One thing nice about BMW versus many other manufacturers is that you can get parts for bikes more than ten years old.  This includes K bikes of course.  Based on my experience, I'd guess that 95%+ of K bike parts can still be purchased new from a dealer.  Yeah, as BMW parts, they can be on the spendy side but it's better than them not being available at all. In the case of parts with slow inventory turnover you may to have wait a few weeks for the part(s) to come from The Fatherland.

Looking Up BMW Part Numbers: There's quite a few BMW dealers that have the BMW parts catalog online which is handy for finding part numbers and prices. I usually use the parts fiche at A&S's site. Here's a table with direct links to the parts diagrams for all models of classic K bikes:

K75	K75C	K75S	K75RT
K100	K100RS	K100RT	K100LT
K100RS4V	K1	K1100LT	K1100RS

BMW Parts Diagrams: The parts diagrams from BMW can be generic and used across several models so they may differ from what a specific part for a specific model looks like.  Parts diagrams are not intended to be exact drawings of actual parts.

Body Parts: If you can't find a good used painted body part then at some point you may end up having to buy new from BMW. Most online parts catalogs (A&S, Max, etc...) only have these listed in their painted part numbers under the heading "Body Equipment" with some of them listed as no longer available. However, most can also be obtained in primer from a dealer if you know the part number. These primered body part numbers can be found in this PDF.

Local Dealers: I live within a few miles of a BMW dealer so when I need something fast that's relatively inexpensive then I usually just call them to see if they have it in stock before I ride over and buy it.  I'm not sure if this is true everywhere but at my dealer, if they don't have it on hand but the part is somewhere in the US, then, for an extra 10%, I can get parts expedited to show up in a day or two instead of having to wait a week or so.

Online BMW Dealers

Countryside BMW: (Link) In the US, my online dealer of choice is Countryside in Illinois. If you use the promo code "PROMO15" then you get a 15% discount off of regular prices. (Note that this does not show up when placing your online order but the discount will be applied when they charge your credit card.) Countryside also offers free shipping for orders over $149.  Not to mention no tax if you're in another state.

Other online dealers: Other online US dealers who have good reputations are A&S BMW on the west coast and Max BMW on the east coast.  Most online BMW parts dealers are good at what they do. I just picked A&S and Max as I've ordered from both of them before with good results.

 

© 2013 Drake Smith - Please do not use or reproduce this elsewhere.  Feel free to link to it though.