[nikotine30]

Here is my story about my suspicion that a garage stole my TPMS sensors.

Last Monday as I was parking my 2009 328i sedan I was surprised to see the “low pressure” tire warning on my dashboard. I got out of the car and sure thing, one rear tire was really flat. Since it’s already almost November and the winter season is fast approaching, I decided to simply swap my all season tires to my set of winters and deal with the punctured tire when spring arrives.

Today I drove the car to a small corner garage near my workplace that I never used before, limping on the run flat tires. I was thinking that the $60 they charge to swap with winters tires would be a good savings compared to the $150 that I was quoted at the BMW dealer. The garage found out that two wheels had problems: a puncture in one tire, and a faulty valve that was leaking on another wheel. I was proposed to fix the valve. The manager told me over the phone “it’s only 20 dollars and I can seal it with glue – BMW charges a lot new valves since these are special valves”.

I picked up the car after work and was happy to see the winter tires mounted on the wheels. However, as I was driving out from the garage I noticed that the “low pressure” warning was still on. I performed a reset function, but the warning refused to go away. So later on in the evening, I went back to the garage and told the manager that there was something wrong with the sensor. He told me with a surprised look “your wheels are not equipped with TPMS sensors – when I was changing the tires I didn’t see any sensors”. He proceeded to show me what a sensor looks like with a spare he had in stock, and explained that TPMS valve stems are bare metal and mine were rubber. He suggested that I may have aftermarket rims which are not TPMS-equipped. I wasn’t buying it and told him that (1) I bought my car brand new, with original wheels and tires, and all BMW 328 come with TPMS; (2) the warning light came on a few days ago when I got the flat, proving that TPMS was present and functional; (3) the warning light only came on once during my 1 year of ownership which means that I have TPMS sensors. We continued arguing a few minutes and finally I told him “I want to believe you but this just doesn’t make sense”.

“Are you suspecting me? Why don’t you go to your BMW dealership on Monday to find out if your car is equipped?” was his reply.

I left the garage, determined to get to the bottom of this. I was really dumbfounded and pissed, but not sure who to be angry at. After dinner, I drove around the neighbourhood looking for other BMW 328. Luckily, being a BMW fanatic I remembered where all the BMWs are located in my area and I found 4 or 5 of them parked on the street. I closely examined the valve stems for comparison to mine: (1) the stems are rubber just like mine (not bare metal as the manager had said); (2) the valve is different but in a very subtle way: the threaded area on valve is a little longer on mine.

On Monday, I’m going to drive to the BMW dealership and have them unmount my tires to check if the TPMS sensors are missing, and I plan on confronting the garage manager if they are.

What would you guys do in a situation like this? Is there any possibility that the garage manager was telling me the truth and that somehow, my wheels are not TPMS equipped (or that another garage I used previously has stolen the sensors)? I’m thinking that the only possibility is that the garage stole them. Either that, or that manager was clueless enough to not recognize a TPMS sensor present when he saw one (which is suspicious, since he recognized that the wheel was equipped with “special valves”).

Also, I don’t think this makes a difference, but this 328 was originally equipped with an upgraded 17” package but when I took delivery of the car the dealership offered it to me with the 16” wheels instead (original with 205/55R16 Continental ContiProContact SSR run-flats).

Before confronting the garage manager I need to be sure that I’m right or risk looking really stupid. Please help with suggestions.

[MiamiFan13]

If it turns out that the sensors are missing, I'd return to the garage and tell the manager that you know that they went missing from his shop and demand that he replace them at no cost to you.....OR.....you let him know that you plan on spreading the word about your experience all over the automotive forums.

I'd stop short of accusing his shop of theft and lean more towards carelessness and lack of knowledge.

Bottom line....you better be right!

[ragingclue]

I thought that for a while the Canadian cars only came with FTM because the TPMS was only required in the States... Am I wrong?

[bimmer_335]

If you're sure... file a police report.

