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Adjust TPM settings -

2K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  QSilver7 
#1 ·
If I fill all 4 iires to recommended pressures and then do a reset of the tire pressure monitors - does it set the monitors a the current pressure levels?

Michelin recommends my tire pressures at 32 front and 38 rear. A big difference. I have a suspicion that my monitors were incorrectly located on the right side front to rear. So, if I switch the location of the monitors, can they be re-calibrated?

This question arises from something I was told by an old time tire pro. He stated that when my car was delivered from the factory to Oxnard California it did not originally come with the run flats i have now but are switched out by low wage workers and they pay little attention as to which rims get which tire monitors which explains that when I got a low pressure alert on the front tire it is actually the rear that was low.

Of course that begs the question of what they did with
the "shipping' tires :)

Comments?
 
#2 ·
troutmalt, I needed to take my 230i off life support for the last two days (battery tender and carcover). The roads were clear and weather below freezing. My tires of course were cold but even after driving awhile the low tire warning came on and I used the idrive to see exactly the pressure and each tire did read in the 20+ area . After I arrived back at home I used my tire gauge on each tire and finding the tire pressure low proceeded to get out my tire inflater pumped up the tires to reccomended 32 and 38psi. Then started the car and went to the idrive vehicle status scrolled over to tire pressure and then down to the reset option. clicked on that and then was directed to drive the car and. after about a 5 minute drive the pressures showed up reset and I was good to go. I have not had my tires rotated since I only have about 1400 miles on them so I can't answer if TPM's are tire selective or not but I would think that the computer would be able to tell where each tire was and take the reading from their position.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for your response.

I have done what you just did at least 6 times.
But, I have never been able to get the screen to show pressures in each tire. Just which one is low but no pressure readings.

Still curious about the settings of the TPMs
Stay warm out there :)
 
#4 ·
The older TPMS's (e.g. my F10 535i) require a reset after tire rotation. The newer TPMS's (e.g. Frau Putzer's G01 X3) are smart enough to recognize which tire is where and remember the baseline pressures after a rotation.

They jack up the pressures on tires at the factory. That's so the cars don't bounce around and shake loose when they're tied down on the trains, trucks, and ships. They also put blocks in the coil springs for the same reason. Here's a bunch of smurf blue E46 M3's, fresh off the boat. Notice that they're riding higher than normal. That's due to the spring blocks.

They don't have shipping tires and wheels. This is de javu all over again. That "old time tire pro" of yours is full of ****, just like he was about your Michelin PSS's being run-flats.

https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1356423
 

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#5 ·
Putz - does it occur to you that since there is no spare tire that I must have run flats.

If you dont believe that how is it possible that I have driven on one front tire over 35 miles at 45 MPH with screen showing a flat tire.
Was New Years weekend far from home and no stores open.

Tire had no damage.

Not bad for a tire you continue to claim is not a run flat.

I wish I had a spare though.
 
#6 · (Edited)
M cars typically have non-RFTs and do not have spare tires. Instead, they have the "BMW Mobility System," a.k.a. the "BMW Immobility System." I bet if you went to the trouble of pulling up the trunk floor cover you'd find a BMW Mobility System (electric air compressor with an integrated can of tire sealant).

I also bet that your TPMS display just shows a diagram of the car's tires, with the tires turning red and green, red when they pressure is about 20% below the baseline. So, you didn't drive 35 miles with a completely flat tire, just with a tire that had low pressure. (Even five PSI will keep a non-RFT inflated enough to drive on, for a limited distance and if you don't hit a pothole.) Then, the bull **** master at the tire store told you it was a good thing you had RFT's. He did that so you'd eventually get suckered to buy a set of more expensive RFT's from him.

If your Michelin Pilot Super Sport's don't say "Michelin Pilot Super Sport ZP," they're not RFT's. Go build a M240i on the BMWUSA.com configurator. Your tire choices are performance non-RFT's or all-season (low-performance) RFT's.

Bimmerzone.com sells spare tires and jack kits.
 
#7 ·
I've toured the Oxnard VDC twice and the only thing I saw them switching out were items such as the all black BMW grills for the standard grills. There were a couple other things being installed but nowhere were they switching out non-RFT with RFT's or vice versa. Whatever they switched out got thrown into a discard bin, not to be re-sold or re-installed on another vehicle. The kidney grills for instance were cut into a couple pieces - was a pain to see. Any wheel blemishes as a result of transport were also thrown onto a re-cycle pile.

As far as I know and read, there are no specific front or rear TPM sensors. Our 428i GC has Costco-bought tires and when they rotate my tires they don't remove the tires from the wheels to switch out the TPM's.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Yeah, the local BMW dealership also told my friend that his M4 had Michelin PSS run-flats, and that was the reason they could not patch his puncture ($25) and had to replace his tire ($400).

Did you look for and find "ZP" (for "zero pressure") on the sidewall of your Michelin PSS's?

Did you look under the trunk floor to see if you have a BMW Immobility System?

Here's a 2016 F22/F23 ordering guide. Pages 11 and 12 give the tire and wheels choices. For the M235i, the choices were "non-runflat mixed (staggered) summer tires," or "all season tires" (with a square set-up and presumably run-flats). The 2017 and 2018 ordering guides at the top of this board say the same thing.

Here's a link Tire Rack's page on Michelin Pilot Super Sport ZP's, including a link to the sizes they come in. They only have one size in 18" wheel diameter, and it isn't either of the sizes that go on your car.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Super+Sport+ZP

If you're in a tire store or a car dealership, two rules apply:

1. If it ain't in writing, it... ain't.

2. If a tire store or dealership employee's lips are moving, you should assume they're lying.

Two different people saying the same thing, with their lips moving, does not make what they said true.
 

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#11 ·
In regards to the TPM sensor's location...they send a signal (every few seconds or so) to the RDC (the control module) as to their location. So if the right front tire shows low on the iDrive screen...it is not showing an incorrect location and no need to worry that it is either of the rear tires or the left front tire.

And unfortunately...unless you code it back on (in the USA market) the tire temperature and pressure data is also sent...but isn't displayed on the iDrive screen. :(



 

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