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My R1200S blew its engine yesterday

ST Guy said:
I'm betting it has nothing to do with burned valves and fuel/air mix and pipes. 'Likely a mechanical failure.
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I'm sure the rest of the anti-BMW crew hopes for the same outcome.
 
Schtum said:
Not quite. The lambda sensors will only adjust the mixture when the system is operating in closed-loop mode, ie at lower rpm's and smaller throttle openings and even then only if the fuelling requirements are within the parameters of the OE map in the ECU.
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That sounds like exactly the throttle/RPM range where the stock fuel map is dangerously lean.

...but I think your experience trumps my theory.
 
:|
I've been around the R1200 GS, RT, R, and S models and out of them all, the S was the quirkiest but fun...

as mentioned, it does need to have the FI dialed in, and an akropovich system but even then it wasn't perfect...

depends on the dealer, some bmw shops don't care what's on it and others are by the book...depends on their relationship with NABMW...

while it shares the same 1200 motor, there are changes for higher compression, lighter weight, higher angle of the cylinder heads for clearance, and more hp than the other 1200s ...I always thought they should of put the R1200R set up in there including the throttle body instead of the throttle by wire they have for the S...

the 1200s do burn oil that the dealers know about and often give a quart of oil but it stops after 6000 miles and run smoother...

haven't seen much problems with the R motors as I do the 08-09 CBR1000s though...

best of luck....motomarin know their stuff...
 
BMW boxers in general tend to consume oil. But the oil seems to evaporate in the crankcase, rather than slipping past the rings to be burned in the cylinder. My R1150R consumed nearly a liter per 2000miles, yet a plug inspection showed no signs of burning oil. Same was true of a friend with a R1200ST - he had a similar burn rate on BMW oil, even though a visual inspection of his cylinders showed no problems, and his compression was above average.

Switching to a heavier oil with a very low volatility really helped in my case. Amsoil 20w50 brought the consumption rate down to about .5 liters in 6000 miles.
 
Burning1 said:
BMW boxers in general tend to consume oil. But the oil seems to evaporate in the crankcase.
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Being pumped out a breather by two big pistons maybe?

Perhaps BMW and Harley could join forces on the issue? Isn't the most complex part of a Harley engine the breather valve? *ducking*
 
plumber said:
I'm sure the rest of the anti-BMW crew hopes for the same outcome.
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I'm not anti-BMW. Just sayin' that based on what we've heard from the OP that all the valves were crunched on the one side, that points to a cam that stopped turning. And thus, to some sort of mechanical failure in the cam drive. If it was a burned valve, more often than not, they don't just fall apart. Could happen, but not usually. Besides, unless it's a really radical exhaust, most modern fuel injection systems can compensate. It's also sad to hear there's more than a few instances of this happening on the 1200's as I've been thinking how nice it would be to have a newer GS.
 
ST Guy said:
I'm not anti-BMW. Just sayin' that based on what we've heard from the OP that all the valves were crunched on the one side, that points to a cam that stopped turning. And thus, to some sort of mechanical failure in the cam drive. If it was a burned valve, more often than not, they don't just fall apart. Could happen, but not usually. Besides, unless it's a really radical exhaust, most modern fuel injection systems can compensate. It's also sad to hear there's more than a few instances of this happening on the 1200's as I've been thinking how nice it would be to have a newer GS.
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You always come out in these threads ripping on the roundel. This thread isn't any different.
 
On some of the German Boxer sites, they seem to check their valve train on a VERY regular basis...

My dad was going to buy a BMW and move away from Ducati because of the lower maintenance...then he went to MotoMarin and found the valve check/adjustment interval was identical to his...and only about $100 cheaper...so he still rocks the 4V ST4S and gets his free water at AMA/MotoGP races...
 
Valve check interval on my R1150R was 12000 miles. All but two of the valves were in spec when I performed the inspection.
 
NorCal_SV650S said:
On some of the German Boxer sites, they seem to check their valve train on a VERY regular basis...

My dad was going to buy a BMW and move away from Ducati because of the lower maintenance...then he went to MotoMarin and found the valve check/adjustment interval was identical to his...and only about $100 cheaper...so he still rocks the 4V ST4S and gets his free water at AMA/MotoGP races...
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It's very easy to check and adjust the valves on an airhead, oilhead and hexhead boxer. It's about as easy and as quick as changing the oil. I've seen the procedure for the new camheads and it'll probably take a little longer. Hopefully the adjustment schedule will lengthen.
 
NorCal_SV650S said:
On some of the German Boxer sites, they seem to check their valve train on a VERY regular basis...

My dad was going to buy a BMW and move away from Ducati because of the lower maintenance...then he went to MotoMarin and found the valve check/adjustment interval was identical to his...and only about $100 cheaper...so he still rocks the 4V ST4S and gets his free water at AMA/MotoGP races...
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It's probably $100 cheaper to check the valves, but if there's much adjusting I'd think the Duc would be more.
The boxer motors are a real dream to work on, I found adjusting the valves on my R1200ST easier than clipping my toenails! I think BMW calls for valve checks at 6000 mi, (So they can make bank off all those LEO bikes run'in 'round) but I was doing mine at 12,000 mi and they didn't seem to be out.
Those R1200S motors put out about 20 more hp than the garden variety R1200 motors, so that may put a little more strain on things?
I wish the OP well.
 
Air cooled engines typically have shorter valve adjustment intervals for a variety of metallurgy reasons. For what it's worth, those heads and screw type adjusters make boxer engine valve adjustments quick (therefore cheap) and easy (therefore cheap). The same cannot be said for Ducati. Not bashing. It's fact.

Is the 1150 engine valve inspection interval really 12K miles? I didn't expect it to be that high.

Back on topic, 100 miles after a dealer performed a cam chain tensioner recall, my 2000 Hayabusa intake cam failed at the gear end. The cam position sensor detected a fault and stopped the ignition.

Bike World (Suzuki) said a few of those failures occurred across the USA, and I never saw much publicity about it.

My bet is a cam gear failure and valve impacting a piston head.
 
ST Guy said:
I'm not anti-BMW. Just sayin' that based on what we've heard from the OP that all the valves were crunched on the one side, that points to a cam that stopped turning. And thus, to some sort of mechanical failure in the cam drive. If it was a burned valve, more often than not, they don't just fall apart. Could happen, but not usually. Besides, unless it's a really radical exhaust, most modern fuel injection systems can compensate. It's also sad to hear there's more than a few instances of this happening on the 1200's as I've been thinking how nice it would be to have a newer GS.
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yep.
 
So with all the guesses...if the valves were within spec, IF the bike wasn't running lean, and if the valves struck the piston, then the problem is something BMW should fix. If these motors are known to go 100,000 miles without breaking a sweat, then 11,000 miles means SOMETHING is amiss...r
 
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