The dreaded bong

[Johnbmwz4]

Hi was parking up at a friends house today when the dreaded bong went off. It said on my I drive screen tyre pressure monitor fault. I checked all the tyres and all ok. I went back to the car after half hour expecting the bong again but nothing , all ok. Even on the I drive system check all ok. Is it just an electrical glitch or a sign that something is on its way out. Has anyone else had this problem. My car is an E89

 

[flybobbie]

I had the same today when some idiot couldn't be patience at a flood and plough through drenching my car. As I parked up all the tyre warning lights and symbols lit up. Ignition off and on and all went away.

 

[MACK]

BMW tyre pressure monitoring systems can be temperamental in the cold, never heard of it on an E89 to be fair, but have on X5's and 5 series etc

 

[mr wilks]

Hi was parking up at a friends house today when the dreaded bong went off.
I checked all the tyres and all ok.

Did you actually check the pressures or just visually look them over ?

 

[Maniac]

Crap on sensors or just a misreading due to you needing to reset the system (see idrive reset process for tyre pressures). Clearly you need to manually set all correct pressures before resetting the system.

 

[Johnbmwz4]

Hi was parking up at a friends house today when the dreaded bong went off.
I checked all the tyres and all ok.

Did you actually check the pressures or just visually look them over ?

Just visually checked them. I'll check at a garage to make sure all ok.

 

[mr wilks]

Hi was parking up at a friends house today when the dreaded bong went off.
I checked all the tyres and all ok.

Did you actually check the pressures or just visually look them over ?

Just visually checked them. I'll check at a garage to make sure all ok.

Most likely nothing to worry about , one of the tyres may have dropped a small amount but worth checking all 4 then resetting the TPMS

 

[Mr Tidy]

Just visually checked them. I'll check at a garage to make sure all ok.

Check them as soon as you can - if you still have run-flats a visual check won't tell you anything! Even a flat one doesn't collapse because the side-walls are so stiff!

 

[MACK]

Just visually checked them. I'll check at a garage to make sure all ok.

Check them as soon as you can - if you still have run-flats a visual check won't tell you anything! Even a flat one doesn't collapse because the side-walls are so stiff!

Even non runflats can get dangerously low on pressure without "looking a bit flat" Have you notice the car seems to feel/handle differently? Its a classic sign of low pressure on one or more tyres.

 

[Johnbmwz4]

Just visually checked them. I'll check at a garage to make sure all ok.

Check them as soon as you can - if you still have run-flats a visual check won't tell you anything! Even a flat one doesn't collapse because the side-walls are so stiff!

Even non runflats can get dangerously low on pressure without "looking a bit flat" Have you notice the car seems to feel/handle differently? Its a classic sign of low pressure on one or more tyres.

I didn't drive far to get home so didn't notice a difference in handling. I will check the pressures tomorrow and report back

 

[Mr Tidy]

I didn't drive far to get home so didn't notice a difference in handling. I will check the pressures tomorrow and report back

FWIW I got the dreaded "bong" a few years ago in my 1 Series on RFTs, but as it was snowing I just drove the 5 miles to home and parked it!

Checked pressures the next morning and the punctured tyre was down to 14 psi - by looking at it you really wouldn't have known it had a puncture!

Anyway I pumped it right up and drove straight to a local tyre shop, and they did me a repair for £10! Result - the tyre had only done 13K miles, but went on to do another 11K!

Just as a heads-up - don't be told RFTs can't be repaired, they can so long as the hole isn't at the edge of the tread or in the side-wall or too big! And the tyre hasn't been driven flat or under-inflated for any distance.

I can't see where you are, but I can recommend a firm in West Surrey if that is any use.

 

[Johnbmwz4]

I didn't drive far to get home so didn't notice a difference in handling. I will check the pressures tomorrow and report back

FWIW I got the dreaded "bong" a few years ago in my 1 Series on RFTs, but as it was snowing I just drove the 5 miles to home and parked it!

