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@rider123 interesting on your experience with the dealer weighting the oil (before and after) a 309 mile ride to accurately determine consumption. This should have been the very first step the dealer took. Consumption is consumption. Again, Proving consumption through the approved process should have been step #1.
 
As a side note, if I had any gasoline engine which was consuming oil, I would do a lot of hard compression braking. Motoman style.

Not to influence the outcome of the OP, but just to mention what I would do first.
 
Discussion starter · #23 ·
@rider123 interesting on your experience with the dealer weighting the oil (before and after) a 309 mile ride to accurately determine consumption. This should have been the very first step the dealer took. Consumption is consumption. Again, Proving consumption through the approved process should have been step #1.
I wasn’t clear I apologize, the first test we did was drive the motorcycle 1000 miles and then they check the oil by measuring it when they took it out that’s the first thing the BMW asked them to do. Then they ask them to take a picture of the pistons and the cylinders didn’t like the picture so they had to do it again and then they came back and said now we want you to ride 350 miles and they weighed the oil before and after. Both consumption test showed I was I was using oil. Now we’re at the stage where they’re going to determine if they’re gonna put a new engine in or try to buy me out at wholesale which as you know is not a good deal for that consumer.
 
I wasn’t clear I apologize, the first test we did was drive the motorcycle 1000 miles and then they check the oil by measuring it when they took it out that’s the first thing the BMW asked them to do. Then they ask them to take a picture of the pistons and the cylinders didn’t like the picture so they had to do it again and then they came back and said now we want you to ride 350 miles and they weighed the oil before and after. Both consumption test showed I was I was using oil. Now we’re at the stage where they’re going to determine if they’re gonna put a new engine in or try to buy me out at wholesale which as you know is not a good deal for that consumer.
I wish you the best outcome. This really is horseshit how many late model 1600s burn oil.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Keep that in mind if they buy the bike back from you, and you’re shopping for a new bike…
 
Cool, I will look it up. Thanks
At this point, the procedure is to be on a lonely road, with no vehicles following.

Accelerate to high RPM in 1st and 2nd then chop the throttle to decelerate back down to low RPM.

Repeat for 100 miles, or more. Not all at one time, but as you can. This puts stress on the rings from the opposite direction as acceleration. Both sides, so to speak.

I prefer to find a long steep downhill to do this, and ride it over and over.

When doing this to a new vehicle, I do this procedure in a manner which complies with the Owners Manual, yet fulfills the need to properly seat rings.

Subaru:


GS:
 
@RL Lemke The Motoman break-in is a good process. There is a misconception by some that it can abuse a new bike, but to your point, it can be done within the parameters of BMW's break-in.

When I got my replacement engine, I tried to follow Motoman as much as possible. The very first thing I did leaving the dealer was ride down a 4-mile 7% grade to initiate hard engine breaking. On flat terrain, I was constantly loading the engine in the lower gears. I don't think more than 30 miles of the first 600 were on Freeway, and even there, they were low traffic situations where I could stay in the slow lane and practice acceleration and chopping. I'm sure I did more focused effort than 99% of new bike owners.

Even with all this, my GTL burns about 0.5 quarts every 6,000 miles. It's not a lot and it's manageable. Still, zero is what I expected. I really believe that some of the bikes out of the factory have something going on that's not correctable. The fact that the vast majority of K16 owners do nothing special during break-in and don't burn oil says something. I would still recommend the Motoman process, but it's not a 100% guarantee.
 
Manufacturers fight owners and dealers over oil consumption warranty claims. I'd be inclined to sell and buy another, especially a motorcycle. Life is too short to have to carry extra oil on long rides.

This may seem an extraordinary assertion, but I'm at that stage of life where simple and reliable is a goal. Only so much time left.
 
My 2013 has burned oil since I bought it 3 years ago. About a quart every 1500 miles. It only had 9k on it. It now has 36k. Was told it was “within spec” for this bike by multiple bmw techs. It’s due for a valve check. If they don’t do anything about it,I’ll probably just sell the bike and get a ninja 1000sx. It seems this engine has had this problem since the beginning.


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We are getting closer to a final decision from BMW, after driving 1000 miles, doing compressions checks, taking pics of the piston heads and cylinder walls ( twice mind you ) because BMW Germany didn’t like the first set, then driving another 350 miles and the dealership was told they had to weigh the the oil this time to really tell if it was burning oil. Unbelievable the run around from Germany. My dealership had been awesome. After 4 months of this Germany has asked the dealership to price a new engine and the wholesale on the bike. If the engine is more than the wholesale it appears they will try and take the bike for that. If that happened talked about being totally screwed as wholesale is not real good. We are now waiting again for the final word from Germany but this has been no fun at all. It appears a new engine is in the ballpark of 13k and wholesale is north of they, so we will.
Wow, I better get started on this process as I just checked the oil level at half of quart with 400 miles in. I wanted to put a few more hundred miles but seeing how long its taking, I will contact my dealer tomorrow.

Please keep us inform as I will. I hope I don't have to weight too long. Being 13k for a new bike is not much. If they give me 20k on a purchase of a 2022, I'll take that, haha.
 
