GS-Riders International

I'm not sure if this post should go here because of fuel or electric, so if it needs to be moved, okay.

I just recently purchased a U.S. Spec. 2008 R1200 GS Adventure. I did not get the computer or ESA. I did get ABS and traction control. I have just over 1,000 miles on the bike now and have had the same problem with the fuel gauge since day 1. The fuel gauge reads either full, half, or on reserve with the flashing yellow triangle, “Fuel!” displayed, and miles to empty. I’ve been tracking this for a couple of weeks recording distance, fuel gauge reading, and amount of fuel put in the tank. It is always the same and I’ve never seen the LCD fuel gauge read ¾ tank or ¼ tank, just full, half, and reserve. The dealer is aware of the problem and verified the software at the 600 mile service. I’ve been keeping them abreast of the aforementioned information.

Additionally, I’ve been searching http://www.advrider.com/forums/index.php, http://forum.r12gs.eu/index.php?sid=a2e01c6eefa30df16c538304302e28f1, http://www.gs-forum.eu/

http://gsri.info/forum/index.php?page=Index, http://www.r1200gs.info/, http://www.ukgser.com/forums/, and http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/, and I’ve seen some information on 2007 model year fuel gauge problems but have not seen anything on 2008 model year fuel gauge issues such as what I have. Does anyone else out there have a 2008 R1200GS Adventure with this problem?

My German is mediocre, but I understand most of the posts and have gone through quite a few threads on the website. Still not a lot of 2008 issues but there are some. I'm just trying to get enough data points to get BMW engineering to take a look at it if they aren't already. This isn't a dealer problem. I do understand these can be difficult problems to fault isolate but I do want it fixed.

As stated earlier. The dealer verified the software version at the 600 mile service. I'll go back to him and specifically ask what version was verified and if there is another newer version already out, and if not, if another version is planned. I do understand using the tripmeter, but fuel consumption varies quite a bit for me whether I'm on the autobahn or secondary roads.

Additionally, I think that fuel gauge accuracy is important if travel is done in more rural or desolate areas.

By the way, my 2006 DL650 Vstrom did have an accurate fuel gauge.

Thanks for getting the site up and running again.

Thanks for the offer. I'll let you know. First I'm going to go ask the dealer whom I bought the bike from about the software. Most of the replies I've been getting on ukgser seem to indicate software and hopefully it is. Thanks again.

Last week I asked the Kaiserslautern, Germany BMW dealer, from whom I purchased the bike, if CIP 11.2 addressed the fuel gauge issue and he said that it did not. I received a phone call from him yesterday and he told me that BMW did acknowledge that there is definitely a problem with the fuel gauge displaying the incorrect fuel level and it will be addressed in a future software drop. The dealer also told me that he did not need me to continue sending detailed information regarding gauge reading, miles driven, and quantity of fuel put in tank when refueling.

I live in Aschaffenburg. I bought the bike at the Kaiserslautern, Germany dealer http://www.bmwmotorcycles.de/ because they have a military sales program. I've been working with them because they made the sale, they have been very responsive, and they are a large shop. I did go by the BMW dealership in Aschaffenburg, http://www.motorrad-seubert.de/, and spoke with Herr Seubert on Saturday. He said that he was also aware of the problem and that BMW is working on a fix, but he didn't elaborate on what the fix would be.

Thanks. I thought that there were three tanks. Two on the side containing about 6 liters and a center tank containing about 21 liters. I wonder if there is a sensor strip per tank?

Sorry for the late update. My last post was in May 2008 after which I rode to the Isle of Man TT races (great time and weather by the way) with the bike's fuel gauge still malfunctioning. In late July 2008 I went to the dealer in Kaiserslautern, Germany, where I bought my bike. The sales representative had me come in to explain and show my problem to a BMW AG motorrad engineer, who was visiting for the day. I explained the symptoms of the problem and told the engineer that I thought the problem was either a sensor or the software based on my experiences on other vehicles. That might have been a mistake on my part as it might have led the engineer to only check those two items when in fact something else identified had he trouble shot the entire system. Interestingly the BMW AG motorrad engineer stated that this was the only fault of its type the company had a record of for the 2008 R1200GSA. Hmmm. The BMW AG motorrad engineer instructed the dealership to verify the software, which they did and it was the most current at that date. Then the BMW AG instructed the dealership to replace the fuel sensor, which is in the left side tank. The dealership filled the tank to full and then I rode back to Aschaffenburg, 101.3 miles later. The fuel gauge read full the entire time. In fact for the next week it behaved exactly as it had before. I wasn't sure what the problem was. I thought that maybe the newly replaced fuel sensor might have been defective as well; I really didn't know what to do. I passed all of this information to the Kaiserslautern dealership.

The Kaiserslautern sales representative let me know about a week later that there was a new software drop that might address the problem and asked me to bring the bike in. The sales representative was more than a little frustrated that the BMW AG motorrad engineer did not inform the dealership of the upcoming software update. I find this hard to believe that the BMW AG motorrad engineer didn't know this either when he was visiting the dealership the week prior. All software releases by any company or program have a target date for release and certainly field engineers would be informed of what the software was going to fix and what capabilities would if any be added. Anyway, I rode to Kaiserslautern a week later, on or about 12 August 2008 and had the new software loaded into the bike. According to the Kaiserslautern sales representative who worked with me on this problem from the beginning my bike came with software Cip10, was then updated to Cip11 (at some point, possibly the first service), and then to Cip12 which apparently has fixed my fuel gauge problem. I say apparently because, although the fuel gauge now works properly I haven't put on as many miles/kilometers since due to my job. I have had one hiccup in which the gauge read an improper amount but after shutting the bike off and restarting it worked. I'm still baffled because I really don't know what caused the problem. At first there were a number of posts on the afore mentioned websites describing fuel gauge problems but only a couple that appeared to be the same as mine. Now there doesn't appear to be hardly any posts on the subject. Maybe the issue is solved or the owners have given up and live with it. I suppose I might have had corrupt software, but I'm not sure.

As a side but related note, one of the times when I took my bike in for this problem the dealership's owner let me borrow his bike for while mine was in the shop. When I got on his bike, a 2008 R1200GS, the fuel gauge indicated that he was on reserve. I took the bike to a fuel station and filled it up. After I filled up his bike I figured he had at least 8 liters of fuel when the fuel gauge starting flashing. Hmmmm. I did pass this information onto him.

Sorry for the late update. I'll continue to update if there are any other issues with my fuel gauge, but as for now it seems to be working fine.

ghostrider1964

If all I did was ride on the same types of roads I'd do the same but my fuel consumption varies tremendously if I ride on the Autobahn or if I ride on secondary roads. I plan on keeping an eye on my fuel gauge behavior as I ride more in the coming months. Things are fine now, but I'm not completely confident yet.