMW dealer in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. I’ll post more information as it develops.

It is interesting to hear that your dealer is now in talks with the other dealer regarding the issue, I'm intrigued to see how that pans out.

I will get my cam covers off and have a look at my cams, sadly I won't be able to check my timing as I would need the required tools, I do have a friend in my local bmw dealer so I will speak to him and see what I can arrange.

 

[casbar]

It is interesting to hear that your dealer is now in talks with the other dealer regarding the issue, I'm intrigued to see how that pans out.

I will get my cam covers off and have a look at my cams, sadly I won't be able to check my timing as I would need the required tools, I do have a friend in my local bmw dealer so I will speak to him and see what I can arrange.

This isn't an issue with all bikes. I have a 2015 60k miles Rtp sat in my garage and the cams are fine and have been checked. But the bike did have alternator failure which cost over 2k to fix though

 

[muffin]

This isn't an issue with all bikes. I have a 2015 60k miles Rtp sat in my garage and the cams are fine and have been checked. But the bike did have alternator failure which cost over 2k to fix though

Yeah, there doesn't seem to be any sort of unifying thing to connect the years and models of failures, bad batch of cams? poor quality hardening? that would be my thoughts but I haven't yet seen a correlation of between X and X year or between X and X vins, it's quite sporadic and random, heck it's even well known in the states so can't even be put down to a particular batch of bikes!

I will speak to my buddy at BMW first as he is the head tech, the cam timing issue would make sense for my surging issue, then again...maybe I am just being paranoid.

 

[deserttan]

Service Manager Joe has been very helpful. Very familiar with New Alexandria. I live in Penn Hills. I have two RT’s as well. 99 with 37K and the 2017. I’ll let you know the outcome. View attachment 172072

Mine is the first RT planet blue 719 my Sweetheart’s RT is the white one. We should meet up sometime


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[LAF]

This is a quality problem that was discovered on the earlier years of the wetheads, yours (and mine) are included. There are quite a few discussions on the issue, in this forum, in the past. BMW had been taking care of the issue, when discovered in the past, and hopefully they will also take care of the issue now!

BTW, muffin, there is another issue that was discovered on the earlier wetheads that you may want to keep in mind. It seems that the earlier years wetheads have another quality issue from the factory, where the cams and position sensor were out of position from where they are supposed to be! Lee (LAF) had done very extensive report on this issue, and had helped many riders to bring their cams into specifications. Three special tools are required, and they are not cheap. I had mine checked by my dealer (whom I trust completely) when my RT went in for new tires, and my cam timing was fine, while the position sensor was off, and therefore was adjusted. I would have had the work done earlier, but my RT had been running quite well, and therefore I didn't think that I had any issues. Lee had also offered to do the work for me, but in this case I wanted to support my dealer a little, since I do all of the maintenance works myself.

If you are interested in learning more about the cam timing issue, you can go through this long thread: 12K Cam Timing Lee also compiled a statistic on the number of boxers that he had checked and how many had issues. I believe that you will find the tabulation somewhere near the end of the thread. Hey Lee, if you are reading this, what is the latest model year boxer that you have seen with the timing issue?

I have not checked any in a long time except my own.

I did a 17 that was off on the cam timing but the cam position sensor was way out of wack. After I set that the owner said the 2nd push to start vanished.

I am not sure how the 1250 has panned out on cam checks. If I had plans on buying one I would buy the cam jig and find out by offering to check them. Since the other two tools work it would not be too bad. I just am sure I am done with my 1200 17.5 GS. It has everything I want and need. Not sure what they get for that cam alignment jig cost wise? If it was me I would want them checked based on my experiences checking all the 1200's I did.

It is also where the cam hardening issue came to my attention as the person who wrote the artical asked me to fingernail all the cam lobes to look for the issue. In roughly 40 cam timing checks I never felt a bad cam. However I have seen one discovered and that is just a sickening feeling.

 

[PadG]

It is interesting to hear that your dealer is now in talks with the other dealer regarding the issue, I'm intrigued to see how that pans out.

I will get my cam covers off and have a look at my cams, sadly I won't be able to check my timing as I would need the required tools, I do have a friend in my local bmw dealer so I will speak to him and see what I can arrange.

Getting the dealer to check the timing for you is a lot cheaper than buying the tools. Once it's to spec. you won't have to worry about it again, because the only way that the cam timing will change in the future is from timing chain "stretch". As for the cam wear, you will quickly see if you have any problems or not, once you get the valve cover off and rotate the engines so that you can see all the surfaces. Oh, you did get yourself a coil-puller to pull the coils off the plugs, didn't you? Quite inexpensive, and available on eBay or Amazon, but you will need one to pull the coils so that the plugs can be removed.

 

[PadG]

Yeah, there doesn't seem to be any sort of unifying thing to connect the years and models of failures, bad batch of cams? poor quality hardening? that would be my thoughts but I haven't yet seen a correlation of between X and X year or between X and X vins, it's quite sporadic and random, heck it's even well known in the states so can't even be put down to a particular batch of bikes!

I will speak to my buddy at BMW first as he is the head tech, the cam timing issue would make sense for my surging issue, then again...maybe I am just being paranoid.

If you are at all familiar with the production of camshaft and crankshaft, then you will know that failure of, or incomplete hardening process is exactly what cause these defects. I am far from impressed with the German's QA system, in general!

 

[2017 Rt]

As an owner of a 2017 BMW R1200RT, I am now faced with a major and expensive repair bill. During routine maintenance at a local BMW dealer it was discovered my camshafts are wearing prematurely. The bike was purchased this past June with 13K and now has 17K. At this time, I am waiting to hear from the BMW dealer to see if they will offer an assistance with the cost of repairs. Did I mention the cost is $3,500! 😳 What I find most interesting is BMW acknowledged there were existing problems with premature wear on camshaft. If so, then why not fix the problem? So I sit waiting to hear if they will offer any assistance. So be aware such problem do exist.

same on mine but at 60k. Cost about $700 to replace one.

 

[Filterman]

As an owner of a 2017 BMW R1200RT, I am now faced with a major and expensive repair bill. During routine maintenance at a local BMW dealer it was discovered my camshafts are wearing prematurely. The bike was purchased this past June with 13K and now has 17K. At this time, I am waiting to hear from the BMW dealer to see if they will offer an assistance with the cost of repairs. Did I mention the cost is $3,500! 😳 What I find most interesting is BMW acknowledged there were existing problems with premature wear on camshaft. If so, then why not fix the problem? So I sit waiting to hear if they will offer any assistance. So be aware such problem do exist.

BMW IS NOT WHAT IT BUILT ITS REPUTATION ON ANYMORE