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[blue-e92]

I've got 6k miles w/ mixed city/hwy driving. Lots of tread left.

Had that "Tire low" light come on today... I looked & felt around but couldn't find anything and the dark, rainy condition didn't help either.

I'm going to have it checked out and do not wan't to hear "One of your tires need to be changed!"

If that's the case, (1) I'll be pissed off (2) New set of wheels w/ good old regular tires

Anyone had the "Tire Low" sign come on and all you needed was to put some air in? I certainly hope that's the case w/ me.

[Bimmeration]

9k miles for me.

[GMWNashville]

depends if you have a hole in your tire..or the conditions your living in

[roadcarver]

Just buy a tire guage if you dont already have one and check it yourself. You should really check it every couple of weeks anyway to guarantee proper pressure and long life of your tires not to mention safety. It is probably just low pressure. If it is a flat the red warning light comes on.

[SteveH]

Ya...Check the pressure with a regular gauge. If all goes well; try resetting the light through your display.

[shahils12]

mostl ikely just needs air. This happened to me about a week ago. I just went to a gas station, filled the rear left up, and it was good to go!

no "tire needs to be replaced" crap!

happy driving...

EDIT: I had roughly 5k miles

[Rob Gurwitz]

Mine went off yesterday. Checked pressure and was fine. Turned out I had hit a pothole and had a bubble or bulge in the sidewall. So definitely have them checked out even if pressure is okay.

[Couch]

Check your tire pressure before you do anything else. If the pressure drops below X amount the light will come on. It's happened once to me.

I don't think anyone knows an exact number.

[blue-e92]

Okay guys, I had it checked out this morning - turns out one of my tires were at 26psi. The valet put some air in it and the warning light disappeared without having to reset it.

What a breath of fresh air.

I'm still searching for a set of wheels. I would love the 189 that are on the 335i's (If someone wants to sell or know of someone who might, PM me). Otherwise, I'll settle for a set of aftermarket by the end of summer.

[AWD Addict]

So what amount of psi drop triggers the lamp?

[e93 me]

Car is 3 weeks old, within 800 miles, my rear right tire had about 1 inch gash on the groove. It happened on the freeway, dunno what caused it. Cost me 346 dollars to replace it. BAH!

[tintivilus]

Originally Posted by AWD Addict

So what amount of psi drop triggers the lamp?

Supposed to be 10% of whatever it was set for iirc. There's actually a DOT spec for it, and direct TPMS (with sensors) is required to have a tighter tolerance than indirect TPMS. I think indirects are 25% or something in that area.

[AWD Addict]

Originally Posted by tintivilus

Supposed to be 10% of whatever it was set for iirc. There's actually a DOT spec for it, and direct TPMS (with sensors) is required to have a tighter tolerance than indirect TPMS. I think indirects are 25% or something in that area.

Our RF based TPMS are "direct," correct?

[cassey]

Technically, the TPMS does not measure pressures. It measures rotational speed. Its in the manual...

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by cassey

Technically, the TPMS does not measure pressures. It measures rotational speed. Its in the manual...

incorrect.

thats the FTM. TPMS measure actual pressure.

BMW switched from FTM that measures wheel rotation to TPMS with direct pressure sensors to comply with the federal TREAD act.

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by AWD Addict

Our RF based TPMS are "direct," correct?

All E92 and E93s from SOP bound for the US use TPMS, direct pressure measurement.

E90 and E91s up to 3/07 production used FTM (indirect, ABS/DSC based rotation)

E90s and E91s after 3/07 production bound for the US use TPMS.

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by blue-e92

I've got 6k miles w/ mixed city/hwy driving. Lots of tread left.

Had that "Tire low" light come on today... I looked & felt around but couldn't find anything and the dark, rainy condition didn't help either.

I'm going to have it checked out and do not wan't to hear "One of your tires need to be changed!"

If that's the case, (1) I'll be pissed off (2) New set of wheels w/ good old regular tires

Anyone had the "Tire Low" sign come on and all you needed was to put some air in? I certainly hope that's the case w/ me.

you do realize that the tire low light does NOT measure tread depth and will not indicate when a tire is worn out.

[Vudoo4u2]

I would say get it checked out to be safe anyways. I had that light come on, then I filled up the tire with some air, all looked good, until 2 days later when it came on again....got it checked out and found out my wheel was cracked in 3 places and leaking air haha. Suffice it to say, the free tire/wheel check @ discount tire wont cost you anything but a little time to be sure you arent rolling around on damaged tires.

[tintivilus]

Originally Posted by Orient330iNYC

thats the FTM. TPMS measure actual pressure.

BMW switched from FTM that measures wheel rotation to TPMS with direct pressure sensors to comply with the federal TREAD act.

"FTM" was just a BMW term. TPMS as required in the US can be either "direct" (with sensors on the wheels) or "indirect" (based on rotational speed). Either satisfies the legal requirement. I've quoted the DOT regs on here before so for more details.

[Steven335xi]

This whole RFT and TPMS affaire have me pretty upset. I did not purchase the RFT insurance, and I wish now that I did.

My low pressure light came on two weeks ago. First off, how come a $20k Chevy rental car has a TPMS that shows the tire pressure at every corner? And a $50K BMW makes you guess which tire is low?

The right rear tire was down 5 lbs. I looked at it and could not find anything stuck in the tire. I searched the BMW forums and found tons if “I hate RFT threads”. After that I decided just to take it back to BMW.

BMW replaced the tire for $305 out the door. This is certainly not the type of service that I expected from a car of this caliber and a tire that only had 7k miles on it.

[AWD Addict]

Originally Posted by Steven335xi

This whole RFT and TPMS affaire have me pretty upset. I did not purchase the RFT insurance, and I wish now that I did.

My low pressure light came on two weeks ago. First off, how come a $20k Chevy rental car has a TPMS that shows the tire pressure at every corner? And a $50K BMW makes you guess which tire is low?

The right rear tire was down 5 lbs. I looked at it and could not find anything stuck in the tire. I searched the BMW forums and found tons if “I hate RFT threads”. After that I decided just to take it back to BMW.

BMW replaced the tire for $305 out the door. This is certainly not the type of service that I expected from a car of this caliber and a tire that only had 7k miles on it.

You blew a tire, and you're upset about the service cost of replacing it? Looks like the cost of a mount, balance and install of a new tire to me... Do you think BMW rubber is immune to damage because it's on a BMW?

[Steven335xi]

"You blew a tire, and you're upset about the service cost of replacing it? Looks like the cost of a mount, balance and install of a new tire to me... Do you think BMW rubber is immune to damage because it's on a BMW?"

The tire did not blow, it had a very slow leak. One that I was unable to locate even after I pulled it off the car. Normally, I would have just had it repaired. This is my first experiance with RFT technology.

You are correct, no tire is immune from damage. But they could not tell me why the tire was not holding air. How do I know if it was a puncture or a manufactures defect? I wish I would have purchased the RFT insurance, since they won't repair RFT.

What I'm upset about is that they don't even offer road hazard insurace for these. If they have to be replaced for minor punctures, it would be nice if the cost of the replacement tire was pro rated the same as a non RFT is.