NHTSA Complaint #11016539 — 2012 BMW F800 GS

STOCK CHARGING SYSTEM FAILED AT ONLY 47,000 MILES. REPLACED WITH AFTERMARKET PARTS DUE TO COST. BMW SAYS YOU MUST REPLACE STATOR AND ROTOR, WHEN ONLY THE STATOR HAS FAILED. THE NEW STATOR FAILED WITHIN 6,000 MILES. REPLACED AGAIN, AND AGAIN. THEY FAIL ROUGHLY EVERY 8,000 MILES. THE ISSUE WAS RESOLVED WITH 2013 AND NEWER MODELS, BUT THE OLD BIKES ARE STILL FAILING AT AN ALARMING RATE. WITH NO HELP FROM BMW, THESE ARE STILL A MAJOR ISSUE. WHEN THE BATTERY BECOMES LOW, THE ABS PUMP STOPS WORKING FIRST, THEN THE LIGHTS, THEN THE FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM WITH THE MOTOR SHUTTING OFF. HAS LEFT ME STRANDED ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS. I WAS STATIONED IN GUAM WITH FIRST FAILURE. NOT EASY GETTING A TOW ACROSS A SMALL ISLAND WITH NO ACCESS TO A BMW DEALERSHIP. THE REMAINING FAILURES HAVE ALL BEEN BACK STATESIDE. THE MOST RECENT FAILURE LEFT ME STRANDED TWO MILES FROM HOME WHILE COMING HOME LATE ONE NIGHT. WHILE RIDING, MY ABS INDICATOR FLASHED, LETTING ME KNOW THAT I HAVE A LOW BATTERY. THEN THE LIGHT WENT SOLID, INDICATING ABS PUMP FAILURE DUE TO LOW VOLTAGE. THEN MY LCD DASH AND TACHOMETER WENT OUT. THEN MY HEADLIGHT, RUNNING, AND BRAKE LIGHTS TURNED OFF, AT NIGHT, ON A 4 LANE INNER CITY ROAD. NOT EVEN MY HAZARD LIGHTS WORKED. THEN THE BIKES FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM FAILED AND STALLED. I COASTED TO A RIGHT TURN LANE SAFELY AND PROCEEDED TO PUSH THE MOTORCYCLE THE REMAINING TWO MILES. UPON DISASSEMBLY OF MY STATOR, IT WAS SEVERELY BURNT TO DUE A LACK OF OIL COOLING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE MOTOR. I KNOW BMW MAKES MANY MOTORCYCLES WITH THE SAME F800 SERIES ENGINES. THEY ARE A COMMON PROBLEM APPARENTLY AND ALSO VERY EXPENSIVE TO FIX. AS THE BATTERY AND CHARGING SYSTEM IS CRUCIAL TO MOST MOTORCYCLES, THIS IS CERTAINLY A SAFETY RISK AND SHOULD BE ADDRESSED AS SO. THANK YOU.