Is it me? Is my French so bad? Are dealers down here really so busy with winter coming that they don't need work coming into their workshops to keep them going? Here's the story.

A week ago I decided that to try and make my K1300GT look a more attractive proposition as a purchase, I'd need to get the 90,000 service done before I advertised it for sale. I duly sent an email to three local BMW dealers asking for a quote for this service, which I know is likely to be at least €500 as it's a major service where the valve clearances are checked. Here is the convoluted story of how this simple request fared in the wonderland that is BMW service .


We start with a positive note as Dealer #1 replied to my enquiry the next day with a quote which was in line with my expectations at €464, but when I looked at it in detail I realised that most of the work quoted for had been done very recently at the 80,000 service (done late at 83,000), and that the radiator purge and refilling with new antifreeze had been done in July this year at 88,000 when I'd had a problem with it overheating. Not wanting to pay out again for work done quite recently, and given I'm selling it, I wrote back the following day with full details of the work done, and asked if they would give me a revised quote, but ONLY for work that they considered necessary, given the proximity and timing of the previous jobs and the fact I was going to be selling it. I guess I expected that they would drop the brake fluid and antifreeze, and maybe even the oil change, leaving the plugs and valve clearances, but still, they're the experts, I figured they'd know best which elements were critical?

A simple enough request you would think, but it then went deathly quiet and I after hearing nothing for a week, I went back to them asking if they were going to reply or should I consider their silence an expression of their disinterest and that I should take my bike elsewhere? This elicited a response, but not in the form of the quote I was expecting, but a demand that I send them copies of the previous work I had done so that they could prepare an accurate quote. I sent these by return, but wondered why it was strictly necessary to do so, given that they had already had the same information in writing a week earlier!

Expecting a reply that afternoon, guess what, I didn’t get one, so I chased again, and received a new quote, this time for €628!!!!  So after 9 days I'd now got a quote that had increased by €164 +35% over the original, which only differed from the first quote by definition of the exclusion of the brake fluid change, but now contained five jobs which had increased in price, the oil by +70%, and the addition of four items not even quoted for in the original quotation.

I wrote back telling them this quote was a joke and how was it possible that the original quote had been so inaccurate? I was left seriously unimpressed when I was informed that the original quote had been done by somebody else and contained errors and omissions, no kidding!!! It seems that I was expected to just suck it up and accept that the previous quote had been worthless and that I shouldn’t balk at having to pay 35% more because they can’t quote correctly.

I gave them one last chance, and asked for a quote for valve clearances and plugs only, and ended upo with a price of €403, plus €50 for a loan bike, which incidently had previously been quoted as being €25. Unbelieveable. The words piss up in a brewery spring to mind.


So would Dealer #2 be any better? The request for a quote was sent on the same day as to Dealer #1 . They replied two days later advising that their service manager wasn't there and that they would reply at the end of the week. I then sent them the same mail I'd sent to the other dealer explaining about the prior work I’d had done, the fact I was selling it and asked if they would send a quote allowing for these items. I  received their confirmation back immediately that when their service manager came back he would quote allowing for these issues. Looks like they might be a bit more on the ball?

Of course it turns out I was to be disappointed again, so the following week having not received any quote and knowing the service manager was back, I chased again and received a reply which apologised for the delay, but then asked what bike the work was required for? They also wanted a copy of the carte grise (registration document) so that they could quote correctly.

In a bid to expedite the receipt of a quote I sent copies of the previous service invoices and the carte grise along with a note stating that the work was required for a BMW K1300GT, as per the heading of my previous two emails!!!!

Finally, 8 days after my initial enquiry I received a quote for €571, which was €107 more than the original quote from Dealer #1, and they hadn't removed any of the options I'd thought they might. Admittedly they had included an air filter, which to be fair I forgot to tell them wasn't required, so this reduced the additional amount to €62, although this appeared to be the cost of two joints(?) which had been omitted from the initial quote from  Dealer #1(but which subsequently were added to their revised quote). The big issue with the quote, apart from the price, was that they were unable to offer a courtesy bike and wanted mine the night before so that they can work on a cold engine. This is impractical and adds substantial costs and time as I’d then need to make multiple trips there and back by both car and bike to get the work done.

In desperation I asked for a quote for the valve check and plug change only, but as of this post I’ve not had their offer.

Wondering if all BMW dealers are so poor I tried to cover all bases by sending the same request to a third dealer. This is probably the biggest of the three but is an hour and a half away. Their reply? After several days they want to see copies of the last invoices of work done. I GIVE UP!

I hadn’t realised that asking for a quote was so difficult. I hadn’t expected that the first quote I received would have comprised so many errors that it wasn’t worth the paper it was sent on. inattention to detail when a dealer replys to you with an incorrect spelling of my name, and asking me what bike I want serviced when it is clearly indicated at the head of emails addressed to them, professional, I think not!. Frankly it’s an appalling indictment of BMW service, and clearly if three dealers are showing the same ineptitude and delay in responding, it’s not an isolated incident.

I’d write to the dealer CEO of each establishment to complain but frankly I can’t be bothered, and I've pretty much lost all interest in BMW. Shame, as it's been a good bike with the odd fault, but BMW can say goodbye to another long term owner. I imagine they think there will be loads along to replace me, but I wonder how many others have given up too?


PS- If you're wondering what I did in the end? I decided to discount the price of the bike and let the next guy run the gamut of inefficiencies of BMW and their weird and wonderful world of customer service.

