2017 Engine failure, missed track day and replacement!

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MRD1000

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Afternoon all,

As requested by a couple of people, here follows a few words about what happened to my bike a couple of weeks ago whilst on my way to the BMW owners club track day at Snetterton (Wednesday 8th Aug):

Background: Purchased new in May 2017, 6500 miles on the clock, annual service completed in May of this year. Non-modified engine. No previous issues whatsoever. In warranty.

I was on the A11 not far from Thetford. Lane 2, cruising with traffic, temps normal, bike feeling normal.

Bike suddenly hesitates and loses power, no warning lights at this stage but a quick look in the mirror tells me all I need to know: A huge plume of white smoke is billowing from the right hand side...faaaak!

Immediately look to get off the road and thankfully a slip road was a couple of hundred meters away. Engine started to make some expensive sounding noises at this point and the low oil warning lamp came on.

Parked up and assessed the situation: Oil dropping from around the rear of the engine. Exhaust system, rear wheel and tyre (!) covered in oil. I was lucky to stay upright.

Phoned BMW emergency services to recover me (good service, specific bike recovery vehicle). I requested to be recovered to Reiten Motorrad (local to me, serviced there, good guys).

As I got myself home in the very nice 3 Series loan car they stripped the plastics and started initial assessment: A hole in the crankcase at the front of the engine, bloody hell!

Further stripping the engine they found that a valve in cylinder 1 had failed, dropped and the resulting internal interfacing caused a con rod to punch the hole. In their experience they say they had never seen a gen 3 drop a valve, and were very surprised.

I must say that Reiten and BMW have been exceptional; no quibbling, whole new engine approved and delivered on the Saturday, fitted and trailered back to me the following Tuesday. New rear Dunlop TT fitted and some other goodwill thrown in.

I can confirm that being back on the limiter for 600 miles is as frustrating as you can imagine, however, a small price to pay to know that I have a fresh motor underneath me.

I believe the engine is going back to Berlin for analysis, obviously a component has failed in a big way.

So, thanks to Reiten Motorrad and BMW for getting me back on the road efficiently and with excellent customer service. My thinking is that I've been very unlucky to have an engine fail in this way so the chances of a second one expiring on me are minimal!

Cheers
Mike
 

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BMW Customer Service

That?s exceptional customer service from BMW.
 
Thanks for the write up, glad you had a good experience with the dealer - it was a fairly open and shut case without modifications and a hole punched in the block!
 
I know everything is good with the customer service etc but what was the problem with the motor?
 
As stated, the problem most likely lies with a failure of a component in the valve train. Without further technical analysis by BMW themselves the exact failure mode/component isn't know at this point.
 
Pleased you got it sorted so efficiently and that you didn't end up on your arse on the A11!
 
Thanks for posting this Mike. Glad you were unscathed although rightly peeved at missing the trackday (although I heard Alex was holding everyone up on track so you didn't miss much ;) ).

A story that could have gone really wrong in many ways has turned out not so bad. Good customer service as you would expect, and very quick to sort. I have not heard of a catastrophic engine failure like that before on a BMW road bike that was stock, so BMW will undoubtedly be all over that engine when they get it back on the mothership.

If you do happen to get a post mortem on the engine please let us know.
 
Nice treatment from the dealer Mike, good job it didn't happen on the track at a high lean or mega speed, great that you were ok and you got a speedy replacement.
As Soofy says, it will be interesting to get the lowdown on what failed.

JimmyMac
 
Interesting post Mike, and just echoing Jimmy's comments, it was my initial thought as I read through the post, lets face it we don't have these bikes to toddle about on, lucky you weren't beasting it.

Did they say they would report back any findings ?.

S

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 
Interesting post Mike, and just echoing Jimmy's comments, it was my initial thought as I read through the post, lets face it we don't have these bikes to toddle about on, lucky you weren't beasting it.

Did they say they would report back any findings ?.

S

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Thanks Stuart, and the rest, for your comments. Could have been a very different story if at speed and/or cranked over.

Reiten have said they will keep me updated as and when (and if) they hear back from BM.

Cheers

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
 
Glad to hear it's all sorted for you. James (the aftersales manager) at Reiten is a top chap as I'm sure his team is too. Enjoy the bike and don't worry, the 600 miles will fly by :)
 
one oily rear tyre , top marks for staying on . great you got it sorted . old saying is a bike is only as good as its after service
 
Im glad you experienced this crazy failure at the lower end of the revs, as i would expect when on track, you would have taken it to the further end of the clock. For a newish engine to have a catastrophe failure is by far unacceptable, it could have turned out really badly for you. I am glad that you had a quality service by BMW. Hopefully you get the opportunity to partake in a future trackday free of charge.
 
Jeez, I'm on a 2017....bit worrying.

I spoke to the guys at Reiten a couple of months ago about a ticking i have at 4k. They said every engine has it's own sounds etc and was nothing to worry about. Mine will be serviced by Reiten.

Don't suppose yours had a ticking sound at 4k did it? Worth an ask!

Cheers

Mark
 
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