switching off tyre pressure monitor
Discussion
From your profile I'm assuming it's your new 16 plate 335 X Drive?
If it is, I understand you will need the TPMS sensors which are a couple of hundred pounds a set. They can be fitted to your winter tyres and I would suggest just that because you can't turn it off and to be honest it's quite a good system
If it is, I understand you will need the TPMS sensors which are a couple of hundred pounds a set. They can be fitted to your winter tyres and I would suggest just that because you can't turn it off and to be honest it's quite a good system
I had exactly the same problem and when I asked the dealer not only was I told about the fancy valves, but I was patronisingly told it was a safety feature so could not be turned off, even though it could not work. No previous car I've driven in the past six decades has needed to tell me about tyre pressures and all of them have had space to carry a proper spare wheel to use when a tyre does deflate!
Too much of the "too clever by half" stuff in the car concerned (2016 BMW320d Xdrive estate) interferes with safe driving: e.g. a huge illuminated screen which switches on to distract you from looking out of the window to tell you something you already know - such as that it can't measure tyre pressures!
Too much of the "too clever by half" stuff in the car concerned (2016 BMW320d Xdrive estate) interferes with safe driving: e.g. a huge illuminated screen which switches on to distract you from looking out of the window to tell you something you already know - such as that it can't measure tyre pressures!
A functioning TPMS has been a legal requirement on new cars since 2014. It's been an MOT failure on cars fitted with TPMS since 2015.
Manufacturers aren't allowed to fit systems that can be turned off and you may well be breaching the terms of your insurance by having non compatible winter wheels and tyres fitted.
My 2014 530 has the system that operates through the ABS, so no pressure sensing valves. The set of winter wheels I bought with the car are smaller but swapping them over causes no issues with the TPMS. There's no need for a reset or anything, and it doesn't matter which wheel goes where on the car.
I'm assuming you didn't buy your winters from BMW but you probably need to get valves fitted to them.
Manufacturers aren't allowed to fit systems that can be turned off and you may well be breaching the terms of your insurance by having non compatible winter wheels and tyres fitted.
My 2014 530 has the system that operates through the ABS, so no pressure sensing valves. The set of winter wheels I bought with the car are smaller but swapping them over causes no issues with the TPMS. There's no need for a reset or anything, and it doesn't matter which wheel goes where on the car.
I'm assuming you didn't buy your winters from BMW but you probably need to get valves fitted to them.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 9th December 21:58
I believe the USA mandated the systems first following a number of deaths caused by tyre failures with people running under inflated tyres.
The EU followed the USA.
Personally, I think it's one of the more useful systems on a car. If you are warned of a tyre losing pressure and it's a slow leak, there's a chance of keeping the tyre inflated and getting home. Without, a tyre's often knackered by the time you know it's going down.
The EU followed the USA.
Personally, I think it's one of the more useful systems on a car. If you are warned of a tyre losing pressure and it's a slow leak, there's a chance of keeping the tyre inflated and getting home. Without, a tyre's often knackered by the time you know it's going down.
CoolHands said:
Blimey, what a joke.
Not when you consider how sterile the driving experience is in a modern car. You could quite easily drive for many miles on a slowly deflating tyre without noticing. On a FWD car, a rear would have to be down to the rim before most people would know there was an issue.Trabi601 said:
CoolHands said:
Blimey, what a joke.
Not when you consider how sterile the driving experience is in a modern car. You could quite easily drive for many miles on a slowly deflating tyre without noticing. On a FWD car, a rear would have to be down to the rim before most people would know there was an issue.Even a moderate loss of pressure can lead to overheating and failure (as the USA found) without a driver being aware.
yet we don't see any reported deaths or injuries from deflated tyres in the UK do we? I don't recall reading or hearing of any. So millions of drivers must incur quite high expense because of some theoretical, but unlikely, risk. I've driven on deflating and deflated tyres many times - mostly on motorbikes. It's not as risky as it is being portrayed.
CoolHands said:
yet we don't see any reported deaths or injuries from deflated tyres in the UK do we? I don't recall reading or hearing of any. So millions of drivers must incur quite high expense because of some theoretical, but unlikely, risk. I've driven on deflating and deflated tyres many times - mostly on motorbikes. It's not as risky as it is being portrayed.
Maybe you need to look more closely? The following was published following research by a well known motoring lawyer but there's lots of info and reports of accidents and deaths all over the world. Of course accidents are also caused by worn out tyre's do too, another major neglect, and the 40% relates to accidents caused by vehicle faults so I'm not sure of the actual number.I don't think it's fair to say there aren't any deaths or injuries due to under inflated tyres. That's why the TPMS legislation came about and it doesn't take long to find lots of examples.
"40% of accidents that were attributed to car faults in 2013 have been attributed to the fact that the car involved had under inflated tyres. Tyres that have not been inflated to the appropriate pressure are more difficult to handle and steer, do not have the same stopping distance, and can make it much more difficult to control the vehicle itself. According to figures obtained by TyreSafe, to coincide with the October Tyre Safety Month, this was the cause of 40% of accidents where the car fault was considered to be the primary reason behind the accident.
Car fault accidents are those accidents where a problem, a fault, or a failure with a vehicle was the main reason that the accident occurred. While some of the faults may not be the fault of the driver, and may be undetectable except when the car is being serviced, problems such as under inflated tyres can be checked and remedied before making journeys."
