Maintenance Curiosities with BMW’s Mighty S1000XR

Wrist: Marc Cook
MSRP (2016): $19,790 (as tested)
Miles: 16,118
MPG: 38
Mods: Replacement headlight bulb

Once the BMW S1000XR returned from track duty (see BMW S1000XR Goes To The Track here), I put it back on street tires and set about my usual combination of weekday commuting and weekend fun riding. For its part, the XR showed no ill effects from the track time. In fact, I'd hoped the track duty would help me uncover an intermittent overheating issue.

That’s intermittent as in twice in more than 16K miles. Once was in traffic on the way into Phoenix, having been on the road all day. With the temp display around 219 degrees F and the fan definitely running, I didn’t think much of it until I could smell antifreeze. When I stopped for the night, there was evidence of a coolant leak on the right side of the bike. I checked the reservoir level and it was near the lower mark, so I made a mental note to watch the temperatures carefully.

When I got home, I removed the side panels but could find no solid-gold evidence of the leak source. I checked that all the fittings were tight (they were) that the reservoir wasn’t cracked (it wasn’t as far as I could tell), and then thoroughly cleaned the area. We were suffering through a bit of a hot spell in March, so I left the colored panel off the right side so I could easily see the radiator cap and the hoses on that side. The bike never acted up while I had the cover off. Of course.

A couple of weeks later, in stop-and-go traffic, I smelled coolant again and pulled over. A tiny drip showed on the larger of the two radiator hoses visible on the right side. But it stopped as quickly as it started and hasn’t recurred. (For the record, the XR never overheated at the track.) Now the plan is to have the dealer who does the 18,000 major service pressurize the recovery tank and check for leaks elsewhere.

Otherwise this cycle, the XR has seen its usual diet of 60-mile-a-day commuting and about 350 miles over the weekend as I visit relatives in Tehachapi, California. Setting out for home on one of these, I noticed the general warning light glaring from the dash. It will do this when the fuel level is low or the service reminder is on, indicating the nature of the problem with a single line of text at the top of the multifunction display. This time the line said “LAMPF!” I wondered what part of the engine the “lampf” was until I realized this means “lamp, front.” Then I noticed the low-beam portion of the headlight was out. I could tell even through the lens that the bulb filament was toast, so I rode home in the daylight, thankful for the Denali LED lights I’d just installed for that extra bit of conspicuity. (More on them in the next installment.)

Fortunately, the bulb change is easy. Open a plastic cover inside the fairing, unclip the wire, move the fiddly wire bale out of the way, and out comes the conventional H7 bulb. I installed an Osram Night Breaker H7 bulb (see osram.com) the next day and all is well.

I was wondering if a bulb replacement at 15K miles was common, and a bit of time on the S1000XR forum proved that it's not uncommon for the XR or for other BMWs, supposedly. I'll remind everyone of small sample sizes, but several posters who owned the XR and other BMW models using the H7 reported short bulb life. I was ready to declare the XR's vibration levels the cause—you can really feel the plastic buzzing at highway speeds—but I'm not so sure. It's also good to know that the low- and high-beam bulbs are the same, so you could swap them if you discover the low-beam has died before a night ride. The running lights embedded in the headlight shells are enough for you to be seen, mostly, but I wouldn't want to navigate a dark road with only their illumination.

Next up: I've fitted Denali D2 lights (see twistedthrottle.com here) on custom mounts and the Givi SRA5119 aluminum top rack, and I'll tell you all about it. Soon after that, it'll be time for the first really involved bit of maintenance, the 18,000-mile checkup.