Cold weather effects on tpms

So as the weather has gotten colder, sub 37. Deg, I have noticed that my tpms reports that the tire pressure is low on all my wheels every time I park the car for more than a Half-hour. To fix I have to drive the car a little bit and then reset the tpms and it is fine until I stop the car a while. So basically every time I go to work or come home I have to reset the tpms or live with the car telling me my tire pressure is low and pull over. I have checked the tire pressure and it is fine. Has anyone else had this problem?

Low temperatures cause air pressure in tires to be lower. Driving causes the tires to warm up, thus raising the air pressure. Unless you find a way to alter the laws of physics that's the way it is. Put more air in your tires.

Nitrogen in your tires may be the answer. A lot of us in Colorado use it to prevent that fluctuation in tire pressure.

Originally Posted by loosenit2

So as the weather has gotten colder, sub 37. Deg, I have noticed that my tpms reports that the tire pressure is low on all my wheels every time I park the car for more than a Half-hour. To fix I have to drive the car a little bit and then reset the tpms and it is fine until I stop the car a while. So basically every time I go to work or come home I have to reset the tpms or live with the car telling me my tire pressure is low and pull over. I have checked the tire pressure and it is fine. Has anyone else had this problem?

When you check the pressure, are you doing it when the tires are cold and the TPMS is reporting an issue? If so, what was the actual reading?

Originally Posted by loosenit2

So as the weather has gotten colder, sub 37. Deg, I have noticed that my tpms reports that the tire pressure is low on all my wheels every time I park the car for more than a Half-hour. To fix I have to drive the car a little bit and then reset the tpms and it is fine until I stop the car a while. So basically every time I go to work or come home I have to reset the tpms or live with the car telling me my tire pressure is low and pull over. I have checked the tire pressure and it is fine. Has anyone else had this problem?

Yes, it's a pain the ass. The problem is that with BMW, it blocks other things from being displayed. With other manufacturers, if this happens, at least the tpms message doesn't block basic things like the clock. Btw, i'm talking about this from an E90 perspective. Don't know what it's like in the F30, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same.

Originally Posted by loosenit2

So as the weather has gotten colder, sub 37. Deg, I have noticed that my tpms reports that the tire pressure is low on all my wheels every time I park the car for more than a Half-hour. To fix I have to drive the car a little bit and then reset the tpms and it is fine until I stop the car a while. So basically every time I go to work or come home I have to reset the tpms or live with the car telling me my tire pressure is low and pull over. I have checked the tire pressure and it is fine. Has anyone else had this problem?

Code your car and enable the display of actual pressure and temperature in the tires. I couldn't live without it.

TPMS shouldn't be that sensitive. Here in the Boston area, we've had temperatures all over the place lately -- from the high 50s F to the low 20s F. The only time I had a TPMS warning was the time a sharp piece of metal ruined a tire (which, fortunately, was replaced free under the road hazard warranty that comes with the car).

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Low temperatures cause air pressure in tires to be lower. Driving causes the tires to warm up, thus raising the air pressure. Unless you find a way to alter the laws of physics that's the way it is. Put more air in your tires.

I understand the basic issue, I was more concerned that there was something wrong with my car. I had a hard time believing that a car designed a manufactured in Bavaria would have a tpms that was so sensitive it couldn't account for variations in temp. I don't want to put more air in the tires when cold as when I start driving and the tire warm up it would be over inflated.

Thx to the posters who suggested nitrogen. I think I might try that.

Originally Posted by loosenit2

I understand the basic issue, I was more concerned that there was something wrong with my car. I had a hard time believing that a car designed a manufactured in Bavaria would have a tpms that was so sensitive it couldn't account for variations in temp. I don't want to put more air in the tires when cold as when I start driving and the tire warm up it would be over inflated.

Thx to the posters who suggested nitrogen. I think I might try that.

Recommended tire pressures are for cold tires. You're supposed to add air to the tires as the temperature drops. The tires warming up as you drive is not going to cause them to be over inflated.

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Recommended tire pressures are for cold tires. You're supposed to add air to the tires as the temperature drops. The tires warming up as you drive is not going to cause them to be over inflated.

+1

I typically check mine in the AM after they've sat all night and top-off as needed. A couple PSI makes a difference.

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Recommended tire pressures are for cold tires. You're supposed to add air to the tires as the temperature drops. The tires warming up as you drive is not going to cause them to be over inflated.

QFT. Add some air to your tires.

Originally Posted by loosenit2

I understand the basic issue, I was more concerned that there was something wrong with my car. I had a hard time believing that a car designed a manufactured in Bavaria would have a tpms that was so sensitive it couldn't account for variations in temp. I don't want to put more air in the tires when cold as when I start driving and the tire warm up it would be over inflated.

Thx to the posters who suggested nitrogen. I think I might try that.

Stop by a Costco store and have someone at the tire shop check and refill your tires free of charge with nitrogen.

Lexus dealers charge a lot for nitrogen.

Originally Posted by bmmcgraw

Nitrogen in your tires may be the answer. A lot of us in Colorado use it to prevent that fluctuation in tire pressure.

Does that really make a difference considering that air is already around 78% N2 and I'm not aware of any way to evacuate all the air from a tire prior to filling it with N2 which means that even a nitro filling isn't going to end up much better than plain old air.

BTW, I'm just lurking while waiting for the F31 Touring to show up

The biggest difference is the nitrogen fill is without moisture, part of the process of filling the distribution tank with nitrogen.

Nitrogen in street tires is more show than go, but has some benefit.

So I decided to do simple first and just put more air in the tires. When I checked the air pressure cold I was surprised it had dropped to 24/26 lbs on the front and rear respectively. Filled to the recommended pressure of 32/35 two days ago and no problem since. I guess the tpms was not as sensitive as I thought, I was just not giving enough credit to the laws of science that say cold things contract. Lesson learned.

It is about 1 psi for even 10F. So from 24 to 32 psi is only 80 degree temp difference. Plus, even a perfectly good tire will loose 1-2 psi per month. So long as they are loosing pressure evenly I just air them up to recommended pressure (when cold) and forget about it.