The first Ghost (2009–2020) was built on an adapted monocoque from the 7 Series of its day, the F01, so it is BMW of that generation underneath the coachbuilt body.
The second Ghost, from 2020, moved to Rolls-Royce's aluminum Architecture of Luxury, shared with the Phantom VIII and the Cullinan. The two generations share a name, not a platform — diagnosis starts from which one is in the bay.
The shared parts show in the recall record. The 2010–2012 Ghost was in the same NHTSA campaign as the 2011–2012 BMW 550i and 750i for an electric auxiliary water pump that can fail and overheat its circuit board (18V-248), after Rolls-Royce's own campaigns for that pump on 2010 and 2011 cars (11V-522, 12V-166).
Rolls-Royce's own dealer bulletins, filed with NHTSA, are as much about software as parts. In September 2020 Rolls-Royce blocked I-level F001-20-07-521 for the first-generation Ghost, Wraith and Dawn (RR4/5/6) after a programming issue with ISTA 4.25, and told dealers to program the alternative I-level F001-20-03-540 instead (bulletin A 09 2020 08).
Two first-generation bulletins steer away from replacing a part. A car that sits low after standing is not automatically a leak: the air-suspension control unit (EHC) wakes at 3.5, 8.5 and 32.5 hours to re-level the car, so the test repeats the drop with the batteries and charger disconnected — a drop of more than 25 mm then points at a leak. And a creak from the steering column is the wheel rubbing the steering-column switch cluster: the fix is grease, and the bulletin says the switch cluster must not be replaced.
On the second Ghost (RR21/22), a door that sporadically fails to lock or unlock, with a door-malfunction message when driving off, traced to a sticking door lock pin set by the waist-rail height adjuster — a mechanical fix behind an electrical-looking complaint. The power steering-column adjustment can stop working once the cabin passes about 50 °C (122 °F), storing 0304C7 in the BDC; the bulletin replaces the column control unit only on cars at I-step 20-07-5xx or later, because on older software the swap does not cure it.
From a documented source: Motor Sport, December 2020; Wikipedia, Rolls-Royce Architecture of Luxury; NHTSA recalls 11V-522, 12V-166, 18V-248; Rolls-Royce dealer bulletins on NHTSA.gov, IDs 10181245, 10181241, 10179834, 10194323, 10179835.
Work this generation comes in for
- Diagnostics & Electrical TroubleshootingComplex, intermittent and non-standard faults in electronic systems and the digital data buses (CAN, LIN, FlexRay, MOST), and in the wiring itself: parasitic drains, water damage, chewed or brittle harnesses.
- ECU Programming & CodingProgramming, resetting, pairing and recoding control units of any complexity: powertrain, transmission, comfort modules, body electronics and multimedia.
- Control Unit Replacement & AdaptationFull-cycle adaptation and synchronization of both new and used control units, component protection removal, and configuration to the specific car.
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