Marc,
Since buying the bike I have been getting educated. It's amazing how much contradictory info is out there. One point of confusion for me was that in one or two years the GS Adventure was different (engine) than the non-adventure GS. 2013 is one of those years. In 2013 the GSA is oil cooled, the GS has water cooling.
My 2013 GS Adventure has a vent, a drain plug, and a fill port. I drained and filled it (the first person to do so on this bike) it had 180+/- in it.
Virginia Motorrad seems to be a good source of info. They note that 2010 was a year when significant design changes happened. One large bearing was relocated to the oil bath side of the seal and the vent was added.
So far I think mine is better rather than worse. I'm sure there's more to learn about this...
Since buying the bike I have been getting educated. It's amazing how much contradictory info is out there. One point of confusion for me was that in one or two years the GS Adventure was different (engine) than the non-adventure GS. 2013 is one of those years. In 2013 the GSA is oil cooled, the GS has water cooling.
My 2013 GS Adventure has a vent, a drain plug, and a fill port. I drained and filled it (the first person to do so on this bike) it had 180+/- in it.
Virginia Motorrad seems to be a good source of info. They note that 2010 was a year when significant design changes happened. One large bearing was relocated to the oil bath side of the seal and the vent was added.
So far I think mine is better rather than worse. I'm sure there's more to learn about this...
2013 and 2014 final drives had a higher failure rate than pre 2013 or post 2014 as BMW made changes with the 2013 year and again in 2015 or there about.
Some failures were catastrophic and well documented, some, will have simple to fix blown seals from too much oil and no vent.
In 2013 BMW came out with the new final drive with the wet head motor which specified a higher oil quantity 220ml IIRC and specified it as lifetime fill, thus no drain plug. There are also theories of incorrectly shimmed bearings but I cannot say if that's true.
Around 2015, could be late 14 could be 16, BMw changed the final drive in a few ways:
1. Added a vent
2. Added a drain plug
3. Added a 12k service interval
4. Lowered the fill spec during a service full to 180ml
I do not think all these changes happened at once, I believe they were irritative as BMW tried to solve the drive failure issues.
Bottom line is, there is a higher failure rate of 2013 WET HEAD ENGINED final drives vs at the very least 2016 and newer.
Not all final drives fail.
Any year BMW can and does have final drive failures.
Exact percentage is unknown. Probably lower then the internet makes it seem, but higher than it should be when compared to a Honda or Yamaha.
There are easy tests to know if the bike you are looking at has a currently good final drive and if it was services correctly.
Some failures were catastrophic and well documented, some, will have simple to fix blown seals from too much oil and no vent.
In 2013 BMW came out with the new final drive with the wet head motor which specified a higher oil quantity 220ml IIRC and specified it as lifetime fill, thus no drain plug. There are also theories of incorrectly shimmed bearings but I cannot say if that's true.
Around 2015, could be late 14 could be 16, BMw changed the final drive in a few ways:
1. Added a vent
2. Added a drain plug
3. Added a 12k service interval
4. Lowered the fill spec during a service full to 180ml
I do not think all these changes happened at once, I believe they were irritative as BMW tried to solve the drive failure issues.
Bottom line is, there is a higher failure rate of 2013 WET HEAD ENGINED final drives vs at the very least 2016 and newer.
Not all final drives fail.
Any year BMW can and does have final drive failures.
Exact percentage is unknown. Probably lower then the internet makes it seem, but higher than it should be when compared to a Honda or Yamaha.
There are easy tests to know if the bike you are looking at has a currently good final drive and if it was services correctly.