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Finally Bitten by the Fuel Gauge Strip - 2007 K1200GT

17K views 25 replies 15 participants last post by  Growler48 
#1 ·
I am well over 50 years old. One of my very small points of pride is that I have never run out of gas. Not once. Until last Thursday. I foolishly thought that I was one of the lucky ones who had a K1200GT fuel gauge strip that worked. It never let me down. Until last Thursday.

The fuel gauge had been slowly dropping as always, and the reserve light had lit as expected. My destination was only a mile away, and I was only two miles from the gas station where I planned to refuel. In the past, I have ridden a few extra miles when the gauge read "- - -" and I count on at least 20 miles available after the gauge reaches "- - -". Not this time.

It was mid-afternoon, and I was riding along on a wide urban street, minding my own business, when my 2007 K1200GT engine died. I had just entered an intersection with another wide street and the bike quickly coasted to a stop. Fortunately traffic was light. I duck paddled backwards to a corner to get out of the way of traffic. The bike would not start. I suspected that I was out of fuel, but was not sure until a few minutes later. I got off the motorcycle and called for roadside assistance (Good Sam Club), telling them that I suspected I had run out fuel (what an embarrassment!), but might need a tow if that wasn't it. They arranged to have someone bring fuel, but it would take 45-50 minutes. I asked for premium, and they said that they would convey the request, but I would most likely receive regular fuel. I called the nearest BMW dealer to let them know I might be bringing my bike in, but I suspected that I was out of fuel. I wanted them to know in case I might arrive a few minutes after closing so that someone could stay behind to keep the door open.

Now that everything was arranged, I had time to examine the problem. Sure enough, the trip meter showed 291 miles on that tank of fuel. It is 30 miles beyond the most I have ridden on a tank of gas for the K1200GT. I checked my little log book, and confirmed it by subtracting the current odometer reading with the one from the last refueling. Now I knew that I had a simple fuel problem, I called the dealer's service manager to let her know that I would not be coming in.

--> The dealer's service manager told me something interesting. She said that there was a service bulletin (recall) on the fuel gauge strips, and that BMW would pay to have them replaced whenever they failed, for up to twelve years of ownership. She said that it counts as two hours of labor for them. Hmm.

It was a pleasant day - not too hot - and there was nothing around, just farms. I called my elderly mother and had a nice conversation with her.

The roadside assistance person drove up in a small car. Obviously the roadside assistance company has people dedicated to fuel delivery. Perhaps he is also assigned to do basic triage to see whether a tow truck is really needed, but he did not seem bright enough to handle that task. Anyway, he got a small plastic gas can out of the back. He reminded me that I would have to pay $5.00 per gallon. It was the lowest grade fuel available - 87 octane. He said he was going to give me two gallons, but I asked for one only, so he stopped pouring immediately. (I felt cheated later discovered that he gave me only half a gallon.) I gave him a $5 dollar bill. The engine started immediately. I was surprised that it didn't sputter for a while first.

I finished my errand a mile away, and stopped at the nearby gas station to fill up the tank with premium. That's when I figured out that the roadside assistance person had cheated me on the fuel. Oh well - he got me going again.

Lessons learned:

* Don't be so prideful about your accomplishments. Your record can disappear in a heartbeat. When my time comes, I doubt anyone will note that I ran out of gas only once (I hope).

* I knew about the common fuel gauge strip failures on 2007 K1200GTs, but did not know about the failure modes for that problem. I assumed that it would suddenly show empty, or blink, or go blank, or show a completely full tank without dropping, or something catastrophic and obvious like that. Instead, it behaved normally, dropping slowly as I rode, but it was subtly off - just barely enough to trick me into riding the tank to empty. Beware!

* Pay attention to miles ridden on each tank. If you watch only the fuel gauge and miles remaining, you will eventually get bitten. They lie.

* BMW has some type of service bulletin or recall on the fuel gauge strips and will replace them at no charge when they fail.

I find myself wondering what fuel gauge strip "failure" means in the context of my bike? Mine seems okay again, but it lied at the end of the fuel tank. Is that a failure? (Probably!) Will the dealer accept it as a failure in the context of replacing it for free? (Who knows!)

I hope this story helps someone avoid what happened to me. It feels good to get it off my chest. Reset your tripmeter after each fill-up, and keep an eye on it. You never know when that subtle fuel gauge bug might bite you!
 
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#2 ·
XMagnaRider said:
I am well over 50 years old. One of my very small points of pride is that I have never run out of gas. Not once. Until last Thursday. I foolishly thought that I was one of the lucky ones who had a K1200GT fuel gauge strip that worked. It never let me down. Until last Thursday.

