Electronics » Left hand switch gear failure

2015 Bike on 17,400 miles, used the bike a week ago, trouble free.

Switched on bike this morning and find none of the left switch gear is working, no indicators, no horn, no cruise control, Info, Trip and Suspension mode buttons failing to do anything. The DRL is on as is the dipped main beam but the button that switches between DRL and Dipped not working. Everything else is fine, Dash is working but not reporting a fault, full power availalbe, GASP etc. etc. just can’t indicate my directional intentions (back to learner days and hand signals!) ;-)

When I get home tonight going to try disconnecting the battery and trace the wire from the switch gear to see if there is a loose connector – anyone any other ideas or had same issue?

Coincidentally I'm passing the dealers tomorrow morning, now going to drop in.

JasonQ

Yes, I had my Left switch gear failed from new, but only in a limited degree. I did not know it was faulty until I bought a Nav V. then the "push right" function did not work at all. I thought the problem was with the Nav, by my BMW service department identified it as a problem with the switch, and replaced it under warranty. It has worked flawlessly since. My RS was built in August 2015.
I also had a temporary (and so far unrepeated) switch failure on the Right, when the "kill" switch blocked the "fire (damn you) fire" command to the spark plugs a couple of months ago. I wrote a post on it at the time. My solution was to squirt WD 40 into the clearance gap around the kill switch. I was very generous with the amount squirted. That fixed the problem with no further issues.
I did not, in either case, try to dismantle the switch gear. Generally speaking, the wiring on the RS is pretty fine stuff, and it is made to very close tolerances. My guess is if the switch has a problem which WD 40 can't fix, it is not serviced, BMW will just Remove and Replace.

Half way through my morning at work it’s struck me that when you turn the bike off at the keyless ignition (button) the bike doesn’t actually power down fully for another minute (or is it 90 seconds). When I first had the problem this morning and switched the bike off and on again I didn’t leave it that long.

I’ve Just gone out to the bike (2.5 hours after parking up) and powered it up and the left-hand switch gear is functioning fully now – riding it at lunchtime, I’ll double-check then if there are any repeat issue.

But maybe it was a computer glitch that just need the switch it off and on again fix, but a full power down off and on.

Even so I will report it to dealer tomorrow.

JasonQ

Switchgear issues are not uncommon for BMW as you will find mention of it on most BMW Motorrad associated forums, indeed I needed the left-hand switchgear replaced on my 2012 F800R after I discovered I could indicate left but not right and the hazards stopped working altogether. Whilst my F800R was out of its 2 year warranty period when this issue arose, BMW acknowledged the difficulties they had been experiencing with switchgear and I only needed to pay for the new part to be installed. I seem to recall (and this may surprise you) the flaky switchgear was manufactured by Nokia but after the protracted period of well documented issues, BMW switched (pun intended) to another supplier at some point in the past couple of years and it would appear switchgear problems with more recent builds are now a thing of the past so hopefully I will not encounter these issues with my 2018 R1200RS.

I’m convinced this wasn’t switch gear failure and it was the canbus / CPU having a hiccup. I rode 360 miles on Sunday without a single glitch.

I did drop into the dealer on Saturday and it’s been noted. I also booked the engine for its 12,000 (valves, plugs etc.) and the chassis for its 18,000 miles service (yes I got a replacement engine) – this is going to be an expensive one, even the lady taking the booking winced and apologised when she did a rough guide to the price, but I’ve been aware that this would happen and budgeted for it.

JasonQ