This one felt like it should have been easy to solve. In the end, maybe it was, and maybe it wasn’t.
“I feel like the problem is gone but I don’t feel that satisfying feeling that we ‘solved’ it,” says BimmerWorld’s Phil Wurz after we seemingly rectified …
How old is the battery? Call me crazy, but that's always the first place I look when I get weird sensor codes on a modern car. Computers can be super sensitive to voltage issues.
Tom Suddard said:Computers can be super sensitive to voltage issues.
Just like me.
Tom Suddard said:How old is the battery? Call me crazy, but that's always the first place I look when I get weird sensor codes on a modern car. Computers can be super sensitive to voltage issues.
We put a brand new Optima in it in August and it sits on a battery maintainer mostly. But, yeah, I hear you. Flaky BMW batteries are known to do some weird, haunting-level stuff when they start to go south.
This happens on my Volvo once or twice a year.
Thankfully you can recalibrate TPMS from inside the car with a few buttons, but I'm left with the same feeling. It's fixed, but it's not "fixed"
Do you still have the old sensors, can you check the voltage on their batteries? If they all have the same crap-quality batteries, were all from the same batch perhaps they all popped around the same time? You said that this mostly sits on a maintainer which tells me that it may have failed over a few weeks/month and you wouldn't have noticed?
I one time experienced a temporary TPMS failure driving on an interstate by a military base. The only thing I could chock that up to was to interference. Odd occurrence.
Look at the complete system. Sensors- unlikely fault. New antenna module- kinda sorta works but no confidence. What about the wiring and connectors? Corrosion? Connector not making complete contact? Insulation chafed through?
You know the rules; of you don't KNOW that you've found the problem, then you haven't found the problem.
In reply to J.A. Ackley :
You should try replicating the result, but this time, you should wear a tinfoil hat. 
I have heard of some strange things causing interference & issues with tpms. Metal valve stem caps & cheap led door lights are some that I have heard of causing issues.
In reply to WonkoTheSane :
Any TPMS tool will tell you if a battery is low, if the sensor reads.
One is a fluke, all four smells like module issue. Does it have a discrete TPMS module that may be swimming in a pool of water in the trunk?
IF it's actually the sensors themselves that failed, then what is common to all 4 wheels/tires ? Contaminanted air? Over stressed or heated sensors due to track time? Speed bump hit too hard? Tires off-gassing internally? Lightning strike? Perhaps it is a nearby military base secretly frying electrically transmitting devices on a certain frequency that come near. I know my pacemaker skips every time an MP gives me the stink eye.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to WonkoTheSane :
Any TPMS tool will tell you if a battery is low, if the sensor reads.
One is a fluke, all four smells like module issue. Does it have a discrete TPMS module that may be swimming in a pool of water in the trunk?
Yeah the module we replaced (that didn't fix anything) is the main antenna for both the TPMS sensors and the key fob. It's a known issue in BMWs and this is exactly the failure mode, but replacing it did nothing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Are you sure about the "No TPMS means no turning off the nannies" thing? In my same year 235 that is NOT the case, and I don't have TPMS in my track wheels.
Some TPMS systems will only reset a reading if the tire pressure dips below like 20 or 25psi and then the tires are subsequently refilled to normal operating pressures. You could see if this is the case by trying the original sensors at this point.
RacerBowie said:Are you sure about the "No TPMS means no turning off the nannies" thing? In my same year 235 that is NOT the case, and I don't have TPMS in my track wheels.
It won't even let me turn off the nannies if the TPMS is reading below 28psi (or whatever the warning level is. I think it's 28).
I guess they don't trust the 4-Series buyer as much as they trust the 2-Series buyer.
Grounds. It's always grounds.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to WonkoTheSane :
Any TPMS tool will tell you if a battery is low, if the sensor reads.
One is a fluke, all four smells like module issue. Does it have a discrete TPMS module that may be swimming in a pool of water in the trunk?
Right, emphasis on "If the sensor reads." I've had replacement TPMS sensors in my Chryslers that lasted less than 9 months.. I don't know why the failed and the local tire place replaced them under warranty, but I'm just saying that if these were sensors of unknown providence and replacing the (known failure point) antenna didn't fix it, I wouldn't be surprised if this whole batch was about as robust as a AdvPepZone ball joints...
I know they're not really a user-serviceable part, but they mostly run on 2032s I think, so you can at least check the battery even if you have to destroy the unit to get to it. Then at least you'd know a cause.
JG Pasterjak said:RacerBowie said:Are you sure about the "No TPMS means no turning off the nannies" thing? In my same year 235 that is NOT the case, and I don't have TPMS in my track wheels.
It won't even let me turn off the nannies if the TPMS is reading below 28psi (or whatever the warning level is. I think it's 28).
I guess they don't trust the 4-Series buyer as much as they trust the 2-Series buyer.
Shows how much they know, I shouldn't be trusted AT ALL.
Therein lies the reason I've only owned one BMW, and most likely won't own another....great road manners, lousy, complicated electronics and associated algorithms. BMW needs to review the K.I.S.S. principle and strictly adhere to it......
300zxfreak said:Therein lies the reason I've only owned one BMW, and most likely won't own another....great road manners, lousy, complicated electronics and associated algorithms. BMW needs to review the K.I.S.S. principle and strictly adhere to it......
The KISS they follow is Keep Innovating Stupid Systems.
Why do they design them so complicated? Because they can.
How attached are you to TPMS? I'm assuming you guys would like to keep it?
I had a few intermittent TPMS issues with my E82 over the past couple of years- most of which just resolved themselves. I'm not sure if the F-chassis cars are as simple as the E-chassis cars (they seem similar-ish?), but I just ended up using BimmerGeek ProTool to code the TPMS out. It was super simple- remove TPMS module, toggle three features to Disabled and viola, no more TPMS warnings. 
I realize that some people really enjoy having TPMS. For those that don't care, it's a legitimate option that I imagine is probably viable for the F-chassis cars as well.
JG Pasterjak said:RacerBowie said:Are you sure about the "No TPMS means no turning off the nannies" thing? In my same year 235 that is NOT the case, and I don't have TPMS in my track wheels.
It won't even let me turn off the nannies if the TPMS is reading below 28psi (or whatever the warning level is. I think it's 28).
I guess they don't trust the 4-Series buyer as much as they trust the 2-Series buyer.
IIRC, Ford disables all the nannies with a TPMS issue. How can the stability control and stuff work correctly if the tire pressures are irregular?
Colin Wood said:In reply to J.A. Ackley :
You should try replicating the result, but this time, you should wear a tinfoil hat.
Or don't this time.
I'm not here to judge.
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