The fuel gauge had been slowly dropping as always, and the reserve light had lit as expected. My destination was only a mile away, and I was only two miles from the gas station where I planned to refuel. In the past, I have ridden a few extra miles when the gauge read "- - -" and I count on at least 20 miles available after the gauge reaches "- - -". Not this time.

It was mid-afternoon, and I was riding along on a wide urban street, minding my own business, when my 2007 K1200GT engine died. I had just entered an intersection with another wide street and the bike quickly coasted to a stop. Fortunately traffic was light. I duck paddled backwards to a corner to get out of the way of traffic. The bike would not start. I suspected that I was out of fuel, but was not sure until a few minutes later. I got off the motorcycle and called for roadside assistance (Good Sam Club), telling them that I suspected I had run out fuel (what an embarrassment!), but might need a tow if that wasn't it. They arranged to have someone bring fuel, but it would take 45-50 minutes. I asked for premium, and they said that they would convey the request, but I would most likely receive regular fuel. I called the nearest BMW dealer to let them know I might be bringing my bike in, but I suspected that I was out of fuel. I wanted them to know in case I might arrive a few minutes after closing so that someone could stay behind to keep the door open.

Now that everything was arranged, I had time to examine the problem. Sure enough, the trip meter showed 291 miles on that tank of fuel. It is 30 miles beyond the most I have ridden on a tank of gas for the K1200GT. I checked my little log book, and confirmed it by subtracting the current odometer reading with the one from the last refueling. Now I knew that I had a simple fuel problem, I called the dealer's service manager to let her know that I would not be coming in.

--> The dealer's service manager told me something interesting. She said that there was a service bulletin (recall) on the fuel gauge strips, and that BMW would pay to have them replaced whenever they failed, for up to twelve years of ownership. She said that it counts as two hours of labor for them. Hmm.

It was a pleasant day - not too hot - and there was nothing around, just farms. I called my elderly mother and had a nice conversation with her.

The roadside assistance person drove up in a small car. Obviously the roadside assistance company has people dedicated to fuel delivery. Perhaps he is also assigned to do basic triage to see whether a tow truck is really needed, but he did not seem bright enough to handle that task. Anyway, he got a small plastic gas can out of the back. He reminded me that I would have to pay $5.00 per gallon. It was the lowest grade fuel available - 87 octane. He said he was going to give me two gallons, but I asked for one only, so he stopped pouring immediately. (I felt cheated later discovered that he gave me only half a gallon.) I gave him a $5 dollar bill. The engine started immediately. I was surprised that it didn't sputter for a while first.

I finished my errand a mile away, and stopped at the nearby gas station to fill up the tank with premium. That's when I figured out that the roadside assistance person had cheated me on the fuel. Oh well - he got me going again.

Lessons learned:

* Don't be so prideful about your accomplishments. Your record can disappear in a heartbeat. When my time comes, I doubt anyone will note that I ran out of gas only once (I hope).

* I knew about the common fuel gauge strip failures on 2007 K1200GTs, but did not know about the failure modes for that problem. I assumed that it would suddenly show empty, or blink, or go blank, or show a completely full tank without dropping, or something catastrophic and obvious like that. Instead, it behaved normally, dropping slowly as I rode, but it was subtly off - just barely enough to trick me into riding the tank to empty. Beware!

* Pay attention to miles ridden on each tank. If you watch only the fuel gauge and miles remaining, you will eventually get bitten. They lie.

* BMW has some type of service bulletin or recall on the fuel gauge strips and will replace them at no charge when they fail.

I find myself wondering what fuel gauge strip "failure" means in the context of my bike? Mine seems okay again, but it lied at the end of the fuel tank. Is that a failure? (Probably!) Will the dealer accept it as a failure in the context of replacing it for free? (Who knows!)

I hope this story helps someone avoid what happened to me. It feels good to get it off my chest. Reset your tripmeter after each fill-up, and keep an eye on it. You never know when that subtle fuel gauge bug might bite you!

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Is this really a failure of the fuel strip? Seems to be well within reasonably expected levels of accuracy. I mean, if the gauge says ---- that seems to me to be saying, you are out of gas. Expecting accuracy down to the last fraction of a gallon may be unrealistic.

I myself would never go down so low without stopping for gas. 291 miles on a tank sounds pretty good. Maybe don't go so low on gas in the future. Or carry a liter of fuel in a small container :)

At least you got to talk to your mother while waiting. Good karma.
 