CoolHands said:
yet we don't see any reported deaths or injuries from deflated tyres in the UK do we? I don't recall reading or hearing of any. So millions of drivers must incur quite high expense because of some theoretical, but unlikely, risk. I've driven on deflating and deflated tyres many times - mostly on motorbikes. It's not as risky as it is being portrayed.
In a massive twist of irony, CoolHands, it's people like you who have required the corrective action to be in the form of legislation. People continue to underestimate the importance of the tyre (quality, condition, inflation) and so we now have to improve safety by means of forcing manufacturers to flash it in your face.
Just found some used winter wheels to fit on my 2014 3 series. Problem is they come from a 2012 3 series without TPMS; that car measures the ABS pulses LHS vs RHS to decide whether a tyre is under inflated and thus rotating quicker that its pair. A system that has worked well since c2007. I now need to source TPMS sensors - £280 a set from BMW and reading up they need a battery change every 5yrs (you can't you need to buy replacements). And as said above its an MoT issue. Stealth Tax!
Im now looking at non BMW sensors and even those are c£150 set. FFS BMW if ABS sensing is good enough for my Z4, Z4M, X3 why cock about? Oh, yes, more money...
Im now looking at non BMW sensors and even those are c£150 set. FFS BMW if ABS sensing is good enough for my Z4, Z4M, X3 why cock about? Oh, yes, more money...
ian in lancs said:
Just found some used winter wheels to fit on my 2014 3 series. Problem is they come from a 2012 3 series without TPMS; that car measures the ABS pulses LHS vs RHS to decide whether a tyre is under inflated and thus rotating quicker that its pair. A system that has worked well since c2007. I now need to source TPMS sensors - £280 a set from BMW and reading up they need a battery change every 5yrs (you can't you need to buy replacements). And as said above its an MoT issue. Stealth Tax!
Im now looking at non BMW sensors and even those are c£150 set. FFS BMW if ABS sensing is good enough for my Z4, Z4M, X3 why cock about? Oh, yes, more money...
ABS sensing just tells you one tyre *may* be under inflated. My experience is a large number of false alarms.Im now looking at non BMW sensors and even those are c£150 set. FFS BMW if ABS sensing is good enough for my Z4, Z4M, X3 why cock about? Oh, yes, more money...
TPMS gives you live tyre pressure information, so will detect an issue more accurately and much earlier than ABS sensing will.
Somewhere on the 'net there's a post from an American man who bought a vehicle with pressure sensors in the tyres. (Should that be "tires"?). He also had a couple of spare sets of wheels for various conditions, but whenever he fitted them he got warnings on the dash that the system was not working. He solved the problem by taking out the sensors and putting them in an air-tight container. The container was fitted with a tyre valve and he pumped it up to his normal tyre pressure. He then put the container under the seat, so now he can fit any wheels and the car will pick up the four signals from the container under the seat. That keeps the computer happy!
ian in lancs said:
Just found some used winter wheels to fit on my 2014 3 series. Problem is they come from a 2012 3 series without TPMS; that car measures the ABS pulses LHS vs RHS to decide whether a tyre is under inflated and thus rotating quicker that its pair. A system that has worked well since c2007. I now need to source TPMS sensors - £280 a set from BMW and reading up they need a battery change every 5yrs (you can't you need to buy replacements). And as said above its an MoT issue. Stealth Tax!
Im now looking at non BMW sensors and even those are c£150 set. FFS BMW if ABS sensing is good enough for my Z4, Z4M, X3 why cock about? Oh, yes, more money...
Hardly the fault of BMW. As said above, TPMS is a legal requirement brought about by the EU. Im now looking at non BMW sensors and even those are c£150 set. FFS BMW if ABS sensing is good enough for my Z4, Z4M, X3 why cock about? Oh, yes, more money...
In fact BMW kept their ABS type system in Europe for some time after they were fitting full TPMS in the USA, because the legislation came out several years earlier over there.
Some models had full TPMS sooner than others because new type vehicles had to have the system from November 2012, existing types didn't have to have them until November 2014. Also, certain small volume vehicles had full TPMS before others because it wasn't worth having the two systems for the different markets.
At the end of the day, you're talking about £150 for the aftermarket sensors, little more than the price of a decent tyre and they'll last ages. Is it that much?
I would also strongly advise speaking to the insurer for anyone thinking of disabling what is, after all, a legally required safety system.
Incidentally, if you fit aftermarket sensors to a spare set of wheels, they may need coding to replicate the
OE sensors in your other wheels. The supplier can do that but you need to have the code details which are marked on the valves themselves. Alternatively, approved dealers can scan your existing wheels and pick up the codes then duplicate them on the new sensors.
To further complicate things, the sensor valves are very easily over tightened when fitting to the rim and even when fitting the valve core. A special, very low rating torque wrench and core tool is available to fit the sensors.
I happen to know this because I replaced the OE sensors in my 911 with aftermarket ones and went through this whole rigmarole. Having said that, the cost of the aftermarket sensors, and the TW kit cost me a fraction of what Porsche wanted for OE replacements.
This complicated process may not be necessary for all marques but it's worth checking before you just buy.
Finally sorted this problem, bought a set of monitors from the Wheel Shop on Ebay.
I spoke to Carl, explained which model, he said his monitors would set themselves up within 20 miles. In fact it took only two.
Cost £140, but now all working, legal and no dealer prices paid.
The car is happy and so am I.
I spoke to Carl, explained which model, he said his monitors would set themselves up within 20 miles. In fact it took only two.
Cost £140, but now all working, legal and no dealer prices paid.
The car is happy and so am I.
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