BMW for sale good deal or no?

[tommymac]

A friend of mine is looking at this bike and wanted to know if its a good deal or what he should offer for it. I am not up on all the BMW models so I just wanted to see what some of you thought. Heres the e-mail he sent me with the links:


Tom, check out the links below. Considering it all, what would you offer for this bike?


http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/us/en/index.html


http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/mcy/1640267799.html


http://www.kbb.com/motorcycle/retail/2005/bmw/r1200gs-abs/65359?r=81577895712842192

[SteveP]

Seems like a decent deal with the low mileage on it. Most of those things have quite a few miles on them.

[Trip]

Send a pm to JoshuaTree

That year GS is a very hit or miss bike. It can either be the most reliable bike or it can have something fail every other ride. It's first run of that generation.

[azoomm]

Yes, I second the notion to ping Josh.

[6doublefive321]

You know, I'm usually weary of bikes with loads of miles. However, BMW's like this one scare me when they have really low miles. Most folks who buy these types of bikes are hardcore riders, and ride year round, regardless of rain, sleet, or snow. Anytime I see a "rider's bike" with really low miles like this one, I think scam. But, I am the eternal pessimist.

[JoshuaTree]

< Borg Voice >
Mileage is irrelevant (to a BMW Motorcycle)
< / Borg Voice >

In large part, what you want to see in a used BMW motorcycle is the maintenance history. Either you believe the owner has maintained the bike, or he has documentation (i.e. service invoices) proving that the ANNUAL SERVICES have been done for a low mileage bike. The most important component for any ABS-equipped bike (regardless of manufacturer) is BRAKE FLUID CHANGES, usually annually.

The first year hexheads ('05-Current R-Series) had some unique challenges. They wouldn't be my first pick, but if you got a GREAT deal (i.e. > 20% BELOW 'book' value) AND you had maintenance history, take it knowing the issues (e.g. Final Drive maintenance without a proper drain/fill plug, wonky EWS rings, etc.).

Have the guy give you the VIN and have your local dealer pull a warranty filing history report (used to be called DCS Report, but it may have changed by now). See if there are any outstanding service bulletins and what warranty repairs were done, if any. If he's done any regular business with a given BMW dealer, go there (or call) and have them disclose the entire work history of the bike (i.e. ensure it hasn't been crashed and repaired to "like new" condition).

YMMV. ;)

Now if your friend only wants a GS, I would advise him to either get a new F800GS or a used R1150GS or R1100GS. As long as you can either do the maintenance yourself (easy with the R1100-1150 generation bikes) or knows that he can afford the shop rates for an F800, he'll likely have a bike that will outlast his desire to own it. ;)

Thus sayeth me. :D

[Mr Lefty]

< Borg Voice >
Mileage is irrelevant (to a BMW Motorcycle)
< / Borg Voice >

In large part, what you want to see in a used BMW motorcycle is the maintenance history. Either you believe the owner has maintained the bike, or he has documentation (i.e. service invoices) proving that the ANNUAL SERVICES have been done for a low mileage bike. The most important component for any ABS-equipped bike (regardless of manufacturer) is BRAKE FLUID CHANGES, usually annually.

The first year hexheads ('05-Current R-Series) had some unique challenges. They wouldn't be my first pick, but if you got a GREAT deal (i.e. > 20% BELOW 'book' value) AND you had maintenance history, take it knowing the issues (e.g. Final Drive maintenance without a proper drain/fill plug, wonky EWS rings, etc.).

Have the guy give you the VIN and have your local dealer pull a warranty filing history report (used to be called DCS Report, but it may have changed by now). See if there are any outstanding service bulletins and what warranty repairs were done, if any. If he's done any regular business with a given BMW dealer, go there (or call) and have them disclose the entire work history of the bike (i.e. ensure it hasn't been crashed and repaired to "like new" condition).