#25 ·
Hello, I’m curious to know if you still have your BMW.
I have had mine replaced 4 times during the past 10 years.
Unfortunately we are in 2020 and last year it failed gain, so they said I now have to pay for the replacement.
I find it absurd that they cannot find a solution and forme me to replace it as my expense and then sell the bike quickly before it dies again, very bad BMW policy.
 
#3 ·
I had a similar story this summer. 57K miles and my first fuel strip failure.

Except, my mother is deceased, i have no roadside and i knew better.

When mine shut down, i was within 100 yrds of my chosen gas station. I had to push mine into the station to the great amusement of the folks getting gas that morning.

I always reset my trip meter when i get gas. i know 175 is a good safe # for fuel. My DTE was showing 40 miles of fuel left when my bike shut down. I made the mistake of trusting the technology.

The dealer also told me that BMW has extended the warranty to 12 years on the fuel strip. He was specific to say it is NOT a recall, just extended the warranty. He also indicated that BMW tweaked the design to eliminate the failure in the future.

We'll find out!
 

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#6 ·
I had the exact same problem on my 2006 KGT when I first got it. it was my 2nd or 3rd tank, when I ran out as I was pulling into the dealership for the 1st maintenance. It was showing 50 miles left, but over 225 on the odometer. of course, it was a new bike and I did not have clue of the expected range. At that time, BMW knew nothing about the failure of the fuel strip. I was one of the "pioneers".
Since then, I keep a close track of my mileage between fill-ups. I even have a 'gas gauge" on my GPS to warn me at the 200 mile mark.

Of course, one must not forget to do a reset of the odometers.
 
#7 ·
That's OK, David, I've run out of fuel enough times for both of us. :D

I always keep an eye on the trip meter, and just use the miles remaining readout as a backup. Still, it's a bit weird how yours acted "normal" then just ran out . . .
 
#8 ·
If this is a bulletin can some one please give me the bulletin number so I can show my dealer
Thanks
Kevin
Had to replace my 2006GT with a 2008GT due to some one cutting me off. Not a good afternoon that day. I did learn that I bounce well, bike not so much.
My new to me 2008GT fuel gage is down and out.
 
#9 ·
Thanks to everyone for their words of support. Here are the answers to your questions:

* Until now, the fuel gauge and miles remaining displays operated very consistently. The low fuel indicator would light up with well over 1 gallon remaining. The miles remaining display dropped steadily. The miles remaining value would drop at a faster rate as the fuel got lower, but every vehicle I have owned does that, and the K1200GT was 100% consistent in how it behaved. When the K1200GT reached zero "- - -", I knew I had at least 20 miles in reserve. It never varied, and it never (until Thursday) ran out of fuel with actual miles remaining still on the display. On Thursday, it never reached zero, which was the root cause of the problem.

* I reset the trip meter every time I fill up. In the past, I rarely looked at it. That will change going forward.

* I also write down the following in a little notebook every time I fill up: Date, Odometer, Gallons, Price, and (from onboard computer) Avg Speed, Avg MPG.

* "Is this really a failure of the fuel strip?" - In my opinion yes. I expect the miles remaining to show zero "- - -" long before the fuel tank is truly empty. My K1200GT never did anything else until last Thursday. Showing 8 miles remaining when the tank is fully empty is wrong.

* Until now, the longest range I have traveled on a full tank of fuel is 263 miles. I only do those kinds of ranges (anything above 230 miles on a tank) when traveling on the open Interstate, where the MPGs are the highest, and I am certain I have enough fuel in the tank to reach the next station. Frankly, 291 miles is a long way to go on a tank, especially considering the mixed urban riding that I was doing. It merely confirms that when the gauge read zero "- - -" I had more range remaining than I would have expected. On a long Interstate trip, I might have easily made it past 300 miles.

* For various reasons, I don't want to carry extra fuel. I plan to pay more attention to the trip meter going forward.

* "The dealer also told me that BMW has extended the warranty to 12 years on the fuel strip. He was specific to say it is NOT a recall, just extended the warranty. He also indicated that BMW tweaked the design to eliminate the failure in the future." - Yes, but they switched to a float type gauge in the K1300GT. The K1200GTs are stuck with the fuel gauge strip - no improvement there.

* "Is BMW paying for the new strip AND the labor ?" - According to my local dealer, yes.
 
#11 ·
Thank you for this information. My 07 K1200R Sport went through three of these fuel strips in the 2 years I had it. My 07 GT has not exhibited any of the problems yet, so I had thought I was not going to have the problem. I apparently am a bit too optimistic in that regard.
 
#12 ·
I just had the fuel strip replaced on my '08 GT about 2 months ago when the fuel pump was replaced. I only paid for the part, which was around $165. I was told that there was no extended warranty on the fuel strip and even called BMWNA to confirm.

