New CE-04 - 2 things don't seem right

[BernieD]

Hi all,

Just over a week ago, I traded in my 2013 C650 for a 2023 CE-04. I guess these aren't very popular here in north east Florida and the dealer must have really wanted to get it off the floor because they knocked their price down so heavily I couldn't say no...
My C650 was mostly used for short shopping trips & the likes but my other half didn't like having to 'climb on', with the passenger seat being that high.
So when I saw that CE-04 I just couldn't say no. And it got the approval stamp of my other half so win-win!

There are 2 things that annoy me so far:

1° the taillights rattle - as if something is loose inside them. When I tap them with my finger, I can hear the rattle (which the front blinkers don't do) but when riding it the vibrations make it a constant noise. On short trips to the supermarket, just shy of 2 miles away, I don't wear my helmet (they're not mandatory here in FL) and it's driving me nuts...

2° the rear brake squeaks

Anybody else have/had this? Or anybody have any suggestions before I call the dealership & have it fixed?

Thanks!

 

[ThatGuyOnFBsellsCE04Thing]

Hi all,

Just over a week ago, I traded in my 2013 C650 for a 2023 CE-04. I guess these aren't very popular here in north east Florida and the dealer must have really wanted to get it off the floor because they knocked their price down so heavily I couldn't say no...
My C650 was mostly used for short shopping trips & the likes but my other half didn't like having to 'climb on', with the passenger seat being that high.
So when I saw that CE-04 I just couldn't say no. And it got the approval stamp of my other half so win-win!

There are 2 things that annoy me so far:

1° the taillights rattle - as if something is loose inside them. When I tap them with my finger, I can hear the rattle (which the front blinkers don't do) but when riding it the vibrations make it a constant noise. On short trips to the supermarket, just shy of 2 miles away, I don't wear my helmet (they're not mandatory here in FL) and it's driving me nuts...

2° the rear brake squeaks

Anybody else have/had this? Or anybody have any suggestions before I call the dealership & have it fixed?

Thanks!

1 st question to fix is this product here I can help : https://bmwelectricmotorrad.myshopify.com/products/bmw-taillight-protector-us-model
2 nd question is we use isolation material to all our customers in our garage to reduce the amount of noise for both sides. Dont use any chemicals.

 

[jorgebri60]

I developed a rattle coming from the back end that took me a while to diagnose. I kept thinking it was a rattle coming from the taillights as well. Turned out to be the license plate cover the dealership puts with their bikes was coming loose. I'd check that, as well as make sure that the taillights haven't been replaced at some time, they're notorious for breaking, and when it was replaced perhaps it wasn't tightened down properly. I guess long story short, check for stuff coming loose back there.
Good luck

 

[BernieD]

@ThatGuyOnFBsellsCE04Thing - thanks for the link to that reinforcement part - I had seen it earlier but my US model comes with the factory reinforcements so I think those you sell wouldn't fit

@jorgebri60 - that's the first place I looked at, I unscrewed the entire licenseplate but it still did the same.

To kind of give you all an idea what it's like, I made a video

- these are just very light taps but you can hear, it sounds like something is loose inside...

 

[ThatGuyOnFBsellsCE04Thing]

@ThatGuyOnFBsellsCE04Thing - thanks for the link to that reinforcement part - I had seen it earlier but my US model comes with the factory reinforcements so I think those you sell wouldn't fit

@jorgebri60 - that's the first place I looked at, I unscrewed the entire licenseplate but it still did the same.

To kind of give you all an idea what it's like, I made a video

- these are just very light taps but you can hear, it sounds like something is loose inside...

Yes sir some people deattach the factory protector and set ours instead. Up to you. But if you dont want that noise it looks like you need ours.

 

[korinthias]

Brake squeal seems to be fairly common with these bikes and the culprit seems paradoxically to be the strength of regen?!
In comparison to an ICE bike I find myself hardly using the brakes at all – mostly just for the last few yards when I pull to a stop. Consequently road dirt and residues accumulate on the brake rotors without getting quickly burnt off, and generally that is what’s causing the squeal…
A good clean of the discs with some detergent in the water should help a lot, and you might need to scrub the drilled holes in the disc with a toothbrush or similar, before you can totally get rid of the noise.

 

[subcyclist]

Thank you for posting these questions/conditions. I have experienced the same thing with my bike. From my experience:

1. I also tried the same tapping experiment you did, with the same result. I went one step further, though; I pinched the tail light together, tried tapping again, and there was no rattling/noise. I tried to see if it would be possible to clamp the lights with something (e.g. a zip tie), bit anything I could think of would partially block the lights - not wise to do this. So, I would like to say, 'Thank You' to @ThatGuyOnFBsellsCE04Thing for posting in this thread about your tail light protectors. I have seen in another thread here on the forum, that people have experienced a broken light when it was struck by something. I am going to order a set of these protectors to prevent that problem, and possibly solve this noise issue as well. If the protectors place enough pressure on the lights, it could have the same effect as my pinch experiment - I hope.

2. My rear brake also squeaked when my bike was new. I first noticed that it was rubbing, even though I was not applying any rear brake pressure. From my MTB cycling experience, I thought the rear brake needed to be bedded in; not in exactly the same way, but it I thought it just needed to be used more (

). I had been relying on regen braking, and only used the rear brake for holding my bike still at a traffic light or other stop. After braking with the rear brake heavily for a couple of weeks (in Rain or Road modes for less regen braking), it began to squeak less. And, when I put my scooter up on the center stand, the rear wheel could spin more freely. Even though I believed I could go to my BMW dealer for service to correct an improperly adjusted brake (the front brakes definitely did not do this), I am satisfied with having corrected it myself by running/bedding the rear brake in. Now, I am back to using Eco or Dynamic mode, and I rely primarily on regen braking. The rear brake stills squeaks slightly at speeds under 15 mph/25 kph, but this is just a minor annoyance, which I sometimes prevent by applying very light rear brake pressure when slowing to a stop.