Valve Cap Warning!!

[Scoots you sir]

Not sure if anyone has posted about this before: don’t ever put an oversized valve cap on the front wheel of a C600 / C650 because there's only a tiny clearance between the valve and the brake caliper.

I put a cap with a built-in valve core extraction tool on my front wheel (just in case I ever needed one while out and about). A few weeks later when I went to top up the air I found the prongs had been worn down completely and the valve knocked about so much that only the cap seal was keeping the air in.


Luckily it was going to BMW for a routine service the next day so they fixed it for me.
I’ve used another cap of the same type for the photo to show what I’m talking about. The prongs make it about 7mm longer than the average cap.
By the way I very definitely use it on my rear wheel only now!!

 

[JaimeC]

Wow. So noted!

 

[Scoots you sir]

Come to think of it, could happen if you don't fully screw on any kind of valve cap

 

[skippy1969]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[exavid]

I guess that explains why the original valve cap is so short.

 

[Sparkrn]

Just checked it out, this will be fun when I have to replace the stem. Where do I find that short of a stem?

 

[JaimeC]

Your local BMW dealer, of course. It looks like the same part number used for my K1200LT, actually.

 

[Sparkrn]

I suppose so, I forgot that there is a tps attached to it probably

 

[JaimeC]

The TPS is inside the rim. It has nothing to do with the valve stem.

 

[JaimeC]

Since I just bought four of these things (I'm doing the tires on the K1200LT shortly, and it uses the exact same valve stem as the C650GT) I figured I'd share the BMW part number with you guys if you want to order them from either your local dealer or from online.

The part number is:

36 31 76 53 064

My dealer charged me $6.21 apiece and I'm pretty sure you can get them cheaper (but I like to support my local dealer when I can so he'll be there when I need him).