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[dvanderl]

I am new to owning a BMW (about a year now) and I am not used to a car being so smart. When I put winter wheels on this last winter, I had the red flat tire warning go off and I couldn't ever get it to reset. The wheels came off of a 2005 BMW 3-series (e46) and the BMW dealership said that there is a possibility that the flat tire monitor in the wheels is not compatible with my e90. They said I could either live with the warning lamp all winter or pay to have compatible flat tire monitors installed for $800. I opted for the first choice.

When I put my summer wheels back on the flat tire warning stayed on and I couldn't reset it. I took it in for service and BMW found that I had a tire with a plug in it and the plug was drying out and leaking. BMW filled the tire and reset the warning indicator. It came on again and I took it to a tire shop. They found that there was another hole in the same tire so I had that tire replaced and they reset the warning again. Everything has been just fine since then (about two months).

This morning the red flat tire warning came on again and I stopped and checked the pressure in all my tires. The rears are right at 35 psi and the fronts were a little over 30 (this is after driving 3 miles) and the temperature is about 80 degrees. I plan on checking again this afternoon after the car hasn't been driving for awhile to see if the pressure drops.

The problem I am having is that I cannot get this to reset. I am not talking about the yellow indicator light that allows you to initialize (INIT) the system. I have been able to do that in the past. This is the red light that says reset when you go through the controls. I have read the manual and followed it to a "T" and the thing never resets. I don't know how the garages got this to reset. Maybe they had to hook it up to a computer to do so? Has anybody else had this problem? I am worried that I need a new flat tire monitoring system and worried about how much that would cost.

Sorry for the long post, does anybody have any suggestions?

[BMWUltimateDriv3r]

I suppose you have to live with it.

[sourphish]

Hope you get it sorted out...just recently, this past week, my yellow and red TPM indicator has been going off, even though there are no leaks in my tires and they are all pumped with a good amount of air. But it's been coming on and off quite often these past 3 days.

[ENINTY]

You have a bad wheel speed sensor at one of the wheels.

[JayKay335i]

Thumb through the options on the stalk. When you get to reset click the button once and a little box will appear. Then hold the bottom down for a few seconds and the box will check it self. Profit.

[dvanderl]

Originally Posted by JayKay335i

Thumb through the options on the stalk. When you get to reset click the button once and a little box will appear. Then hold the bottom down for a few seconds and the box will check it self. Profit.

I don't think I have ever tried this in this fashion. I will be sure I try this before I take it anywhere. Does anybody think that this is something that needs fixed? My car no longer has run flat tires, it just has high-performance all weather tires that are Bridgestone Potenzas. Does anybody have any idea how much a repair like this will cost? I really don't want to take it to the BMW dealership because they really over charge! They charge around $125 just to diagnose it!

[dvanderl]

Originally Posted by ENINTY

You have a bad wheel speed sensor at one of the wheels.

I was reading about wheel speed sensors and it seems like I should have three lights coming on if this were the case (an ABS light, an amber BRAKE light, and a triangular "traction lost" icon). I only have the little red tire icon with an exclamation point. Can TPM go bad and go off and on again? If this is the case, is this something I can repair myself or will a BMW dealership have to do it?

[JayKay335i]

I would try using the correct method of resetting the sensors first. As a wise man once said,

[dvanderl]

Originally Posted by JayKay335i

I would try using the correct method of resetting the sensors first. As a wise man once said,

I've tried everything I can think of. I have read the manual pages over and over again. In fact, the manual doesn't even say anything about getting a red flat tire warning. It talks about a yellow and red warning that you should just be able to initialize your way out of.

If I go through the menu options and click the button it just sits on the word "reset" for a few seconds and then goes back to the red exclamation point. I tried hitting the BC button and then clicking the options down and up and nothing said "resetting" like I would have expected or like I have read on other forums. This one really has me thrown for a loop. I have always had to have the garage do this for me. I just really can't stand the thought of paying BMW $125 just to tell me that I need a new flat tire monitor and then charge me whatever that costs plus labor.

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by dvanderl

I've tried everything I can think of. I have read the manual pages over and over again. In fact, the manual doesn't even say anything about getting a red flat tire warning. It talks about a yellow and red warning that you should just be able to initialize your way out of.

If I go through the menu options and click the button it just sits on the word "reset" for a few seconds and then goes back to the red exclamation point. I tried hitting the BC button and then clicking the options down and up and nothing said "resetting" like I would have expected or like I have read on other forums. This one really has me thrown for a loop. I have always had to have the garage do this for me. I just really can't stand the thought of paying BMW $125 just to tell me that I need a new flat tire monitor and then charge me whatever that costs plus labor.

Your car is a 2006; it doesn't have air pressure sensors in it. It measures the speed difference between the two wheels on the (same) axle. If it finds one wheel is turing slower than the other, it detects the faster wheel is low on air pressure because the diameter has changed enough to make the wheel spin faster to keep up with the properly inflated (and larger diameter tire).

[dvanderl]

I figured out how to reset this warning yesterday. I think this is what one of the answers was alluding to previously. I had to scroll up to the error and push the BC button once then I pushed it again and held it down for about five seconds and a little check mark appeared inside a box. I drove off and so far everything is fine. I am still taking my car to a local garage to test the FTMs to make sure they are functioning properly tomorrow. It seems odd that this would come on in the summer when tire pressure should be at its highest.

[JayKay335i]

Originally Posted by dvanderl

I figured out how to reset this warning yesterday. I think this is what one of the answers was alluding to previously. I had to scroll up to the error and push the BC button once then I pushed it again and held it down for about five seconds and a little check mark appeared inside a box. I drove off and so far everything is fine. I am still taking my car to a local garage to test the FTMs to make sure they are functioning properly tomorrow. It seems odd that this would come on in the summer when tire pressure should be at its highest.

Yes. I explained this a few posts ago and OP didn't do it. So as per the previous step, OP has done everything except correctly reset his FTM.

[brandoncantu54]

so mine just came on and what is the BC? cause i have done it through the manual and that didnt work and i called bmw and they said its the wheel speed sensor ! so what another way to try to reset it?

[Joaquin]

Hi, I am having the exact same problem, I started watching a bunch of YouTube videos and came across a video that says it is probably the tpms antenna, it is located under the car on the driver's side, unfortunately I haven't got one to swap yet, but I believe this might be the problem