Welp... Seems like I'm burning oil now too. At first I thought maybe they didn't put enough oil in during services intervals. But after adding oil again after another 1k miles then I believe it's burning it. I plan on taking it to them tomorrow to see what they say. I bought the extended warranty so I'm hoping they don't try to wiggle out of it. I'll try to give an update at I find something out.

Jon
 
Welp... Seems like I'm burning oil now too. At first I thought maybe they didn't put enough oil in during services intervals. But after adding oil again after another 1k miles then I believe it's burning it. I plan on taking it to them tomorrow to see what they say. I bought the extended warranty so I'm hoping they don't try to wiggle out of it. I'll try to give an update at I find something out.

Jon
Right on Jon. When I started burning oil, I thought it was normal until I started adding more. If it wasn't for this forum, I would not have looked further into this.
I thank everyone for participating in the conversation. The whole community aspect part of it is just as fun as riding the bike. Hope to meet some of you one day. Let us know how it turns out John.
 
FWIW, there is a known issue with the oil separator cyclone and associated pipework becoming blocked, that BMW insisted my dealer checked when I reported a sudden increase in oil consumption on my MY2019 GT. Previously I had needed to add around 0.5L every 3k miles, but then on a trip to Scotland it burnt more than 1L in around 600miles.

They found that one of the pipes was partially collapsed and that there was a blockage, so replaced various pipes and cleaned other components in the breather system. Unfortunately, I never found out whether that cured the problem as the bike was written off less than 1,000 miles later.
 
Just dropped the 18 GA off so they could set the oil level. I'm supposed to then ride 500 miles and bring it back to them so they'll know how much I'm burning. Hopefully we'll have a happy ending... Supposed make a short trip to MD this weekend so I should have it back to them by next Tuesday for a verdict.

And yes, @jst1786 the community part is nice. Everyone on here has been welcoming and offer a wealth of knowledge and sometimes a hand if they're within riding distance.

@st13phil sorry about your loss Phil but the 22 should be a blast minus the wait. If my situation goes sideways I'd probably seriously look into a new GT as well. I didn't do much research on them when I was originally looking just cause I thought the b/ga looked better. I still do but the gt/gtl offer alot more functionality and the looks have grown on me. They're both still great bikes and they're in a class of their own.

Jon
 
Just dropped the 18 GA off so they could set the oil level. I'm supposed to then ride 500 miles and bring it back to them so they'll know how much I'm burning. Hopefully we'll have a happy ending... Supposed make a short trip to MD this weekend so I should have it back to them by next Tuesday for a verdict.

And yes, @jst1786 the community part is nice. Everyone on here has been welcoming and offer a wealth of knowledge and sometimes a hand if they're within riding distance.

@st13phil sorry about your loss Phil but the 22 should be a blast minus the wait. If my situation goes sideways I'd probably seriously look into a new GT as well. I didn't do much research on them when I was originally looking just cause I thought the b/ga looked better. I still do but the gt/gtl offer alot more functionality and the looks have grown on me. They're both still great bikes and they're in a class of their own.

Jon
Just got an email from my dealership. He wants me to drop the bike off next week. He said they will keep the bike for awhile. I am hoping that they know there is a serious problem with these k1600. Seriously, 3 quarts of oil about 2500 miles is not a joke. With only 15k miles on it, that's concerning. I am running about 700 to 800 miles a quart. I rode the other day with my brother who was behind me and he told me he could smell the burning of oil coming from my tail pipe. I still have my factory warranty but it will be due next month. I have extended warranty but its good to have it go through factory warranty. Cross my fingers and wish me luck. Hopefully BMW will do the right thing and replace the motor.
 
Hi Everyone,
I told you I get back to you on the news of my 2018 BMW k1600 GTL burning oil. After bringing it to the dealership a few months ago, they confirmed the bike was burning oil. Well, a few days ago, I got the call to pickup my bike with a new engine. I can't tell you how happy I am that BMW stepped up and honored their warranty.

BMW, thank you for making it easy and believing my situation. I know others have had harder issues getting warranty done but mine was flawless. I owned two BMW 5 series, BMW k100, 2016 BMW 1000xr, 2016 gsa, and I will continue to buy BMW as long as they are loyal to their customers.
 
Hi Everyone,
I told you I get back to you on the news of my 2018 BMW k1600 GTL burning oil. After bringing it to the dealership a few months ago, they confirmed the bike was burning oil. Well, a few days ago, I got the call to pickup my bike with a new engine. I can't tell you how happy I am that BMW stepped up and honored their warranty.

BMW, thank you for making it easy and believing my situation. I know others have had harder issues getting warranty done but mine was flawless. I owned two BMW 5 series, BMW k100, 2016 BMW 1000xr, 2016 gsa, and I will continue to buy BMW as long as they are loyal to their customers.
Glad you got a new engine. But I would not be patting BMW on the back. You say you were within 1 month of your factory warranty expiring. So what if this all took place just 5 weeks later? You had extended warranty, which may or may not have stepped up. Had you not bought expended warranty, or had the warranty company denied your claim, you’d be looking at a $15k + bill for a new engine. Or you’d be parting out your bike.

My point is, whether BMW stepped up or not, this should NOT be an ongoing issue with these bikes. What the fu$k is going on in the engine factory??? Guess you “only” lost 2 months of summer riding season…
 
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