BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

I'd like to change the Final Drive Oil. I do this on the Yamaha FJR, and it's obvious how it's done.
It's NOT Obvious on the BMW.
The following pic shows where the drain is, and where the red circle is, where the oil "input" should be.... but it's not! The Clymer Service manual seems to show injecting the oil into a bolt that holds the brake disk in place.
Other videos show a "Filler" port on the top but with the shaft drive on the wrong side of the bike.

I have a 2008 RT. Where is the "IN" hole for the Final Drive oil?

Edit: Let me quess... You can't change the Final Drive Oil WITHOUT removing the rear wheel?

Thanks in advance.

Chat GPT says....

Filling Procedure:

Locate the Fill Hole:

On the 2008 R1200RT, the fill plug is on the rear face of the final drive, near the top.

It’s a 6mm Allen/hex bolt.

The rear face of the final drive? The mechanism seems to be round, but both faces of that circle face left and right... not back.
I will go look again.

Here's the "back" of the Final Drive. Not helpful. the "back" of the Final drive unit, near the top, shows NO input port.

I'm beginning to realize one can't change the final drive oil without removing the rear wheel ... which is well beyond what I can do at home.

Shame on the engineer who designed that.

Found a video for a 2008 GS... my guess is the final drive units behave the same.

It's obvious, in the video, that you can't do this without removing the wheel! Astounding!!

I notice that this is "fixed" on later models, and that's as it should be.

Oh Well, I can have the mechanic change the Final Drive, Gear box, and clutch oil as well. Those are all separate items, I understand, and things I just can't do at home.

That's the price of owning a "vintage" ride.

Thanks for your attention.

Video Link is here : (as of 19 July 2025)
https://youtu.be/XiUI4fOdoJ8

------------------------------------- PS Edit: -----------------------------------------
I've ordered a quality Torque Wrench and plan to overcome my fear of R/R the
rear wheel!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes! No need to remove the wheel on later models

How many different liquids go into an R1200 RT (Hexhead)????

I'm trying to take good care of this venerable ride, and I'm confused about how many liquids I could replace IF I replaced ALL OF THEM.

(No coolant, I get that.)

How many different reservoirs need to be filled to keep this engine happy?

1. Engine Oil
2. Final Drive Oil
3. Brake fluid

Am I leaving something out?

Strat Tuner wrote: Sun Jul 20, 2025 7:00 pm How many different liquids go into an R1200 RT (Hexhead)????

I'm trying to take good care of this venerable ride, and I'm confused about how many liquids I could replace IF I replaced ALL OF THEM.

(No coolant, I get that.)

How many different reservoirs need to be filled to keep this engine happy?

1. Engine Oil
2. Final Drive Oil
3. Brake fluid

Am I leaving something out?

Gearbox oil. They like an alternator belt every now and again as well.

If replacing everything, then there is the oil in the clutch reservoir, https://www.bmwlt.com/threads/clutch-fl ... se.110106/

Thank you, Glen. I'll add that to my list.