gear indicator acting up

[PatchworkMage808]

so my gear indicator keeps showing '--' or 'N' no matter what gear i'm in. did some digging and found out the potentiometer might be the issue. seems like it's a common problem and a new one is about $76 at the dealer. anyone else deal with this before? yesterday after a rough start (forgot i was in 1st gear), the gear indicator started going nuts. bike stalled after lurching forward, then after restarting the indicator kept messing up. wouldn't go past 3rd and sometimes just showed '--'. this morning i checked the potentiometer. tried moving it manually and sure enough, the indicator started working again. took the bike for a 60-mile spin and no issues. guessing the jerky start messed with the software calibration or something. parking it overnight seemed to re-set things too. if it breaks again, probably just gonna replace the part myself instead of wasting time at the dealer. seems easy enough to swap out. anyone else had this happen?

 

[2wheelsbetterthan4]

from what ive heard it can be a common problem on these bmws so might as well change it even if its not bad at the moment sooner or later it could fail so better safe than sorry. if that doesn't fix the problem then we'll need to look elsewhere

 

[i hate you]

so my gear indicator keeps showing '--' or 'N' no matter what gear i'm in. did some digging and found out the potentiometer might be the issue. seems like it's a common problem and a new one is about $76 at the dealer. anyone else deal with this before? yesterday after a rough start (forgot i was in 1st gear), the gear indicator started going nuts. bike stalled after lurching forward, then after restarting the indicator kept messing up. wouldn't go past 3rd and sometimes just showed '--'. this morning i checked the potentiometer. tried moving it manually and sure enough, the indicator started working again. took the bike for a 60-mile spin and no issues. guessing the jerky start messed with the software calibration or something. parking it overnight seemed to re-set things too. if it breaks again, probably just gonna replace the part myself instead of wasting time at the dealer. seems easy enough to swap out. anyone else had this happen?

Yeah, it's a pretty common issue. Do try parking overnight to let the ECU recalibrate, but I don't think that's gonna be a long-term fix sorry. 76 dollar replacement is still reasonable and you can go do DIY, just make sure you take pics before the removal so you know how to assemble all back.

 

[piecesofmozart]

The fact that it worked after the 60 mile spin is a good sign that it's not totally shot and honestly, if it happens again, swapping out the part yourself is probably the best move. It's a pretty straightforward fix, and you'll save a ton compared to going to the dealer.

 

[onelunglegend163]

Absolutely, when something operates intermittently, it usually points to a repairable part instead of a complete breakdown.