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2007 BMW R1200 GS Fuel Strip Questions???

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Lowrider Bud

Lowrider Bud

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I bought an '07 GS recently, low miles, new tires, good condition, and a yellow warning sign and FUEL flashing in the Info window and the fuel level showing nothing. It appears that BMW had a problem(s) with the fuel gauge technology they implemented between 2004 and 2009, especially on the 1200GS and they are known to fail. The fix is to replace the fuel strip with a new one (many many $$$ at the BMW Steelership), or convert it to a Float type Fuel Sensor like they went back to in 2010.

I am looking for folks that have experience with this known failure. What they did to fix it or have it fixed. And very interested in knowing about the float conversion and its resulting effects.

Thanks in advance, Bud...
 
On my 09, I had 3 different fuel strips. They extended the replacement coverage, but there were some constraints that I don't remember. Basically all my other bikes didn't have fuel gauges so I just go used to knowing how many miles I could go. Plus mine was a GSA so I had a huge range, larger than my bladder, so stopping on trip was not an issue.
 
I had an 07 GSA with at least 3 strips. BMW never "fixed" the problem, they just replaced them until their extended fuel strip warranty expired (7 yrs, I think). I gave up, then built and installed a fuel strip spoof (search in advrider). The spoof tricked the fuel gauge into thinking the tank was full all the time and the low fuel light did not blink continuously. Like Rusty, I just watched my mileage. It was never a problem.
 
For me, I hate losing functionality when the the strip is not working. Basically your mpg performance, miles to empty, and the gage itself. I've been pretty lucky and had only 2 go south on two different 07's back in their early lives, one on my GSA and one on my wife's R1200R. Never lost another in many years /75K more miles on my GSA, but I always rode the bikes so they always had fresh gas and did not sit around much. I picked up a 2009 RT 21 months ago, which had frustrated the PO due to (3) gage failures over 5 years. But he only had 10.4 K total on the bike by 12/2020 when I bought it, so it was obvious he did not ride it and let old gas sit. It needed a new strip at that time and has not failed since, thank goodness as that's when the loong warranty went off. I try to lower the ethanol content by filling every other tank with E0 at Murphys, even though its only 87 octane. I ride the bike gently and it essentially runs with about half the ethanol it would otherwise have in the tank and an octane around 89 which is fine even though they call for 91. My other two 2007's never saw 91 in the 130K we owned the two of them, nor did they ever see ethanol free fuel. If the bike detects any pinging, from slightly lower octane fuel, it simply retards timing automatically. 2007's did the same thing. Now ethanol problems may or may not be a real culprit but that was largely internet mechanic speculation if I'm not mistaken.
 
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Lowrider Bud said:
I bought an '07 GS recently, low miles, new tires, good condition, and a yellow warning sign and FUEL flashing in the Info window and the fuel level showing nothing. It appears that BMW had a problem(s) with the fuel gauge technology they implemented between 2004 and 2009, especially on the 1200GS and they are known to fail. The fix is to replace the fuel strip with a new one (many many $$$ at the BMW Steelership), or convert it to a Float type Fuel Sensor like they went back to in 2010.

I am looking for folks that have experience with this known failure. What they did to fix it or have it fixed. And very interested in knowing about the float conversion and its resulting effects.

Thanks in advance, Bud...
Click to expand...
So... first of all, make sure the fuel pump replacement and final drive flange and brake line recalls are done on your bike. These are free and mandatory for a safe ride. If the strip is a problem it is covered 2 years if you pay for a new one outside of the old now defunct warranty (about $400). The warrantied parts are not covered a full 2 years if your overall warranty period runs out before 2 years since your last replacement. That's really lame. If you make 2 years on a replaced part, you will probably get way further than that, and continue to enjoy a normal operable electronic system. Oh, and I never heard of a successful float conversion on these. Your bike is very different with two fuel pumps and pumping from left to right as fuel quantities change. You will also see it gets down to about 90miles remaining then shoots back up to 160 and goes back down. That's due to the left side pumping over to the right side when fuel gets low on the right side. I hope that is perfectly clear.. but nobody explains that to a GSA owner and its mind boggling as you watch the data change over a tank of fuel and ask what the heck is it doing. That remaining 160 miles may get eaten up faster than you'd expect as well, especially from 80 to empty. Same story every time :-)
 
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Or you can just buy one of these. It will show a full tank, but you lose the yellow triangle of death and warning messages. Track mileage to decide when to top off the fuel.