YMMV. ;)

Now if your friend only wants a GS, I would advise him to either get a new F800GS or a used R1150GS or R1100GS. As long as you can either do the maintenance yourself (easy with the R1100-1150 generation bikes) or knows that he can afford the shop rates for an F800, he'll likely have a bike that will outlast his desire to own it. ;)

Thus sayeth me. :D

I'm interested... what's the deal with this? is the F800 really that expensive to work on? or should I say does the shop really charge that much to work on it? My nearest shop is 3.5 hrs a way and I'd LOVE an F800GS but if it's gonna cost me an arm and a leg for each scheduled maintenance and and 7hrs of riding time... I may wait until I move to a location nearer a dealer. (haven't heard anything but crap about the Baton Rouge BMW anyways)

[Trip]

The R-GS bikes are just stupid simple to work on besides the ABS. You don't have to go to the shop, where as the F800 the more major service is a lot harder.

[JoshuaTree]

The R-GS bikes are just stupid simple to work on besides the ABS. You don't have to go to the shop, where as the F800 the more major service is a lot harder.

*DING* We have a winner! :)

All CanBus bikes (05-current) require a dealer-only serivce computer to adjust/reset certain things. On the pre-iABS GS'es, ABS II can be bled by simple vacuum bleeders, and doesn't need a computer. There are 'tricks' to bleed an iABS bike without the service computer, but you still need the special service funnel to do the job correctly. The F800 is proving to be as solid and reliable as the 'old school' BMWs, excepting some trivial teething pains regarding the charcoal canister and other 'simple stuff'.

[Mr Lefty]

*DING* We have a winner! :)

All CanBus bikes (05-current) require a dealer-only serivce computer to adjust/reset certain things. On the pre-iABS GS'es, ABS II can be bled by simple vacuum bleeders, and doesn't need a computer. There are 'tricks' to bleed an iABS bike without the service computer, but you still need the special service funnel to do the job correctly. The F800 is proving to be as solid and reliable as the 'old school' BMWs, excepting some trivial teething pains regarding the charcoal canister and other 'simple stuff'.

yeah I've been following them closely...seen isolated instances of other issues... one, on adventure rider leaked oil from the head like crazy... but like I said... isolated bikes...

have they fixed the issue about the key ring antenna? that was another "major" issue I'd read about a while back... but haven't heard much as of late so I'm assuming a recall too care of that.

any idea how much the services cost for the F800? that's something I haven't read

[Trip]

They just replace the ring, it's like the fuel gauge issue, oh one of those/replace it.

[Mr Lefty]

They just replace the ring, it's like the fuel gauge issue, oh one of those/replace it.

but did they fix the issue with it going out? cause when that goes out it immobilizes the bike... not a good thing to happen when you're in the middle of South America, Mongolia, or LA

[Trip]

but did they fix the issue with it going out? cause when that goes out it immobilizes the bike... not a good thing to happen when you're in the middle of South America, Mongolia, or LA

I think they fixed this one where it doesn't do it anymore after you get it fixed.

[JoshuaTree]

The supplier(s) for the EWS rings have either been changed or the specification for the parts has. I've heard that there are as many as four to six different "rings", depending on the specific bike. The short version of the answer is YES, with obvious caveats regarding any part on a motorcycle...

This is one of the major reasons why I still advocate purchasing one of the
'older' series bikes, until such a time as BMW can go through a model/style cycle without such issues recurring. ;)

RE: Labor Rates / Costs. BMW publishes a 'flat rate chart' for repairs (but its dealer proprietary information). Most dealerships take the flat rate times and multiply it by 1.25-2.00 to get their hours quote for a given repair or maintenance task. You should be able to get a copy of the maintenance schedule and have the dealership you're considering doing business with tell you what they'd likely charge for each "service". Some dealerships even let customers have a copy of the service checklist...

[Mr Lefty]

cool.... and I am looking at the 800 as it fits perfectly in the size I want... but it'll honestly probably still be a couple years before I get one. I'd like to have myself in the black completely (don't own a house so only CC debt of about 15k) before I buy... and if possible would like to buy with cash.

I'd really like to find another dealership to deal with... I've talked to Baton Rouge about 15 times on the phone (left 10 messages no call backs like promised) and they don't wanna give me the time of day... :idk: