TPMS fails to initialize

[Vancouver_M440]

It's been below freezing here in Vancouver and I suddenly got a TPMS failure while driving. I don't think it's a pressure issue as I just inflated my tires and they look correctly inflated. In the vehicle status it lists it as TPM malfunction. Is this an issue with the receiver in the car or perhaps did one of my sensors fail? The ones I'm using are aftermarket as they are on my winter wheel set. I've seen this intermittent failure pop up before. But this time it's not going away. Anyone else experience this? Is it just a sensor issue?

[serranot]

Originally Posted by Vancouver_M3

It's been below freezing here in Vancouver and I suddenly got a TPMS failure while driving. I don't think it's a pressure issue as I just inflated my tires and they look correctly inflated. In the vehicle status it lists it as TPM malfunction. Is this an issue with the receiver in the car or perhaps did one of my sensors fail? The ones I'm using are aftermarket as they are on my winter wheel set. I've seen this intermittent failure pop up before. But this time it's not going away. Anyone else experience this? Is it just a sensor issue?

I had the same problem. It required a new TPMS module.

[Vancouver_M440]

ah ok. So long as it's the sensor and not the car. I will have to borrow my friends iCarly cable and find out which wheel. is there documentation on doing this with iCarly?

[/Rock//It///M]

Go to a tire repair shop that can use a wireless scan tool next to the tire to check all the sensors and can tell you which one is bad.

[Scrippy]

Take your car to a good tire store. Have them scan your wheels with their TPMS tool. It gives status and battery level. No sense in replacing just 1 if the others are going to die soon. It is not your RDC module or the antenna.....it's one or more of the wheel sensors.

[Vancouver_M440]

Thanks for the tips everyone. If it's just the sensor, the issue should go away once I get my summer wheels back on.

[Absurdium]

I was under the impression that Canadian cars did not use tpms sensors within the tire and used the abs sensors to detect flats by the relative speed differences between wheels. Maybe it might be something to do with that.

[Vancouver_M440]

The error mysterious went away on its own and then came back for a bit and disappeared yet again. I'll have to wait until I get my stock rims back on to see if I need to replace the module. I'm pretty sure in all the times before when i got a TPMS failure, it was always with the none stock sensors.

[6ixSpd]

Originally Posted by Absurdium

I was under the impression that Canadian cars did not use tpms sensors within the tire and used the abs sensors to detect flats by the relative speed differences between wheels. Maybe it might be something to do with that.

This. OP if your car is Canadian you DO NOT have any sensors in the wheels. There is no module in the trunk either.

Your car has a FTM system. Set the pressures correctly to all four tires and reset the FTM monitor.

[Vancouver_M440]

Interesting. That makes sense except my BMW is a US import so it does have TPMS.

[DK21M3]

I purchased my car 2 weeks ago and I am also having this message. I assumed the dealership had all these taken care of before having it driven off the lot. So I called my salesman and he pretty much said it was all put on and working correctly before leaving the dealership. Not sure if I should call back and argue with him.

It started to show this message a week after I got the car and then it went away. Then this weekend it showed up again, so I'm not sure what I am suppose to do in this situation. Can I still have the dealer be liable for it and have them fix it? I bought it used so anyone in the BMW used car dealership guys can chime in on this one and let me know, I would really appreciate it. Thanks guys.

[merakulous]

Originally Posted by DK21M3

I purchased my car 2 weeks ago and I am also having this message. I assumed the dealership had all these taken care of before having it driven off the lot. So I called my salesman and he pretty much said it was all put on and working correctly before leaving the dealership. Not sure if I should call back and argue with him.

It started to show this message a week after I got the car and then it went away. Then this weekend it showed up again, so I'm not sure what I am suppose to do in this situation. Can I still have the dealer be liable for it and have them fix it? I bought it used so anyone in the BMW used car dealership guys can chime in on this one and let me know, I would really appreciate it. Thanks guys.

As suggested above, go to a tire store and ask them to use their TPMS tool to read the sensors in each wheel. I was getting an intermittent TPMS Malfunction warning. I bought an Autel TS401 TPMS tool ($121) and scanned all my tires. The front right one read as having a low battery. So I've bought a new oem Huff TPMS sensor ($46) on ebay and will get it installed this week. Then the Autel tool can trigger and initialize that sensor for its new placement (which also tells the car's ECU that there is a new sensor at that location).

Hopefully, that fixes my issue - probably the same for you. If you go to the tire store and "borrow" their tool and technician for 30 seconds, you'll immediately find out which sensor it is. Then you don't need to buy a tool. I just wanted it for my own toolbox. Now when I rotate tires on the wife's car I can reset the TPMS wheel positions with the tool.

Now if only I could code the M3's TPMS to display actual pressures and temperatures of each wheel on the iDrive (like it was on my 2011 550i F10). But that's a different thread and I'm told it can't be done.

[DK21M3]

Originally Posted by merakulous

As suggested above, go to a tire store and ask them to use their TPMS tool to read the sensors in each wheel. I was getting an intermittent TPMS Malfunction warning. I bought an Autel TS401 TPMS tool ($121) and scanned all my tires. The front right one read as having a low battery. So I've bought a new oem Huff TPMS sensor ($46) on ebay and will get it installed this week. Then the Autel tool can trigger and initialize that sensor for its new placement (which also tells the car's ECU that there is a new sensor at that location).

Hopefully, that fixes my issue - probably the same for you. If you go to the tire store and "borrow" their tool and technician for 30 seconds, you'll immediately find out which sensor it is. Then you don't need to buy a tool. I just wanted it for my own toolbox. Now when I rotate tires on the wife's car I can reset the TPMS wheel positions with the tool.

Now if only I could code the M3's TPMS to display actual pressures and temperatures of each wheel on the iDrive (like it was on my 2011 550i F10). But that's a different thread and I'm told it can't be done.

Yeah I don't mind taking it to a tire place but just wanted to see if this was something I can take back to the dealership and have them look at it or if I even have a case to have them do so. I just bought the car not too long ago and when I called my salesman he pretty sounded like it was out of their control to do anything for me. I was a bit annoyed because I remember he emphasized that everything is inspected before leaving the lot and this malfunction warning pops up.