Now a tyre problem
- Thread starter maryem
- Start date
Do you have a picture of the warning?
If it's a picture of a tyre it's likely the TPMS flagging some sort of perceived change: How worn are your tyres currently, and when was your TPMS last reset? As I understand it the wheel speed sensors detect relative rotational speed and look for changes over time, so it might be that either the fronts or rears are running lower tread and it's been interpreted as low tyre pressures.
If a recall correctly, the TPMS reset is available in the dash menus with the engine running but only when the car is stationary.
If it's a picture of a tyre it's likely the TPMS flagging some sort of perceived change: How worn are your tyres currently, and when was your TPMS last reset? As I understand it the wheel speed sensors detect relative rotational speed and look for changes over time, so it might be that either the fronts or rears are running lower tread and it's been interpreted as low tyre pressures.
If a recall correctly, the TPMS reset is available in the dash menus with the engine running but only when the car is stationary.
Thanks jaddodd and B21. It's a red warning light, the Low Tyre Pressure Warning light. Car is a 2012 and he doesn't know what iDrive is or if he's gotit. It's been reset now so we will see what happens.
Sorry about being cryptic but I was up in Edinburgh all day, train was late, missed the once hourly bus by 5 mins and was sat for ages in a cold windy carpark on a bench waiting for him to come and fetch me. And being a man - he moaned about it. :evil:
Sorry about being cryptic but I was up in Edinburgh all day, train was late, missed the once hourly bus by 5 mins and was sat for ages in a cold windy carpark on a bench waiting for him to come and fetch me. And being a man - he moaned about it. :evil:
matsmith749
Active member
This post reminds me of an old Audi I sold back in the day.
270k miles, but decent condition & running well - I had it 1 year with no worries whatsoever.
Sold it to a guy that lives a few doors down the road.
Bumped into him a year or so afterwards - he ranted at me. The car had been horrendous, no end of trouble. A nightmare experience & I should have been ashamed of myself for selling such a piece of junk to a neighbour.
After a bit of digging, it turned out that a few months after he bought it, it needed an MOT. It failed, needing a new trye as it was worn out. To add insult onto injury, not long afterwards the road tax expired & he also had to pay for that out of his own pocket.
Then, just to make matters worse, his girlfriend bumped it into a pillar whilst parking & left a dirty looking scrape on the bumper.
And the end of this nightmare experience of car ownership came when he lost the keys on a night out & had to hunt around the flat for days on end to find the spare key.
What can you do?
270k miles, but decent condition & running well - I had it 1 year with no worries whatsoever.
Sold it to a guy that lives a few doors down the road.
Bumped into him a year or so afterwards - he ranted at me. The car had been horrendous, no end of trouble. A nightmare experience & I should have been ashamed of myself for selling such a piece of junk to a neighbour.
After a bit of digging, it turned out that a few months after he bought it, it needed an MOT. It failed, needing a new trye as it was worn out. To add insult onto injury, not long afterwards the road tax expired & he also had to pay for that out of his own pocket.
Then, just to make matters worse, his girlfriend bumped it into a pillar whilst parking & left a dirty looking scrape on the bumper.
And the end of this nightmare experience of car ownership came when he lost the keys on a night out & had to hunt around the flat for days on end to find the spare key.
What can you do?
Trouble is, the system sets itself as the datum at the point you reset, then flags up any significant change after that.matsmith749 said:
So if you've reset the system with all the tyres at different pressures it will assume that is what you wanted and will only flag an issue if they then drop from that.
Simply resetting hasn't made the problem go away, just told the car you're happy with that.
So you need to wait until the tyres have cooled and preferably not sitting in direct sunlight, then pump them up using a gauge to get them to the correct figures. Only then do the TPMS reset.
The Type R FK8 I had last year (for a little while) used to often flag up the TPMS warning because the pressures went UP at different rates when the tyres were hot! How mad is that?
I think it was because it had such low profile tyres, there was not room for much air, so the thermal expansion was quite a lot, relatively. It was very annoying, as you have to check, don't you, just in case?
I think it was because it had such low profile tyres, there was not room for much air, so the thermal expansion was quite a lot, relatively. It was very annoying, as you have to check, don't you, just in case?
Soon after I got my 330i the TPMS light came on. I checked the pressures and they were OK so I just reset it and carried on. Hopefully your Z4 will be the same. 
Although it happened again a few years later and again the pressures were all OK, but the TPMS wouldn't reset. It turns out it was one of many fault codes caused by a dying battery.
Although it happened again a few years later and again the pressures were all OK, but the TPMS wouldn't reset. It turns out it was one of many fault codes caused by a dying battery.
ps what’s a warning light??