You were within an hour and a half of my place in the Dordogne.
There are quite a few bike shops in Bordeaux in that area as you'll have found. Am assuming you had M7's fitted, which at Dafy or Axxe motos close by would have cost you around €280 (fitted) rather than the €329 you paid, but at least they fitted you in and they balanced the wheels. The last rear tyre I bought at a Dafy moto shop, they charged for balance and fitting to a removed wheel but didn't have the spindle necessary for the size of the rear hub so I had to pay someone elsewhere to do the same job.
My local dealer also went out of their way to fit in a visiting friends XR first service at short notice, so the network does seem to try and accomodate "hardship" stories. Hope you had a good trip?
 

I didn't get the answer I hoped I might from my question, but anyway I managed to source a pair of SKF bearings and dust seals for £20 rather than the £54 BMW wanted, so result! Just got to fit them now.

After 6 weeks the dealer emailed me and said the documentation needed to reregister it as a full power bike was ready. I replied I was out of the country for 3 weeks and could they send it by post. I got home 3 weeks later and no post. Called them and complained they hadn't posted or replied and they said too important to send by post other than registered which would have cost them. Sucks that having already paid €250 they can't afford the €5 postage!

I'm going to the dealer tomorrow to collect it then to register it where I'll probably queue for an hour or two before paying out the next €38, then hopefully all is finished, although technically I should have done all of this within one month of the work being done.

I found an insurer who covered me fully comprehensive for €260 for a derestricted bike compared to the €354 I'd been paying for a restricted one and the €527 they wanted once it was derestricted, so I ended up quite a lot better off, just dealing with the hassle of it all, but then again it's France so what do you expect?

Hi Costas,

Thanks, will do.

L/H switchgear first replaced after 11,290 kms and 5 months of purchase under warranty.

L/H switchgear replaced again at 70,011kms 10/1/13 after 3 1/2 years

R/H switchgear replaced at 87,195 kms  17//5/16 after 7 years

Hi Costas,

I have invoices and copies for absolutely everything on the bike. If you can succeed getting any money back when me appealing directly to BMW has failed then you're a far better man than I. What is the plan? PM?

Over the years I've posted several times about my K1300GT, it's performance and issues, but given the recent costs and issues I've had with it and after an article recently published in MCN saying that the K BMW bikes are practically disposable items due to high cost of repairs and depreciating value, I thought it would be of value to share with others my experiences regarding running costs, outlay, and residual values, ie the true monetary outlay required to keep it on the road. I've not included costs for insurance or petrol as these will vary massively dependant on the rider, their experience and where they live, neither have I included petrol expense, although with the bike averaging 55mpg over 56,000 miles, a simple calculation shows that  I would have used around 1019 gallons.

I've also not included around €725 of extras I chose to add (including derestricting it) as these are very specific to my bike and others will be unlikely to add the same parts.


Here then are the figures:

Purchase cost new in July 2009                                           €19500

Owned 2556 days    Current kms 89,678  = ave 35 kms per day


TYRES

15 pairs of tyres: ave life front 7484 kms, rear 6387 kms

TOTAL                                                              €3329

 

SERVICING every 10,000kms – 8 to date costing €3071

but next service due NOW with likely cost of €500

TOTAL  (incl. 90,000 service due now)                 €3571


REPAIRS             

Switchgear (L)  at 70,000kms                              €343
Switchgear (R) at 87,000kms                              €161

Radiator overheating & oil leak

at 88,000kms                                                    €457

TOTAL                                             €961            


CONSUMABLES

Battery at 73,000kms                                           €121

Brake pads ( ooriginals plus 2 replacement sets)     €295

Air filters (2) at 40,000 and 83,000                          €73

Clutch at 80,000                                                    €739

TOTAL                                                               €1228




GRAND TOTAL                                  €9089 equiv 47% of purchase cost

Current book value                                              €8780

Remaining value in bike today                             €1631 equiv 4.1% of purchase cost


Daily running cost equiv.                                        €3.56

Running cost per km                                              €0.10


Looking at the book resale values it would have been better had I sold it in 2012 after 3 years of ownership as at that time it would still have retained 75% of its value. After 4 years that drops to 68% then plummets after year 5 down to 55%, although in years 5, 6 and 7, annual depreciation has droopped to just a few hundred euros per year compared to the €3000 it lost in year 4. I should also quantify my specific bikes value which is around €500 less than bikes which would have covered only 10000kms p.a, mine has done nearly 13,000 and is valued accordingly.

Looking at the costs above it seems that the repair element is pretty low with the bulk of these costs taken up by switchgear replacements which BMW declined to assist me with despite me writing to them and complaining. They replied that the bike had been out of warranty since 2011 (only 2 years given in France) and had high miles, however should I choose to buy another new or used bike from their dealers within the next year they will look sympathetically towards the cost of that purchase or trade in.

The bike has been run without extended warranty and has had the suspension relay brace recall, one set of switchgear, an ECU and two rear driveshaft bearings replaced under warranty.

I leave you to make what you will of the above, clearly any future costs could potentially be high, the ESA suspension and driveshaft are a worry and I know others with lower mileage bikes have already had these replaced.

My view is that the more you ride these bikes the better they perform and the less problems you have, keeping one as a weekend toy may keep daily running costs down but parts may not react well to being stood for long periods. I rode mine 1161kms within 3 days, 2090 within 7, 5140 in 28 days and 9091 within 60, not the norm by any means but its been ridden long and hard with huge amounts of time in the mountains in low gears driving out of hairpins so overall I reckon it's not done too badly, trouble is I haven't found anything I'd like to replace it with so maybe I just have to steel myself to potentially big future bills and run it into the ground, after all, don't we buy these bikes expecting trouble free reliability and big mileages?