Tyre puncture warning - faulty sensor?

[Schermerhorn]

I've heard stories about these sensors going a bit funny from time to time and was wondering is there any way to re-set them?

I was driving to Leeds this evening on the M62 when all of a sudden I get a 'tyre puncture' warning symbol on the idrive screen.

I stopped off at the nearest petrol station and checked all 4 tyres; all pressures seem to be correct - 34psi on the front and 36 psi on the rear. I get back into the car; idrive > Settings > Tyres > Flat Tyre monitor and it doesn't let me access anything beyond this point to reset the TPM.

Since the car seems to drive fine, the pressures seem to be all correct and I can't visually see any flat spots, am I correct in assuming the monitors within the tyre or the car are faulty or need resetting? Since the car is under AUC warranty will this be a warranty fix or will I have to fork out; assuming they don't try and con me into buying tyres.

[E30M3SE]

BMW's don't have sensors. TPM is carried out by the ABS sensors measuring differences in rotational wheel speeds.

[anonymous-user]

Many BMWs do have sensors, not all cars use the ABS system so you could have a failed sensor or its battery has died.

How old is the car? Have you checked that it uses sensors?

They can be scanned for battery life and function without removing the tyre, so not a difficult issue to diagnose.

Of course, if it is an ABS type system the issue could be more serious.

[E30M3SE]

Believe the OP is running a V10 M6, which doesn't run sensors and uses the ABS sensors to monitor tyre pressures, unless he's traded up to something produced in the last ~2 years of course.

[Schermerhorn]

Hopefully have managed to fix the problem.

Changed pressures to 34psi all around....reset it and drove for a mile and light went out. Still dont understand why it came on though!

[Helicopter123]

My experience with these systems is that while sensitive, they do give an early indication of a pressure loss, however small. If the warning recurs, have the affected tyre checked out before assuming the system itself is faulty.

[jon-]

The one on my e46 m3 loves to come on. Constantly. All the pressures are within 0.2psi.

[jcolley]

Pre LCI E63/E60 has FTM (flat tire monitoring) which uses the wheel speed sensors to detect speed differences due to differences in pressure.

LCI E63/E60 uses TPMS with sensors in the wheels.

If you have FTM, press and hold the FTM button on the center console for 5 seconds, then drive around until it clears.

[AW10]

I think US and RoW cars differ here - the RoW cars (or at least the European ones) use the ABS and don't have pressure sensors.

[Schermerhorn]

Mine is the pre-LCi E63 M6 model. It has the flat tyre monitor in the idrive menu and runs off the ABS system or the wheel speed sensor.

Must admit that it is abit too sensitive for my liking; the pressures were consistent from day one and then all of a sudden I got the warning. Hopefully the re-pressuring has sorted it out permanantly for now.