Total Complaints
7 filings
BMW R1100 S · model year
7 NHTSA complaints. A VIN lookup is required to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The verdict
The 1999 BMW R1100 S posts above-average complaint volume among its own model-year siblings.
The 1999BMWR1100 S carries 7 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
The most frequently selected component label in reports for the 1999 R1100 S is wheels:rim with 2 filings, followed by steering: steering wheel/handle bar (1) and wheels (1). Complaint categories reflect owner reports and intake categorization; they do not establish a defect pattern or cause.
NHTSA currently has 34 investigation files overlapping the 1999 R1100 S. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should read the complaint-by-year trend as report volume, not a causal diagnosis. Use the related-complaint feed and the official recall lookup when researching a specific vehicle.
PlainCars' own composite of NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings and rollover-risk assessment, each dimension normalized against the federal scale or the full national model-year corpus. Not an official NHTSA figure, and not a substitute for a specific vehicle's VIN-level recall check.
Total Complaints
7 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| WHEELS:RIM | 2 |
| STEERING: STEERING WHEEL/HANDLE BAR | 1 |
| WHEELS | 1 |
| STRUCTURE:FRAME AND MEMBERS | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR | 1 |
| POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION | 1 |
TRANSMISSION INPUT SHAFT SEAL FAILED. DEALER COULD NOT FIND THE ROOT CAUSE. PELICAN PARTS R1100S BULLETIN BOARD SUGGESTS THIS FAILURE IS COMMON, AND RECOMMENDED SUBMITTING THIS FORM.*AK
I HAVE NEVER CRASHED MY 1999 BMW R1100SA MOTORCYCLE AND MAINTAINED IT STRICTLY BY BMW SUGGESTED SCHEDULE. 64K MILES ON THE ODO NOW. THOUGH BIKE HAS NOT LEFT ME STRANDED, IT HAS HAD ENDLESS PROBLEMS - BIG PROBLEMS AND BEEN OUT-OF-SERVICE FOR REPAIR IN EXCESS OF 85 DAYS IN 2 YEARS. IT HAD A BREAK IN THE FRAME (I COULD NOT HAVE BROKEN THE FRAME!); THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER FAILED AND THE NEW ONE DOES NOT FIT CORRECTLY AND IS BREAKING THROUGH A FRAME BRACE, PERHAPS BECAUSE OF ANOTHER FRAME PROBLEM (PRESENTING SAFETY ISSUE); THE ENGINE HAS BEEN REBUILT TWICE ~ OVER HEATING, IMPROPERLY CUT VALVES AND PITTING CYLINDERS, EXCESSIVE COMPRESSION BLOW-BY; 3 SETS OF REPLACED HEADER PIPES DUE TO PITTING FROM EXCESSIVE HEAT; 4 SETS OF FAILED THROTTLE/CHOKE CABLES - CABLES SHREDDED AT JUNCTURE BOX; TWICE REPLACED REAR WHEEL BEARINGS; REPLACED CLUTCH AND TRANS. DUE TO FLOODING W/OIL BECAUSE OF FAILED REAR ENGINE SEAL THE BMW APPROVED DEALER IGNORED; EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION STILL; BOTH THROTTLE BODY C
I HAVE NEVER CRASHED MY 1999 BMW R1100SA MOTORCYCLE AND MAINTAINED IT STRICTLY BY BMW SUGGESTED SCHEDULE. 64K MILES ON THE ODO NOW. THOUGH BIKE HAS NOT LEFT ME STRANDED, IT HAS HAD ENDLESS PROBLEMS - BIG PROBLEMS AND BEEN OUT-OF-SERVICE FOR REPAIR IN EXCESS OF 85 DAYS IN 2 YEARS. IT HAD A BREAK IN THE FRAME (I COULD NOT HAVE BROKEN THE FRAME!); THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER FAILED AND THE NEW ONE DOES NOT FIT CORRECTLY AND IS BREAKING THROUGH A FRAME BRACE, PERHAPS BECAUSE OF ANOTHER FRAME PROBLEM (PRESENTING SAFETY ISSUE); THE ENGINE HAS BEEN REBUILT TWICE ~ OVER HEATING, IMPROPERLY CUT VALVES AND PITTING CYLINDERS, EXCESSIVE COMPRESSION BLOW-BY; 3 SETS OF REPLACED HEADER PIPES DUE TO PITTING FROM EXCESSIVE HEAT; 4 SETS OF FAILED THROTTLE/CHOKE CABLES - CABLES SHREDDED AT JUNCTURE BOX; TWICE REPLACED REAR WHEEL BEARINGS; REPLACED CLUTCH AND TRANS. DUE TO FLOODING W/OIL BECAUSE OF FAILED REAR ENGINE SEAL THE BMW APPROVED DEALER IGNORED; EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION STILL; BOTH THROTTLE BODY C
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK
FRONT WHEEL RIM IS MADE OF ALUMINUM WHICH IS TOO SOFT AND NOT PROPERLY DESIGNED FOR ROAD STRESS AND WAS BENT BY MILD IMPACT WITH ROAD DEBRIS CAUSING TIRE TO DEFLATE AND VEHICLE TO BECOME UNCONTROLLABLE. NLM
FRONT WHEEL RIM IS MADE OF ALUMINUM WHICH IS TOO SOFT AND NOT PROPERLY DESIGNED FOR ROAD STRESS AND WAS BENT BY MILD IMPACT WITH ROAD DEBRIS CAUSING TIRE TO DEFLATE AND VEHICLE TO BECOME UNCONTROLLABLE. NLM
FRONT WHEEL RIM IS MADE OF ALUMINUM WHICH IS TOO SOFT AND NOT PROPERLY DESIGNED FOR ROAD STRESS AND WAS BENT BY MILD IMPACT WITH ROAD DEBRIS CAUSING TIRE TO DEFLATE AND VEHICLE TO BECOME UNCONTROLLABLE. NLM
Data vintage: August 2026. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. This year-specific record is rendered from NHTSA ODI, recall, and NCAP rows for the 1999 BMW R1100 S; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.