DON"T LET THEM UPDATE the COMPUTER!

[Skutorr]

New post in Spanish Tmax Forum. Guy with a brand-new C650 went in for his 1,000km service. Changed oil, checked things out, installed the latest update.

Goes riding on a 100km trip, and as he hits 140-150 km on a nice, long stretch, the ENGINE OVERHEAT LIGHT COMES ON! Engine loses power: he nurses it to a stop. Checks coolant level visually...seems okay. Doesn't "Feel" hot. Oil level also good. Starts it back up, limps it home carefully, it almost won't go up any hills....

Takes it to the Dealer. Can't figure it out at first; confer with BMW. Oh, nothing wrong with the engine, the UPDATE was BAD!!! Glitch in the software turns on the warning light above 140kph and puts the bike into a low-power "safe mode". Their answer...ride slower.

He asks to have the computer rolled-back to the previous software; can't do it, doesn't exist any more. He's told that maybe by August BMW Germany will have a software fix, so, ride slowly...

Are you KIDDING ME?

 

[JaimeC]

C'mon, guys! This is "I.T. 101." You NEVER update software unless you have a safe way to back it out. Geez!!

 

[Tomas]

Good info.


-Tomas

 

[Snowdog]

Sounds like one of those made up stories that people tell to diss another make of bike. It was the TMAX forum.

 

[Oldscoot]

Sounds like one of those made up stories that people tell to diss another make of bike. It was the TMAX forum.

I can't even imagine that!

 

[yellasei]

If it was on a fairly new scooter then it wouldnt have needed an update and the pc will tell you if it needs one or not, so smells like BS To me.

 

[justscootin]

On this side of the pond we should not have to worry as 140 kmh is above our provincial and state laws this is 87 miles an hour

 

[Skutorr]

Fine. Did it just to help you AVOID a problem, like with the tensioner earlier, from the Italian Forum. From now on, no more heads-up. Good luck with that. Here is the Spanish post, copied:



Problema Inminente reportado por BMW... me ha tocao.

Postby canaillo » Mon, 16 Jun 2014, 13:45

Hola a todos,

Sinopsis :

- Compro una C 650 GT hace menos de un mes.
- Hago la primera revisión de los 1000 km el viernes 13 de junio con 1.160 km...... Y :

Salgo del Taller dirección a casa... 45 km en total, a los 15 km se me enciende testigo de alerta por alta temperatura motor, bajo la velocidad y se quita...¡¡¡

Dos dias despues vuelvo a salir un paseo de unos 100 km y a 140-150 kh, se me vuelve a encender de nuevo, ademas la moto no va fina y no alcanza la velocidad máxima ni cuesta abajo.

Diagnosis de hoy lunes tras una conversación telefonica con el Jefe de Taller del Concesionario..:

TENCION: Problema inminente para quien le toque.

Esta mañana me pongo en contacto con el taller para comunicar el incidente y en primera instancia me dicen que les lleve de nuevo la moto para revisarla, pero un rato mas tarde he decidido llamar y preguntar por el Jefe de Taller, y este es el resumen... :

Es un problema ya reportado por BMW, ya sabia de lo que se trataba y me dice que la moto cuando llega a 140-150 k/h se le enciende el chivato de temperatura y entra en modo protección, por lo que no funciona correctamente.

El tema por la visto procede de la actualización de software que le hacen en la revisión que ocasiona este problema. Desde BMW les han dicho que lo tendrán solucionado a finales de Agosto...... EHHHH ??

Es impresionante, me recomienda ademas que no pase de esa velocidad y que tenga paciencia..... Pero oiga, que me he comprado la moto para disfrutarla y después de la revisión tengo la moto averiada......

Después de un rato de charla... me dice que se toma todo el interés del mundo y que se pondrá en contacto con Alemania a ver lo que le solucionan....

Estoy para tomar un camino.... me voy de vacaciones en unos días y no voy a poder disfrutar de la moto comprada hace menos de un mes...

Saludos,

Pascual.

 

[wsteele]

Do you have the English version if you showed this to the service rep. He is going to go huh!

 

[Oldscoot]

On this side of the pond we should not have to worry as 140 kmh is above our provincial and state laws this is 87 miles an hour

Skutorr - I am grateful that in the past that you have provided valuable information and I believe you have important knowledge. However, passing on every rumor from European sources weakens your credibility.

I've spent a lifetime trying to ascertain people's motivations. Why do you believe it is your role to point out every defect, real and imaginary, in the BMW product? I'm not being mean-spirited - but this is a BMW forum and finding everything bad to say about our bikes when you don't own one causes me to question your motivation. I'm certainly open to input on this from the forum - but I have not had any problems and a significant number of owners have not had significant problems. I believe that the value of our bikes is lessened by conjecture.

 

[Skutorr]

There are a couple of C-series guys around here I plan to go riding with. I had hoped to meet-up with Christian in the Sierras, but his ride is still at the dealers.

My motivation? I love Maxi Scoots, they do so much so well. I've had/still have high hopes for the C-600 as a possible next bike, which is why I am keeping my eye on them in the most rigorous testing arena there is; European Enthusiasts. Hopefully, their DEMAND for better reliability and support from BMW will translate into an improved, rectified product. You might not be aware of exactly HOW HARD the Italians and Spanish push their scoots; they BETTER not fail, or Heaven Help you!

With that testing resource available to tap online (and also a way to keep up with my Spanish and expand my Italian) weak areas that might not show for months or years of OUR style riding/usage show up much quicker in Europe, where they FLOG the bikes. I post those issues which show up, NOT imagined but concrete and recognized over there, so that owners on THIS side of the pond might AVOID those problems by keeping an eye out and proactively pressuring/questioning BMW.

