[falcon1411]

Hello everyone!
got my first BMW malfunction recently. probably not last

So the story goes, about 1 month and 800 miles ago i changed my wheels to APEX 5rs 19s with PS4Ss

The shop i took it to couldnt program the sensors i got from amazon, so we decided to use the OEMs that came with the car.

few days ago, i get TPMS malfunction msg. Doesnt say which wheel. just malfunction. tried reseting, sometimes it works for a little while, but goes back to malfunctioning. this happened several times.

Took it back to the shop, while malfunctioning, they run the machine by the wheel, and say that rear driver sensor is not being read, and that could be the defective one.

Im giving the shop the benefit of the doubt, because if they broke it, it would be malfunctioning right away, and not after a month?

Any ideas or suggestions? Do these sensors have high failure rate? its a 23 m340i with 7000 miles when wheels changed, 7800 now.

[AM340iMiami]

I have changed two sets of tires without having to replace TPMS sensors. I imagine you can get one that can be finicky. I wouldn't blame the shop for the broken sensor. I would just replace it with a new one and move on.

[falcon1411]

Changed the sensor that was said to be malfunctioning, Still have the error. They rechecked all 4 sensors with that handheld device, and all 4 are working. Shop believes could be from the antenna somewhere inside the car. Taking it for a diagnostics on Friday.

The error on the screen doesn't say which wheel is malfunctioning. doesn't report pressure from any of the wheels. If one of them is bad, the other 3 should still display something no?

[falcon1411]

Doesnt seem like this topic is getting alot of attention, but ill just keep updating.
Problem still exists. Yesterday was worse. All tires were showing flat(manualy checked pressure all at 40psi), and constant msgs and popups on the screen made idrive almost unusable. Took it to a buddy of mine, connected the car to the laptop and ran ISTA, screenshot attached:

The new sensor that we installed may need to be programmed and paired we believe. Another possibility is that when the sensors were moved from from old wheels to new ones, were not placed in the right order(ie front right to front right, rear left to rear left etc). So ordered a sensor programmer, see what it does.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AERMVYC?

No use in taking the car to the dealer because they wont fix it.
Also, anyone know exactly what warranty is voided when using aftermarket wheels? also, will the dealer still do scheduled maintenance if wheels are changed?

Almost forgot. After the ISTA, he reset all the error codes, tire pressure readings went back to normal, except read driver side( the one giving all the problem), showing 0 psi, other 3 showing 40, but no errors, just saying fix the flat tire. Did another tpms reset, started driving, at 49% the malfunction error came back.

[falcon1411]

Another update.
So long story short, the BMW oem sensor was working fine this whole time. The person who told me its not working was useless. Had it put back on, and works fine now.

If malfunctions come back, at least I know its not the sensors, but something else, and should be covered by warranty.

[davemccann71@hotmail.com]

TPMS has been a nightmare on a number of cars for me. So here is my cautionary tale. Needed 4 tyres, went to UK multi that claims to fit your tyres quickly..... No problem come on in sir 4 x Brigestones (same as fitted at factory) £800/ $1100 thank you. 1 day later TPMS failure comes on (according to the tyre depot a complete coincidence of course). So done the usual, check all pressures, discover tyre depot had failed to put dust caps back on, so buy new ones, add new tyre through settings and add tyre automatically, drive about multiple times trying a reset , fails at 49%. (on 2 occasions it passed, (just to throw you off completely)) then fails again after 20-30 miles. Get the Tyre depot to try and reset the TPMS with their machine (had to go back 3 times as too busy) (they weren't too busy when I spending £800/ $1100 on new tyres). It showed front left not transmitting. Go to my usual BMW authorised garage (not BMW) who can't do the job as they don't deal with tyres. So go to my BMW dealer, a sensor is £120 inc tax. wow... ask then for the part number "can't give you that". I ask about booking it in, "sure £160/$200 to diagnose the fault" then probably 1 hours labour (£150/$190 ) plus a sensor £120/$150), so £430/$550 for a TPMS sensor replacement. I said, I don't need it diagnosed I've told you the fault, " we need to check for ourselves" .

So I use the great god Google and get the BMW part number (36106877937). Buy an aftermarket Shrader TPMS (£64/ $100) it doesn't work. (charged £20/$35 by tyre depot to change it and another to change it back). Finally get a genuine BMW part elsewhere for £31/$50, get charged another £20/$35 for tyre depot to change it............... Hey presto, it does the 100% monitor check and all good, I have a TOPDON so can reset the code.

Problem is you can't fix this very simple problem without a Tyre machine, a TPMS transmitter / receiver and a Computer, BMW want £430/$500 to fix this. (incidentally car is 3 years old, sensor should last 5 years I'm told, but 2 months out of warranty, too bad). I pay for a proper BMW service, but I'm happy doing my own maintenance on other jobs, brakes etc. So, is TPMS an over engineered nightmare or have I just been unlucky ?