What gives? My '07 335I has started indicating that the TPMS is 'Inactive' Tire pressures are all ok. Resetting the system will turn the indicator off but it generally will come back on within 15 to 20 miles. Is this an electrical problem? The convenience system ( unlock, starting witout the key in the slot, ets has also stopped working. Are these related? OH, yes, I'm out of warranty.
No, same wheels that have been on the car since I bought it about 15 mos ago. I think that one or more of the TPMS wheel sensors is failing. Wonder if there is a way to test them? I'de hate to spend $200 for 4 new sensors if I only need one.
How frustrating. How long is the car out of warranty? You could ask the dealer to request a 'good will' repair (I believe that's what it is called) from BMW NA in order to fix a warranty item if the car is not far out of the warranty time frame. I haven't tried it on a BMW, but you could potentially take the car to any Advance Auto Parts store for a free diagnostic check, but if there is no error code you won't learn anything. Also, you would then need to know what the code means...but it's a start.
I'm at 54000 miles and the in service date is 2/26/2007. I'll try and talk to the dealer and see. I have discussed the problem with the dealer and they were well, let's say not really motivated to resolve the problem. Next step will probably be purchase wheel sensors from Tire Rack and have them installed by an independant dealer.
I would hold off on buying all new TPMS sensors, it doesn't sound like that's going to be the problem (but I could be wrong). I had the exact same problem on one of my work trucks (granted, it's a Chevy HHR but the symptoms are identical!). It showed the tire monitoring system was 'inactive' and the remote lock/unlock stopped working at the same time. Now I have no idea if the BMW system works the same way or not but on the HHR it turns out that the TPMS system and the remote control functions all used the same internal receiver/antenna and then distributed the different inputs to different systems as required. When that receiver died, so did all of the wireless functions. Now like I said, BMW may be totally different so if that's the case, you can ignore this post but it just seemed like it was worth mentioning before you plop down $200 for new sensors. When I had a sensor go bad, it showed that particular tire was low even though it wasn't. Having the system say 'inactive' makes me think it's something other than the sensor. just my .02 worth...
same problem... I had the same issue with my 750 a couple months ago... I took it in for service since I had full coverage. The tech explained that it was serviceable by me... just follow the directions in the owners manual. I had recently replaced the tires and it simply needed to be reinitialized as per the instructions. So check out your owners manual and follow the instructions to see if this fixes it. If not then take it in for service. Chuck
This is really getting weird. I can reinitalize the system and it may be fine for a while then go back to inactive status. I can just leave it alone and the warning light will go off, stay off for a while then come back on. It takes sophisticated electronics to make life interesting!
I have the same thing happen every once in a while. Started after I changed the tires and sensors at Discount Tire Company. I have run flats....which I love.....and yes when they go flat I plug the hole I researched other forums and it looks like the sensor may need to be replaced or reset by DTC. So I am headed there this coming weekend.