There is a service bulletin, as seen below, but I've never seen anything about an extended warranty on the fuel strip. Can someone provide evidence, showing a 12 yr warranty? I was told that my new replacement would have a std 2 yr BMW parts warranty, but nothing more....

Service Bulletin No.: SIB-16-02-09
Component(s): FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE NHTSA ID Number: 10033130


XMagnaRider said:
Thanks to everyone for their words of support. Here are the answers to your questions:

* Until now, the fuel gauge and miles remaining displays operated very consistently. The low fuel indicator would light up with well over 1 gallon remaining. The miles remaining display dropped steadily. The miles remaining value would drop at a faster rate as the fuel got lower, but every vehicle I have owned does that, and the K1200GT was 100% consistent in how it behaved. When the K1200GT reached zero "- - -", I knew I had at least 20 miles in reserve. It never varied, and it never (until Thursday) ran out of fuel with actual miles remaining still on the display. On Thursday, it never reached zero, which was the root cause of the problem.

* I reset the trip meter every time I fill up. In the past, I rarely looked at it. That will change going forward.

* I also write down the following in a little notebook every time I fill up: Date, Odometer, Gallons, Price, and (from onboard computer) Avg Speed, Avg MPG.

* "Is this really a failure of the fuel strip?" - In my opinion yes. I expect the miles remaining to show zero "- - -" long before the fuel tank is truly empty. My K1200GT never did anything else until last Thursday. Showing 8 miles remaining when the tank is fully empty is wrong.

* Until now, the longest range I have traveled on a full tank of fuel is 263 miles. I only do those kinds of ranges (anything above 230 miles on a tank) when traveling on the open Interstate, where the MPGs are the highest, and I am certain I have enough fuel in the tank to reach the next station. Frankly, 291 miles is a long way to go on a tank, especially considering the mixed urban riding that I was doing. It merely confirms that when the gauge read zero "- - -" I had more range remaining than I would have expected. On a long Interstate trip, I might have easily made it past 300 miles.

* For various reasons, I don't want to carry extra fuel. I plan to pay more attention to the trip meter going forward.

* "The dealer also told me that BMW has extended the warranty to 12 years on the fuel strip. He was specific to say it is NOT a recall, just extended the warranty. He also indicated that BMW tweaked the design to eliminate the failure in the future." - Yes, but they switched to a float type gauge in the K1300GT. The K1200GTs are stuck with the fuel gauge strip - no improvement there.

* "Is BMW paying for the new strip AND the labor ?" - According to my local dealer, yes.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I just spoke to my dealer. He said the part # hasn't changed in 9 yrs, which means it is the same old fuel strip. It is covered for 12 years from retail date of bike delivery...

oldfool said:
Also the warranty period has been extended way out, I think like ten years. The tech at my local bmw dealer told me that bmw has refinished the fuel strip to eliminate the problem. Richard
 
#17 ·
CanAmK12GT said:
I just spoke to my dealer. He said the part # hasn't changed in 9 yrs, which means it is the same old fuel strip.
Not necessarily. A part number change usually denotes a significant change in fit, form, or function. Minor changes for reliability reasons don't always get a new part #, especially if it's a "drop-in" replacement piece that looks just the same.

CanAmK12GT said:
It is covered for 12 years from retail date of bike delivery...
It'd be good if all the local dealers were aware of that, or admitted to it . . . :bmw:
 
#18 ·
Meese said:
Not necessarily. A part number change usually denotes a significant change in fit, form, or function. Minor changes for reliability reasons don't always get a new part #, especially if it's a "drop-in" replacement piece that looks just the same.

Ken - I am hoping ur right, sir!

It'd be good if all the local dealers were aware of that, or admitted to it . . . :bmw:
Btw, the 12-yr warranty is a brand new development, as it wasn't in place when I had mine replaced a few months back... They are reimbursing me for the repair, though.. :D
 
#19 ·
Gas Gage and Clutch Issues

I was on my third tank after I bought my 2008 K1200 GT. I was running it down to confirm the reserve lit up when the engine quit. After a mercy trip by my wife with the mower gas, I carefully added one gallon, went to the nearest 93 octane pump and it took 5.36 gallons. I already had an appointment to replace the clutch, which was near-dead on arrival and the dealer replaced the gage strip under warranty. They didn't warranty the clutch, but did make an adjustment to reduce the cost by about a third, so not as bad as it could have been, possibly because I made them aware of the chronic issues reported here. The new clutch, plus the bearing modification to the shifter posted here made shifting much more quiet and reliable, using minimum to no clutch for upshifts.
 
