Is Bosch the most reliable motor?

Sophie777

Active member
Jul 3, 2018
213
105
Canada
As the title says, everyone seems to say Bosch is the noisiest motor. But is it also the most reliable?

Having perused these forums, it seems people have had problems with their Brose, Shimano, Yamaha/Giant motors.
I don't think I have come across posts where people say they had to replace their Bosch motors.
I think I recall posts where 1 person at least had to replace his Brose motor 3 times!

Is my perception correct? Is Bosch is the best in terms of reliability (though the noisiest)?
 

jerry

Active member
Dec 22, 2018
257
165
Belgium
The jury is still out on the new generation, of course.
Apart from that, in my opinion:
- electronic problems are quite rare with the Bosch
- so are electrical problems - no significant issues it seems
- a weakish point are the bearings, that do not seem to cope well with water ingress. Then again, all other manufacturers seem to have issues with this as well.
Of course, anyone who had an incident, might disagree. Exceptions prove the point.
One of the reasons I chose Bosch is the experience they have in many major areas I felt important in EMTB- application (motors, drives, electronics, and batteries).
 

outerlimits

E*POWAH BOSS
Founding Member
Feb 3, 2018
1,241
1,574
Australia
My Brose motor has done 6845km trouble free. It’s quiet, has more power than I need, is totally user tuneable and rides so nice.
Sure, if I was to Submerge it in water or totally drench the thing with little regard whilst washing it, I’d probably fark it totally.
I don’t think one brand is more reliable than others. I’d certainly be able to junk any of the popular brands on the market if I took little care.
 

Dax

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 25, 2018
1,453
1,812
FoD
Regardless of reliability, the bosch might be best because it has a rolling 2 year warranty on the motor.
 

Dax

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 25, 2018
1,453
1,812
FoD
don't they all? (It's the law?)

I thought specilized and shimano have a 2 year warranty on the bike, which covers motor replacement, but then the warranty on the motor stops at the end of the two years?
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
8,362
8,589
Lincolnshire, UK
It is my belief (please correct me as appropriate) that the Bosch motor originally was a windscreen wiper motor in trucks (EDIT: It wasn't it was a power steering motor TX Bearing Man). This would have meant that Bosch had many years of experience of how the motor worked. Admittedly not on an e-Bike, but still, there were thousands of them out there for years. It was Bosch that first took the initiative and converted the motor to work as an e-Bike motor. Also why they had that small output gear as they couldn't change too much of the original design. Being first to the market enabled them to gain market share, such that Bosch is now the most common e-Bike motor in Europe.

Their "no questions asked" replacement policy mirrored that of Sram's Rockshox and led to masses of failure mode data. This informed the redesign and launch of their new motor. As long as they aren't launching their Beta version, then it will probably be an excellent motor. :unsure:
 
Last edited:

Bearing Man

Ebike Motor Centre
Patreon
Sep 29, 2018
860
2,035
UK
It is my belief (please correct me as appropriate) that the Bosch motor originally was a windscreen wiper motor in trucks. This would have meant that Bosch had many years of experience of how the motor worked. Admittedly not on an e-Bike, but still, there were thousands of them out there for years. It was Bosch that first took the initiative and converted the motor to work as an e-Bike motor. Also why they had that small output gear as they couldn't change too much of the original design. Being first to the market enabled them to gain market share, such that Bosch is now the most common e-Bike motor in Europe.

Their "no questions asked" replacement policy mirrored that of Sram's Rockshox and led to masses of failure mode data. This informed the redesign and launch of their new motor. As long as they aren't launching their Beta version, then it will probably be an excellent motor. :unsure:
It was actually a power steering motor that Bosch adapted :)
 

Tim1023

Well-known member
Aug 25, 2020
637
555
Hamburg, Germany
Their "no questions asked" replacement policy mirrored that of Sram's Rockshox and led to masses of failure mode data. This informed the redesign and launch of their new motor.
[/QUOTE]

How enlightened! I can think of quite a few other manufacturers that could benefit from this.
 

Oldcreaky

Member
Feb 8, 2019
37
35
Bristol
From my limited experience of just 2 ebikes both Cubes the first being a 2017 hard tail and the present one is a 2019 stereo 160 sl both of course with Bosch Motors.
The first motor failed at 2140 miles and was replaced without any problems and with a new 2 year warranty. This was the usual bearing noise in fact people used to turn around to see what was approaching they became so noisy. The new motor was perfectly quiet up to the time i sold it. The present bike has done 2800 miles and is very quiet but there are variations in the slight noise depending on assistance mode, cadence etc.
Looking forward to the new motor in whatever bike i can purchase but more than likely another Cube or perhaps an Orbea wild both are non existant in my size and spec. I have been quoted March at the earliest for a Cube an even later for the Orbea.
 

EMTB Forums

Since 2018

The World's largest electric mountain bike community.

518K
Messages
25,448
Members
Join Our Community

Latest articles


Top