What if BMW had made it right on the first attempt?
Lately Product Managment is more focused on spare parts managment rather than motorbike “perfection”
Motorbikes are emotions, passions, flaws, but mostly we especte them not to hide from you informations that could save your buttocks once you’re out there in the woods, or in some other city, or even in your own city !
One thing that we biker learn the hard way is how to do proper mantainance of our vehicle, so, when you don’t find specific info about a part, you forget that is there, ticking away together with your bike :) fuel filters are one of those small details, well, BMW has decided that making them not part any more of simple mantainance and making sure no big player would put them on the aftermarket off the shelf, they made sure that the ticking was not simple life, but was a real bomb going to blow apart fuel filter and fuel pump.
Yep, since 2006, most Beemers, doesn’t have a replacement for fuel filters and you simply run your bike, maybe an expensive K1600 GT worth maybe more than 26 grands, could refill some contaminated fuel and you will have to repleace your fuel pump, and no, BMW will not cosider it warranty since
it was your bad fuel wich “did for the pump” :)
Here you can se the evolution of BMW filters, in the middle the classic 1100/1150 R fuel filter, most K (early models) used the same too, on the left the latest R1200 R Air/Oil Cooled external and on the right, tadaaaaaaaaaa, latest filter unit, to be found on most recent BMW, F/R/K, you name it….
Now also the R 1200 GS/GSA RT R RS LC has adopted the KL 315 as in-line fuel filter, and Mahle has put it on the shelf for us to be bought as aftermarket……… good on yer :)
But modern model such as the R Nine T and K 1000 SS still use the same “wrong” concept of “hidden” filter unit…… protect your fuel pump, protect your fuel filter, use a Guglatech neck filter unit.