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BMW promotes 'lube-free' chain

August 31, 2020

BMW S1000RR

BMW is claiming it has developed a 525-pitch chain that needs no conventional lubrication. Big news if the claims are right, and it will have wider implications both in maintenance and efficiency. The key appears to be a new coating for the rollers. We'll be interested to see what the cost is. The PR material suggests it was developed with driveline brand Regina. Presumably this will eventually be offered to a wider market?

From BMW: "For more than 90 years, the maintenance-free, environmentally friendly and comfortable shaft drive has been one of BMW Motorrad's immovable technical cornerstones. With the M Endurance chain, BMW Motorrad now offers a maintenance-free chain with comparable characteristics for the first time.

bmw chain

"Like previous X-ring chains, the M Endurance chain has a resident permanent lubricant filling between the rollers and pins, enclosed by X-rings. What is completely new, however, is that the previously necessary additional lubricant addition for the rollers and thus the familiar "chain lubrication" is no longer necessary, nor is any re-tensioning required from time to time due to the usual wear.

"This enormous gain in comfort was made possible by using a new coating material for the rollers: tetrahedrally amorphous carbon (ta-C), also known as industrial diamond. This coating is characterized by extreme hardness and resistance and in this respect it is placed between the well-known DLC coating (Diamond Like Carbon) and pure diamond. In contrast to the metal surfaces used so far, the coating with the ta-C industrial diamond does not wear off. At the same time, this type of coating also offers a drastically reduced friction coefficient.

"Thanks to excellent dry lubrication properties and the elimination of wear, the tetrahedral amorphous carbon coated rollers of the M Endurance chain offer maintenance comfort equivalent to that of a shaft drive motorcycle. This includes all the cleaning work that is unavoidable with a conventional chain due to splashed lubricant. Accordingly, the M Endurance chain also offers maximum environmental friendliness.

"The M Endurance chain in 525 pitch is now available initially for the two 4-cylinder models BMW S 1000 RR and S 1000 XR. It is available as an accessory or directly from the factory as an option. Further BMW Motorrad models are being prepared for this feature."

Ed's note: we received a number of comments on social media regarding this, including some arguing you should lube the sprockets and not the chain. Other questions raised were: would the sprockets also be coated; does BMW really have expertise in this area?

Here's our response:

Whether you lube the exterior of the chain rollers or the sprockets is a moot point as they mesh together. It's like watching someone clap their hands and arguing over whether the right is hitting the left, or vice-versa.

Read the release, which claims the need for external lube is removed, so logic suggests this will have an impact on both the chain and sprockets. So far, no mention has been made of coated sprockets. However the same argument applies, what assists one presumably does the other, since the surfaces mesh. or does it imply that BMW will also be coating its sprockets?

BMW may not be the world's most experienced constructor of chain-driven motorcycles, but we're not talking idiots, either. And the tech seems to be the product of Regina, which has been in the chain drive market for a long time. It claims to have started in the market between WWI and WWII. So some time in the 1920s to 1930s.

There could well be an additional pragmatic reason behind no mention of sprockets. A 525 pitch chain has many applications, while sprockets are more model-specific. And Regina makes chains but not sprockets. So is BMW similarly coating its sprockets? It does however talk about the 'excellent dry lubriction properties' of the chain's coating, so is there a need to?

Hopefully there will be more info to come – Guido

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