Case in point. Christian's C-600 went to the dealer for clutch replacement/repair. While there they found the leaking seal behind it, and had to try and source one. I posted that NO ONE had them, as BMW Germany wouldn't get the "NEW" seal in till August, per the Italian BMW forum. Also, as the tensioners are suspect, and have been recalled in two countries so far, Christian asked that THAT be dealt with...BMW USA was all "HUH???" Right. Elsewhere on this forum, a member had his BIKE replaced after the timing chain failed, as he showed BMW the resolution being used in Europe; dead engine, new bike.

Knowledge is a good thing. On the Tmax forum, a poll was taken that shows that 1/4 of member Tmaxes have had "Tmax Fever"; bad fuel pumps that quit working at elevated temps. That's info! Some went ahead and proactively replaced their perfectly good pumps, just to be sure. Others decided (like me...) that they would take those 75% odds and run with it, as you usually get a gradual warning of impending failure. No one had an ax to grind (actually, one guy does...) they just wanted the info out there.

I don't get any thrill out of any of this, I just though that people might find it useful to know, and could keep an eye out for and avoid problems. Apparently, some don't like it. I'll just stick to "Happy Talk Topics" and post nice pictures and links to fun videos of people riding their C-600s...

 

[Oldscoot]

There are a couple of C-series guys around here I plan to go riding with. I had hoped to meet-up with Christian in the Sierras, but his ride is still at the dealers.

My motivation? I love Maxi Scoots, they do so much so well. I've had/still have high hopes for the C-600 as a possible next bike, which is why I am keeping my eye on them in the most rigorous testing arena there is; European Enthusiasts. Hopefully, their DEMAND for better reliability and support from BMW will translate into an improved, rectified product. You might not be aware of exactly HOW HARD the Italians and Spanish push their scoots; they BETTER not fail, or Heaven Help you!

With that testing resource available to tap online (and also a way to keep up with my Spanish and expand my Italian) weak areas that might not show for months or years of OUR style riding/usage show up much quicker in Europe, where they FLOG the bikes. I post those issues which show up, NOT imagined but concrete and recognized over there, so that owners on THIS side of the pond might AVOID those problems by keeping an eye out and proactively pressuring/questioning BMW.

Case in point. Christian's C-600 went to the dealer for clutch replacement/repair. While there they found the leaking seal behind it, and had to try and source one. I posted that NO ONE had them, as BMW Germany wouldn't get the "NEW" seal in till August, per the Italian BMW forum. Also, as the tensioners are suspect, and have been recalled in two countries so far, Christian asked that THAT be dealt with...BMW USA was all "HUH???" Right. Elsewhere on this forum, a member had his BIKE replaced after the timing chain failed, as he showed BMW the resolution being used in Europe; dead engine, new bike.

Knowledge is a good thing. On the Tmax forum, a poll was taken that shows that 1/4 of member Tmaxes have had "Tmax Fever"; bad fuel pumps that quit working at elevated temps. That's info! Some went ahead and proactively replaced their perfectly good pumps, just to be sure. Others decided (like me...) that they would take those 75% odds and run with it, as you usually get a gradual warning of impending failure. No one had an ax to grind (actually, one guy does...) they just wanted the info out there.

I don't get any thrill out of any of this, I just though that people might find it useful to know, and could keep an eye out for and avoid problems. Apparently, some don't like it. I'll just stick to "Happy Talk Topics" and post nice pictures and links to fun videos of people riding their C-600s...

As always you are a gentleman and make a good argument.

 

[elamofo]

and also a way to keep up with my Spanish and expand my Italian

If you use Chrome as your browser for those sites it will automatically translate it for you. I follow the French and German sites and occasionally the Italian one, it's too slow for some reason. Not that practicing your language skills is a bad thing, I just never learned "cam tensioner" in high school Spanish class.

 

[Skutorr]

The auto-translate features are a good start, but rife with errors. They work at a high-school foreign language level, don't take any regional dialect differences into account, or technical language, or posting shorthand, or slang. BUT; it's better than nothing.

You are better off slogging through yourself, reading it in context, and using the Google roll-over to translate individual words that might not be in your vocabulary.

Back when I was a waiter in college, working with a bunch of Europeans at high-end restaurants, I was told this joke:

Q "What do you call someone who is Bilingual?"
A "A little 'slow'"

 

[omniphil]

So when you get this over temp warning how do you clear it to "ride slower" ?

I don't often ride over 87mph, but it certainly does happen and I go in next week for the ECU and sidestand recalls.

 

[iflywoe]

had the update done, on the highway last night got the bike up to 95 for a few seconds and nothing happen.
1 thing I notice from update is that instead of being able to start the scoot right away I had to wait till the dash did its thing before starting other than that I felt like idle on a lower rpm.

 

[omniphil]

So maybe it only triggers if your over 87 for an extended period of time? I could certainly live with that...

had the update done, on the highway last night got the bike up to 95 for a few seconds and nothing happen.
1 thing I notice from update is that instead of being able to start the scoot right away I had to wait till the dash did its thing before starting other than that I felt like idle on a lower rpm.

 

[yellasei]

it's simple, you don't have to have an update if you don't need one, most scoots will have had an update before this supposed glitch and a 2014 scoot will not need it anyway.

 

[JaimeC]

Maybe I already had that update performed? I've NEVER been able to start the scooter until the dash ran through all of its diagnostics first.

 

[Lance]

Technically wouldn't this mean all 2014's would have this issue?