HPoskam fuel strip emulator

hposkam.nl

BMW fuel ribbon emulator - HPoskam engineering

- Easy installation (plug and play) - No cutting wires - Fits most BMW models with a 4-pin connector
hposkam.nl hposkam.nl
 

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There's guys that have gone back with float style sending units. A bit more than I want to mess with right now. But will probably end up doing.
 
I appreciate the responses from everyone. Got some very good information. I will probably build the Spoof circuit later and ride with it for a while. I am already conditioned to refuel by the Trip Meter so that is not an issue. Doing the float conversion sounds like a winter project for me (if we ever get over this summer). I also need to keep in mind that this bike's value is not going up even with a working fuel gauge.

Later, Bud...
 
I ordered the resistors for the Fuel Strip Spoof circuit. Got them yesterday and installed this morning. Works as described. I'm ready to go. Thanks again to everybody.

Later, Bud...
 
I just did the "zap" on my 2010 GSA fuel strip, which apparently had multiple under-warranty strip replacements before I got the bike.

Discussion of zapping the strip is somewhere in this thread. The principle is -- I think -- that the high-voltage, low-amp current basically welds the breaks in continuity of the circuit.

Seems to work at least for now. Update: Worked for 21 glorious miles.

Here's what I did:
  1. Got access to the fuel strip male connector (4 pins). Three fairing bolts.
  2. Checked continuity on pins 1 and 4: Good. (I read that sometimes this circuit is bad, too.)
  3. Checked continuity on pins 2 and 3: Bad = open.
  4. Disassembled an almost empty BBQ-style lighter. Got the igniter out and stripped the lead ends.
  5. Connected igniter leads to pins 2 and 3.
  6. Held my breath to prevent a spark in the half-full tank and sufficient O2 that would result in an undesirable event.
  7. Thought to myself, "how dangerous could this really be?" "The Internet can't possibly be wrong."
  8. Clicked the igniter 6 times. Why 6? I don't have a good reason.
  9. Did not observe an explosion.
  10. Removed the igniter.
  11. Checked continuity: Good!
  12. Reinstalled connector.
  13. Started engine.
  14. Saw "FUEL" annunciator go off after about a minute. (I read that that can take much longer).
  15. Reinstalled the fairing.
I didn't check the resistance, and I haven't bothered with recalibration. I suspect that the system will recalibrate itself at least a little over time. I am planning on getting the gizmo that lets me recalibrate and do all of those other electronic things.

Start to finish, the fix takes maybe 15 minutes. I've read that this fix holds for 6-12 months. We'll see. Update: We saw ... 21 miles before failure.

PXL_20220918_155137626.MP.jpg
 
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Golly Mr. Wizard, that's impressive. Glad you didn't get blown up and the ZAP actually works. Hope it holes longer than 12 months for you.

Later, Bud...
BTW - be sure to rely on the Tripometer for when you need to fill up. About 150 miles = 4 gallons.
 
You had the same experience with the zapper that I had. I can't remember if mine ever worked. At that point I decided to spoof the whole circuit. Keep us posted on your next step.
 
If its that poor an oem replacement, why not pay the $400 and just keep getting it replaced under the 2 year warranty? Or run 50/50 ethanol free fuel to help reduce the issue if indeed that's the problem? I've had three of these bikes and had only one failure per bike over 170k miles. Am I casino level lucky or is this a bit overblown?
 
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Boulder Ed said:
If its that poor an oem replacement, why not pay the $400 and just keep getting it replaced under the 2 year warranty? Or run 50/50 ethanol free fuel to help reduce the issue if indeed that's the problem? I've had three of these bikes and had only one failure per bike over 170k miles. Am I casino level lucky or is this a bit overblown?
Click to expand...

I'd like to avoid the hassle of maintenance at the dealer. Also trying to find/keep no-ethanol gas. (I do use stabilizer regardless of effectiveness.) You might be casino-level lucky!

Re overblown: Apparently not for my bike for reasons unknown to me. It's on its sixth fuel strip. Bright side: goofing around with high voltage and fuel systems.
 
Update: the re-zap held for 10 more glorious miles. I think I'll spoof it as y'all suggested.
 
You are gonna earn a Darwin award if you keep playing with voltage in a fuel system. Just buy a new fuel strip, reduce ethanol content if you can, and ride the bike a couple times a week so it does not sit around a lot, stagnating the strip surface. If it fails it will have a 2 year warranty attached.
 
jsmorph, I think you're on the right track. I don't like the idea of supporting companies like BMW when they introduce shotty unproven technology and replacement parts for their already over-priced motorcycles. I don't consider myself a typical BMW owner, I inherited the one I have and choose to do as much maintenance and repairs as possible to stay out of the stealer ships. The SPOOF works for me.

Later, Bud...
 
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