BMW R 850 C / R 1200 C Repair Manual, 1999–2004 (P/N 01 50 7 654 051)

This March 1999 BMW AG Motorcycle Division repair manual covers the 1999–2004 BMW R 850 C and R 1200 C in standard configuration or with original BMW accessories. It organizes maintenance, diagnostic checks, and mechanical repairs by assembly.

PDF Search and Navigation

Find procedures by chapter or search term. The main text is searchable, and embedded bookmarks link to chapters and individual procedures. The wiring-harness illustrations include detail views, and smaller routing details are easier to see when zoomed in.

The download contains one printable, English-language PDF with 286 pages, including 280 chapter pages, one cover, one introduction, two contents pages, and two BMW service forms. The maintenance schedule and pre-delivery checklist are dated June 1999.

Engine, Drivetrain, and ABS Service

This selection of workshop procedures covers major service and repair tasks. The manual also covers frame alignment checks and headlight adjustment.

• Engine repair: Engine removal, crankcase disassembly, cylinder-head and valve-gear service, piston and bearing inspection, auxiliary-shaft work, and oil-pump disassembly.
• Fuel and ignition: Motronic MA 2.4 component replacement, throttle-potentiometer adjustment, throttle synchronization checks, fuel-pressure testing, and Hall-effect ignition timing.
• Clutch and drivetrain: Dry-clutch replacement, slave-cylinder and hydraulic-line service, gearbox overhaul and shimming, and crown-wheel and bevel-pinion setup.
• Telelever and wheels: Fork and leading-link repair, suspension-bearing checks, wheel-bearing replacement, wheel balancing, rim-runout measurement, and spoke service.
• Brakes and ABS: Step-by-step instructions for brake bleeding, plus caliper rebuilding, brake-line replacement, ABS pressure-modulator removal, relay service, and sensor-gap adjustment.
• Electrical equipment: Starter and alternator repair, Poly-V belt replacement and tensioning, instrument-cluster service, relay and fuse locations, and wiring-harness routing.

BMW wrote the manual for workshop personnel as a reference to use alongside service training.

Engine Repair and Scheduled Maintenance

BMW’s inspection routines cover MoDiTeC fault-memory readout, filter and lubricant changes, valve checks, and final roadworthiness checks. Rear-drive oil service includes cleaning the inductive signal transmitter.

Planning engine removal. The auxiliary shaft, timing chains, tensioner and guide rails, and crankshaft require engine removal for disassembly. That distinction helps you plan which jobs need an engine-out setup before teardown.

Cylinder-head procedures cover valve-seat machining, guide replacement, and valve-stem seals. Crankshaft work includes radial and axial bearing measurements and bearing-shell identification. The timing-chain section explains how incorrect reassembly order can let a tensioner piston fall into the left timing-chain cavity. Engine cutaways and separate lubrication and oil-cooling illustrations accompany these procedures.

Motronic, Fuel Delivery, and Charging

The fuel-pressure procedure specifies gauge BMW No. 16 1 500. When pressure is low, BMW directs technicians to check the pump, filter, regulator, and fuel lines.

The throttle positioner is covered as a replacement assembly. The throttle-potentiometer procedure uses MoDiTeC for adjustment. BMW also specifies MoDiTeC for ignition-coil, alternator, starter, and relay checks and for setting ignition timing.

Gearbox, Clutch, and Final Drive

Gearbox procedures cover the input, output, and intermediate shafts, the selector mechanism, and endplay checks and shimming with fixtures such as measuring stand BMW No. 23 4 761. The output-shaft seal procedure cautions that sharp tools can damage the plastic washer behind the seal.

Clutch procedures cover housing alignment, dry-plate installation, slave-cylinder replacement, and hydraulic bleeding. Final-drive work covers crown-wheel and bevel-pinion bearings, backlash, tooth-contact patterns, and housing-cover shimming. Exploded shaft views and contact-pattern illustrations accompany the adjustments.

Telelever, Brakes, and Wiring Layout

The fork chapter covers ball-joint and bearing service, fork-seal replacement, and checks for free movement after assembly. BMW specifies a heat limit for releasing the leading-link ball joint from the slider tube bridge. The wheel chapter covers balancing and runout checks and limits spoke replacement to a single spoke.

The brake chapter gives procedures for standard circuits and additional bleeding steps for the ABS pressure modulator. BMW reserves work on the ABS unit for authorized BMW workshops. Follow the manual’s fuel-handling, brake-fluid, and electrical-isolation precautions.

The electrical illustrations show relay and fuse locations and left- and right-side harness routing. Electrical circuit schematics are separate from this repair manual.

Valve Clearance, Head Torque, and Gearbox Oil Preview

For both models, BMW specifies 0.15 mm intake and 0.30 mm exhaust valve clearance with the engine cold, at no more than 35 °C (95 °F).

For cylinder-head installation, the specification for the oiled nuts is 20 Nm followed by two 90° stages, applied in a crosswise pattern. For the gearbox, BMW lists 1.0 L for the initial fill. The oil-change procedure distinguishes the fill to the lower edge of the filler hole from the final top-up.