#20 ·
Update:

I took the K1200GT to the dealer to get the fuel strip replaced. They told me that the fuel strip was reporting non-resettable faults, so they replaced it under warranty. They calibrated it, rode the K1200GT around the block, and verified that no faults were reported.

On the way home, the newly replaced gauge showed 6 miles left when the engine died. I was about two or three miles from the gas station, riding in the far left carpool lane on a very busy and fast freeway. There was no way to pull over to the right across many lanes, so I pulled into the median strip on the left. Fortunately, it was very wide and I was at the end of a long straightaway where I could be easily seen.

I called for roadside assistance, and again they cheated me regarding how much fuel they put in the tank, but they got me going. That was the second time in my life that I have run out of fuel. It sucked.

Until this all started, I could count on the fuel gauge to go to zero ("- - -") and still have approximately 20 miles left in the tank. If I recall, people reported 0.6 gallons remaining at "zero".

... not recently for me. The fuel gauge tells lies. Until I get this resolved, I will have to watch the odometer. It will force me to refill more often, and I don't like that either.

I hope this helps someone.
 
#21 ·
Was the dealer that far away from the nearest gas station? Meaning, from the dealer's parking lot wouldn't your first stop be to the closest gas station to fill the tank knowing the dealer sure as heck wasn't going to put more than a teaspoonful in it.....or at least enough for it to read about 6miles :teeth
 
#22 ·
moymurfs said:
Was the dealer that far away from the nearest gas station? Meaning, from the dealer's parking lot wouldn't your first stop be to the closest gas station to fill the tank knowing the dealer sure as heck wasn't going to put more than a teaspoonful in it.....or at least enough for it to read about 6miles :teeth
No, but I did not know that the tank was nearly empty. When I brought the bike in, it had plenty of fuel to get me to the gas station near home, about 16 miles from the dealer. The dealer did not warn me to fill up. The low fuel warning indicator was lit, but the triangle at the bottom of the fuel indicator on the dash showed a little fuel remaining, and there were 6 miles remaining when I ran out of fuel. The odometer mileage showed about 220 miles when I ran out, so I suspect that the dealer must have drained some fuel from the tank during the fuel strip replacement procedure, which I am not familiar with.

In the past, with a working fuel gauge, the miles remaining would have dropped from 6 down to "- - -" and I still would have had 20 miles of fuel left. Considering the odometer reading, the miles remaining, and the new fuel strip, I trusted the bike to get me to my local gas station.

In my opinion, the bike miles remaining indicator should drop to "- - -" zero with at least a small reserve before running out of fuel. That seems obvious to me.

Perhaps now that the bike has a full tank, the gauge will recalibrate itself correctly, but I don't hold out much hope. In the meantime, I will have to satisfy myself with watching the odometer.

NOTES OF WARNING TO OTHERS:
* When the K1200GT runs out of fuel, the engine stops, period. There is no warning, no sputtering, nothing. Just a dead engine, and whatever coasting speed you have to get out of the way of traffic. Trying to restart the engine is useless.

* It is not good to run out of fuel. You can potentially harm your engine (the fuel injectors, I believe). Avoid it if at all possible.
 
#23 ·
My gauge used to be fairly accurate, lighting the reserve light at 4 litres remaining, however since it was replaced it's now coming on at about 6.5 litres. This is a PITA as it means I'm getting the warning way too early. I've run it right to the --- mileage countdown and still had about 3 litres left.

I asked the dealers about recalibrating it but they say it can't be done.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Fuel gauge on my 2008 K12300GT seems to have packed it in. It reads full all the time now and reports mpg of 54 mpg all the time. This does NOT seem to be the usual failure mode I have heard of on the KGT, so can anyone confirm that theirs failed that way?

I have long relied on the trip odometer to measure fuel stops, and that is what I did on my recent ride from Florida to NY.

Just before it failed I was getting about 42 mpg, and riding about 225 miles between fill ups, so that is what I did for the balance of the trip, which was conducted at about 70-80 mph until the torrential rains came...

I now understand that BMW has extended the warranty on the fuel strip, so I will take the bike in for replacement when I get a chance while in NY.

I am a bit spoiled by my R1200GSA fuel capacity of 8+ gallons and range on 300+ miles, but the 150hp smooth 4 in the KGT makes up for that.
 
#26 ·
My bike turns 12 next month, so I'm going to get mine replaced in a few weeks. This is the second one and has been fairly inaccurate for a few years now.
I wanted to wait as long as I could to make the final one last as long as possible. I found out it was bad when I ran out of gas with it showing 26 miles to empty! I've been using the odometer since then and it's never let me down.
 
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