NHTSA Complaint #10628565 — 2005 BMW R 1200 RT

MOTORCYCLE FUEL GAUGE NOT WORKING. ALWAYS SHOWING EMPTY. TOOK MOTORCYCLE TO DEALER AND HAD FUEL LEVEL SENSOR REPLACED. MOTORCYCLE FUEL GAUGE NOW SHOWING FULL ALL THE TIME UNTIL ONE RECENT FUEL FILL UP IT WENT BACK TO SHOWING EMPTY. I HAD BEEN USING THE TRIP METER TO JUDGE FUEL LEVEL FILLING THE TANK AT 250 MILES. ON THE DATE OF THIS INCIDENT, IN THE MIDDLE OF HEAVY TRAFFIC, I RAN OUT OF FUEL AT APPROX. 200 MILES. I MANAGED TO GET OFF OF THE ROAD WITHOUT GETTING RUN OVER. I HAVE CALLED BMW NORTH AMERICA AND WAS TOLD THAT THE FUEL SENSOR PROBLEM WAS NOT KNOWN ABOUT BUT THAT SHE WOULD TAKE MY COMPLAINT. I HAVE READ MANY, MANY......MANY COMPLAINTS FROM BMW OWNERS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. I WAS TOLD BY A DEALER THAT BMW HAD EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO COVER THIS PROBLEM FOR 12 YEARS BUT BMW HAD NOT FIXED THE PROBLEM. THEY WOULD JUST CONTINUE TO REPLACE THE SENSORS UNTIL THE 12 YEARS PASSED. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM EVIDENTLY NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY BMW. IN THE LATTER PART OF 2010 THEY WENT BACK TO A FLOAT STYLE SENSOR BUT HAVE MADE NO ATTEMPT TO FIX THE PROBLEM CREATED BY A POSSIBLE MATERIAL DEFECT AND/OR POOR DESIGN IN THEIR FUEL LEVEL SENSORS INSTALLED IN MODEL YEARS 2005 THROUGH MIDDLE OF 2010. *TR