TPMS Wheel Sensors

[mr.fabulous]

Has anybody replaced their TPMS wheel sensors? 36-23-6-798-726 I'm getting set to put new tires on my car and I wonder if that makes for a good time to do this? I have no idea if mine are factory, but the car was built July 2010 and so I wonder if CPO prep got to them (the dealer did the brakes and put new tires on it September 2014, and so best case my sensors are five years old, worst case nine and nine seems unlikely).

[Tommm]

I got a set from Discount Tire. About 125 for the four. They work.

[zx10guy]

I got a set from Tire Rack when I ordered a set of winter tires for the extra set of rashed wheels I have. And they work also.

[mackeroni]

Originally Posted by mr.fabulous

Has anybody replaced their TPMS wheel sensors? 36-23-6-798-726 I'm getting set to put new tires on my car and I wonder if that makes for a good time to do this? I have no idea if mine are factory, but the car was built July 2010 and so I wonder if CPO prep got to them (the dealer did the brakes and put new tires on it September 2014, and so best case my sensors are five years old, worst case nine and nine seems unlikely).

Got mine from TireRack. Old ones were about seven years old with about 40,000 miles on them and still working. It was time for new tires, so I replaced them.

A word of warning... I had my old tires removed from the wheels so I could clean them up and repair some road rash before the new tires were mounted. I even waxed the wheels until they glistened. They looked fabulous. Then, on a very hot day (over 95 F) one of the strips of balancing weights left the wheel as I was driving through a parking lot. The wax was so slippery, the adhesive on the weights just lost its grip. I feel lucky that it happened at such a low speed. I had all the wheels rebalanced and new weights added after a good alcohol scrubbing.

Peace.... Mack.

[dtla1]

Originally Posted by mackeroni

Got mine from TireRack. Old ones were about seven years old with about 40,000 miles on them and still working. It was time for new tires, so I replaced them.

A word of warning... I had my old tires removed from the wheels so I could clean them up and repair some road rash before the new tires were mounted. I even waxed the wheels until they glistened. They looked fabulous. Then, on a very hot day (over 95 F) one of the strips of balancing weights left the wheel as I was driving through a parking lot. The wax was so slippery, the adhesive on the weights just lost its grip. I feel lucky that it happened at such a low speed. I had all the wheels rebalanced and new weights added after a good alcohol scrubbing.

Peace.... Mack.

Gotta use some Speed Tape to keep those wheel weights on!

[mr.fabulous]

Visited the local Tires Plus yesterday for new rubber... and along the way decided to replace the tire pressure sensors as a preventive measure (car was built in July 2010 and I have no reason to believe the sensors were ever replaced along the way). This Tires Plus has universal sensors that get programmed to what vehicle manufacturer they're being installed on. And after several attempts, my car simply refused to recognize these. And so we put the factory sensors back in and all is well.

A friend's wife had the same experience with her E90.

And so OE BMW TPMS sensors only for these cars.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by mr.fabulous

Visited the local Tires Plus yesterday for new rubber... and along the way decided to replace the tire pressure sensors as a preventive measure (car was built in July 2010 and I have no reason to believe the sensors were ever replaced along the way). This Tires Plus has universal sensors that get programmed to what vehicle manufacturer they're being installed on. And after several attempts, my car simply refused to recognize these. And so we put the factory sensors back in and all is well.

A friend's wife had the same experience with her E90.

And so OE BMW TPMS sensors only for these cars.

Not necessarily. For my winter tire/wheel setup, I used TPMS sensors from Tire Rack which are not BMW factory sensors and they've been working fine for about 5 years.

[mr.fabulous]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Not necessarily. For my winter tire/wheel setup, I used TPMS sensors from Tire Rack which are not BMW factory sensors and they've been working fine for about 5 years.

OK fair enough. Use sensors specifically made for a BMW and not something programmable.

[Tommm]

The ones I got from Discount were programmable.

Discount has two brands. The first set they put in my wife's XC90 was black I think. They didn't work. They put an orange set in I think, and they work fine.

The first set they put in my 128i worked from the get-go. In fact, I have two sets for the 128i from Discount. I put the wheels with the first set on my daughters 323Ci. Even though the car doesn't have TPMS, it was the same $$ to install new ones than get 4 mounted tires, 4 unmounted tires and 4 rims to the shop to have them take the sensors out, rebalance the wheels, etc.

Moral - get the ones that work. Don't be fooled by labels.