Checked pressures the next morning and the punctured tyre was down to 14 psi - by looking at it you really wouldn't have known it had a puncture!

Anyway I pumped it right up and drove straight to a local tyre shop, and they did me a repair for £10! Result - the tyre had only done 13K miles, but went on to do

another 11K!

Just as a heads-up - don't be told RFTs can't be repaired, they can so long as the hole isn't at the edge of the tread or in the side-wall or too big! And the tyre hasn't been driven flat or under-inflated for any distance.

I can't see where you are, but I can recommend a firm in West Surrey if that is any use.

Thanks, I'm from Leeds but have a decent garage I can rely on not to rip me off

 

[Mr Tidy]

Thanks, I'm from Leeds but have a decent garage I can rely on not to rip me off

Good - most tyre places just want to sell them, not offer a service!

If you do find a tyre that has little pressure in it make sure you get some air in it before you drive to the garage.

But I forgot to mention the upside - my first Z4 would "bong" sometimes when I used it for the first time in a week or so, and I would find one tyre just a few psi down on what it should be. I pumped it up, reset the TPMS and used the car as planned with no issues. After 3 or 4 occasions it stopped happening, but I checked that tyre anyway and it was never below pressure. I can only guess there may have been some dirt in the valve or the dust cap?

But I was grateful for the "bong" as it warned me of a potential problem before it got serious. :lol:

 

[Johnbmwz4]

Hi was parking up at a friends house today when the dreaded bong went off.
I checked all the tyres and all ok.

Did you actually check the pressures or just visually look them over ?

Just visually checked them. I'll check at a garage to make sure all ok.

Hi well went to the garage today as havent used the car since the bong. The passenger side front had only 6psi in it. Not good but it didn't look any different inflated wise than the rest of the tyres. What bothers me is that the car didn't bong when I got in the car or even have a warning sign on the dash even though the psi was only 6. I'm assuming all works ok as when I check the system all is ok and active. Anyway filled it up and initialized the system so will keep a close eye on it. I had tyre pressure issues with my E85 which had non run flats but whenever that had low pressure on a tyre which was around once a month (on different tyres too) it never let me forget ,every time I got in it bonged.

 

[mr wilks]

Did you actually check the pressures or just visually look them over ?

Just visually checked them. I'll check at a garage to make sure all ok.

Hi well went to the garage today as havent used the car since the bong. The passenger side front had only 6psi in it. Not good but it didn't look any different inflated wise than the rest of the tyres. What bothers me is that the car didn't bong when I got in the car or even have a warning sign on the dash even though the psi was only 6. I'm assuming all works ok as when I check the system all is ok and active. Anyway filled it up and initialized the system so will keep a close eye on it. I had tyre pressure issues with my E85 which had non run flats but whenever that had low pressure on a tyre which was around once a month (on different tyres too) it never let me forget ,every time I got in it bonged.

6psi not good how many miles have you covered since the TPMS went off ?
If any distance like 50/100 or even more miles then you may want to have it removed & inspected as a runflat tyre once ran flat can be damaged inside although it won't show signs on the outside
Once the tyre is off if there is a fine black rubber dust inside this is usually a sign that the tyre has been creased where the wall meets the tread shoulder & is obviously then weakened at that point

 

[Johnbmwz4]

I would say about 2 miles since the bong on Sunday. Not my DD so sat in drive all week really

 

[Mr Tidy]

I would say about 2 miles since the bong on Sunday. Not my DD so sat in drive all week really

That's good - hopefully it will be OK.

Good luck.

 

[RickRob]

Just after I bought my ///M Roadster I got the warning light for low pressure. Parked up visually checked the tyres and then re-set and re-started - no more warning light. Checked the pressures properly the next day and all OK.

That was the first and last time it happened. (The tyres and the weather were both warm.)

One of those things I guess.