Gen4: check your brake calipers. Leakage. Danger.

Today at the dealer just pointing out at one of his new and ready to be sold RR showing a drop of fluid hanging on the edge of the brake disc and about to fall into the shiny carbon wheel.
The bottom of the calipers also wet and with a drop too.

Ouch!

Calipers come end of March he told me.
On site 4 RRs two news two in winter storage 3 with wet calipers. The one not wet has 2500 kms the other 950 aprox.

Mine are dry not showing wetness after last ride when I made sure they are clean before riding.


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Hmm, not good, checked mine on the weekend and all seemed dry, will check again tonight and perhaps just put a cloth/rag at the bottom of the wheel to catch any fluid if it drips, hopefully protecting the wheel.

Did check with my dealer last week and he said there were no recalls on my bike.

ampj8 said:

Today at the dealer just pointing out at one of his new and ready to be sold RR showing a drop of fluid hanging on the edge of the brake disc and about to fall into the shiny carbon wheel.
The bottom of the calipers also wet and with a drop too.

Ouch!

Calipers come end of March he told me.
On site 4 RRs two news two in winter storage 3 with wet calipers. The one not wet has 2500 kms the other 950 aprox.

Mine are dry not showing wetness after last ride when I made sure they are clean before riding.


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This is so funny man, I would be devastated if I was a dealer

Schuey said:

Hmm, not good, checked mine on the weekend and all seemed dry, will check again tonight and perhaps just put a cloth/rag at the bottom of the wheel to catch any fluid if it drips, hopefully protecting the wheel.

Did check with my dealer last week and he said there were no recalls on my bike.

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Calipers leak has not been ack'ed by BMW AG so hence no recall

I have 1 more set of Hayes pads to use (bought 3 upfront) and I'm changing to GP4 RX

Schuey said:

Hmm, not good, checked mine on the weekend and all seemed dry, will check again tonight and perhaps just put a cloth/rag at the bottom of the wheel to catch any fluid if it drips, hopefully protecting the wheel.

Did check with my dealer last week and he said there were no recalls on my bike.

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It is really annoying when they say there is no recall. I had the same conversation with my dealer when they had my bike in for the oil cooler hose clip issue in the hope they would deal with the brake issue whilst they had the bike. They refused as it wasnt a recall. So they delivered the bike back to me with the hose fixed, it sits in the garage for a few weeks unused, and then bmw recovery take it back to the dealer where it now sits. Literally zero miles between dealer visits.

If I ran my business like that I would have gone bust a long time ago. The problem with so many of these multinationals is they only follow process, no common sense allowed.

soofsayer said:

It is really annoying when they say there is no recall. I had the same conversation with my dealer when they had my bike in for the oil cooler hose clip issue in the hope they would deal with the brake issue whilst they had the bike. They refused as it wasnt a recall. So they delivered the bike back to me with the hose fixed, it sits in the garage for a few weeks unused, and then bmw recovery take it back to the dealer where it now sits. Literally zero miles between dealer visits.

If I ran my business like that I would have gone bust a long time ago. The problem with so many of these multinationals is they only follow process, no common sense allowed.

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This is so true, you've hit the nail on the head. I think deep down dealers have the common sense as individuals, but they are forced to go down a certain line to protect their brand and jobs...

It's a shame and I think the failures here are obviously at BMW, which unduly puts the pressure on the dealers who are on the front line. Surely dealers are feeding back to BMW AG?

I think it's a piss take that BMW have not acknowledged this as a recall, when many people across different countries, including across the pond are experiencing this issue. What are BMW waiting for, someone to have a serious accident/fatality before they do anything about it?

Apparently, my dealer knows of this issue on the GS's which have the same Hayes callipers, but said they've not heard of it on the Gen 4 S1000RR's. Said they don't take much notice of what's said on forums unfortunately

Honestly, don't remember this many complaints/issues on the Gen 2 and Gen 3 I had. I love the bike, the way it rides and looks, just hope they address these things ASAP.

if mine leak i will be buying brembos, not going to mess about with taking it back.

Might be worth asking Simon if whilst they are waiting for venture shield if they can check the calipers at the same time.....its something i'm going to do as i'm not collecting the bike for some time....

Right guys, I've just been in the garage and had another closer look and I don't know if I'm looking too hard and trying to find something, but it appears I may have the leaking issue also.

Pic 1 and 2 below: This is the left side caliper and here I initially saw something and then swiped it with my finger, it left a greasy feeling on my finger so suspect it is brake fluid. The area circled in Red is the smudge it left afterwards.

Pic 1


Pic 2


Pic 3 and 4 below: This is the right side caliper where I could see some wetness when flashing the torch, on the inner side of the caliper between the pistons and pad. Area circled and arrowed highlights the suspected leak area.

Pic 3


Pic 4



I would like to add that the bike was washed properly around a week ago and hasn't been ridden since, so I'm not sure if there is just some water been sitting somewhere mixed with some brake dust that caused that greasy feeling on my finger. I'm not sure what I'm looking for to be honest so any comparison pics with the actual issues some of you are definitely getting might be helpful.

Thanks.

if u washed it a week ago then that water would have evaporated by now.........

Edit, I've just looked through the whole thread again and compared to the pics that have already been posted and mine are no way near anything like those. I had to look really hard to find those bits flashing a torch so I'm not sure, open to feedback gents..

madairuk said:

if u washed it a week ago then that water would have evaporated by now.........

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Yes, but its cold and a bit damp in my garage during this weather, it's a separate to the house (as in external not integral) double garage and therefore can get cold in there as I have no heating in it presently.

Schuey said:

Edit, I've just looked through the whole thread again and compared to the pics that have already been posted and mine are no way near anything like those. I had to look really hard to find those bits flashing a torch so I'm not sure, open to feedback gents..

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If there is any brake fluid, even a drop, near your pads/disc it is a problem.

I agree yours would appear far less ?leaky? but no less concerning. I would have a closer look and pull the pads out.

soofsayer said:

If there is any brake fluid, even a drop, near your pads/disc it is a problem.

I agree yours would appear far less ?leaky? but no less concerning. I would have a closer look and pull the pads out.

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Thanks, I'll keep a close eye on it, I couldn't categorically say that was brake fluid, I saw no 'drips' as such, just some wetness which I had seen as shown in the pics I posted above and I'm not sure if it is water or brake fluid because it hasn't been ridden since I washed it. I've wiped the caliper and discs clean now with a workshop paper towel and it was dry. But I get what you're saying and so will check it regularly and be on the phone to the dealer tomorrow to report my concerns.

A good way to find the fluid is to wipe your finger directly under the base of the caliper. Mine collected there quite badly with no visible wetness in sight.

TheGodfather said:

A good way to find the fluid is to wipe your finger directly under the base of the caliper. Mine collected there quite badly with no visible wetness in sight.

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Yip, this was the same with mines.


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TheGodfather said:

A good way to find the fluid is to wipe your finger directly under the base of the caliper. Mine collected there quite badly with no visible wetness in sight.

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Ok, I did do this yesterday on initial inspection and finger was dry fortunately. But will keep an eye so thanks for the tip!

Get some blue roll paper and lay it on the floor under the calipers, protecting the wheels, (assuming it's in a garage) and see if anything drops on it.

Dealer just called to say mine has been fixed, doing some brake testing.
so should have her back in due course

Daz