paint defects on final drive

sbreland · Post by **sbreland** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 5:13 pm

Anyone seen paint defects on the rear drive? This is a 2004 ABS model I bought new in Feb 2004. About 15k miles, always garaged. Mine looks like the paint is cracking, but not peeling. Since I have 11 months left on the waranty I'll be dicussing it with my dealer of course. However if this has happened before it might be nice to mention it...

Post by **erock1150** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:10 pm

I bought a use 2002 at my local dealer in early 2004. They were holding the bike for me when I got a call. The salesman told me that he found defects on the paint on the rear drive, and under warranty BMW is changing the whole thing out. I ended up buying a use bike with 6000 miles on it but the transmission was all-new. I had to treat the bike like it was knew and watch my RPMs. Was a sweet deal for me.

erock

Apostle · Post by **Apostle** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:20 pm

Sbreland,

I also have 2004 Silver/ABS R. Also keep it in clean (may be too clean) and garaged. And about 4 months ago I found similar issue with rear drive paint. I didn't check it with dealer yet. Could you send me the photo of the problematic spot on your rear dtive, so we can compare and see if it is not just a coincidence. Please, keep me posted about the result of your negotiation with dealer.

Thanks,
Apostle

sbreland · Post by **sbreland** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:33 am

Thanks guys.
I'll see if I can get a photo posted this evening, although it may be a challenge for me.

Post by **MattPie** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:05 pm

Apostle wrote:Sbreland,

I also have 2004 Silver/ABS R. Also keep it in clean (may be too clean) and garaged. And about 4 months ago I found similar issue with rear drive paint. I didn't check it with dealer yet. Could you send me the photo of the problematic spot on your rear dtive, so we can compare and see if it is not just a coincidence. Please, keep me posted about the result of your negotiation with dealer.

Thanks,
Apostle

I suspect mine has the same defect. I figured it was because I'm not an obsessive cleaner, but maybe I'll have to get over to the dealer and have them check it out.

2004 Silver w/ABS (purchased Aug 2004, don't know the manufacture date off-hand).

sbreland · Post by **sbreland** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 5:55 pm

Hmm. I took some digital photos, but the paint problems do not show up well. Either my Canon 2 mp camera or my photographic skills are not up to the task. The photos are of a silver/grey painted hub with silver/grey cracks in the paint. There is little contrast to highlight the areas of concern. The best written description I can come up with is it looks as though the paint is cracking in several patches around the rear drive.
I'm not especially obsessive about washing my bike and only noticed this because I washed it this past weekend for the first time this year.

I'll call my dealer tomorrow to get an appointment next week for a look see. There is an issue with my right turn signal switch and the signal cancel switch that needs addressing anyway.

Since there seems to be some interest in this paint situation I'll report back after the initial evaluation by my dealer.

sbreland · Post by **sbreland** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:57 am

Visited the dealer on Wednesday. Had the brake fluid changed and the right turn signal switch replaced (under warranty). About the paint, though...
BMW has a one year warranty on non-mechanical items, such as paint. For some reason I had it in my head the warranty was "bumper-to-bumper" for 36 months. Not so in the US. Anyway, the service manager said he will check with the area BMW rep to see if BMW will "good will" a repaint. He also pointed out areas of the transmission where the same paint cracking is occuring - not what I wanted to see. The service manager further said this is not uncommon and the fix is to mask off the area and shoot it while on the bike.
Mine will just have to remain as is. Shooting the paint in place doesn't interest me. So there's the story for now.