[hipnotic]

wow thanks for the story

[ak22]

I'm pretty sure that the 3 Series models we get here in Canada aren't equipped with the TPMS, rather we have the FTM, which uses regular valve stems, and doesn't have any sensors inbedded into the actual wheel/tire.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I thought.

[ENINTY]

Originally Posted by ak22

I'm pretty sure that the 3 Series models we get here in Canada aren't equipped with the TPMS, rather we have the FTM, which uses regular valve stems, and doesn't have any sensors inbedded into the actual wheel/tire.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I thought.

It think it is either or for Canadian cars from what I can tell from RealOEM.com. It think if a car has runflats it has to have some type of tire pressure monitor or else you'd never know when a tire is flat. But that doesn't mean the car has a TPMS sensor in the wheel, it could mean it uses the old system that uses the ABS wheel sensors to sense the rotational difference between an inflated tire and a tire with low inflation pressure.

My car is an '06 with the old system in it. I wonder if the OP can tell what system he has by the reset procedure. I'm not familiar with the reset procedure of the TPMS (sensor) system and if it is different from the ABS-based system. I know with my Hummer, which has a TPMS (sensor) system, you have to follow a procedure that calibrates the location of each sensor with the position of the wheels at each corner of the car (i.e. when you rotate tires). Not sure if BMW's system uses a similar procedure.

[Dackelone]

ONLY US Spec cars have the TPMS.

Your garage was correct! The garage manager was telling you the truth!

IF your car has rubber valve stems your car DOES NOT have TPMS fitted. Neither do your neighbor cars have TPMS from the sound of it.

Metal valve stems = TPMS

RoW (rest of the world) cars get FTM. This system uses the car's ABS sensors to determine more drag, and hence a flat tire.

[LKNGOOD]

Check my thread - this might help:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=445207

FYI:

*Just replaced the OEM Bridgestone OEM Runflats with a set of 18" Contis DWS (Staggered) and was told that my wheels did not have TMPS.

I'm guessing some models BMW has and some don't.

I have a 2007 BMW 335i with Sport Package.

I've also notice that on the iDrive - it has FTM (Flat Tire Monitor) instead of TPM when I was reseting it because of the new tires.

* Earlier BMW versions of tire monitors don't use the TPMS sensors that send the 433hZ signal.

* They utilize the ABS speed sensors to calculate whether a tire is losing air as depending on how much air is in tire = different wheel speed

* The change from FTM to TPMS took place in March 2007 at the factories. Any 2007 manufactured Sept 2006 - Feb 2007 has the old system.

[techlogik]

I lost interest when you wrote 328i....





Seriously...good luck with that...sucks.

[cb1111]

Originally Posted by techlogik

Seriously...good luck with that...sucks.

Why does that "suck?"

The OP is in Canada. Canadians don't get TPMS.

The TREAD Act mandated direct monitoring effective September 1 2007 for all new US cars. Accordingly, for the US only, all new cars manufactured after Sept 1 2007 are required to be equipped with some sort of direct monitoring - currently only accomplished via the TPMS sensors.

Flat Tire Monitoring (FTM) is a system that may be employed in the rest of the world that indirectly measures the "pressure" by measuring the rolling diameter of the tire. This system is not as effective nor is it capable of detecting seasonal or long term pressure losses that affect all tires.

Unless the OP has a US import,he does NOT have TPMS.

That said, a non-TPMS equipped car does not have special valve stems - they are run of the mill valve stems that have been used on Yugos to Trabants to BMWs.

The OP is getting bent out of shape over nothing. He needs to buy himself a decent tire pressure gauge, fill his tires at a local station to the proper pressure and then reset his system.

Oh - all that is actually in that series of books in that black folder that he got with the car when he bought it. I think it is called the "owner's manual" or something like that.

The OP has now officially made a fool of himself in front of that tire dealer due to his ignorance.

[ChasVS]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

ONLY US Spec cars have the TPMS.

Your garage was correct! The garage manager was telling you the truth!

IF your car has rubber valve stems your car DOES NOT have TPMS fitted. Neither do your neighbor cars have TPMS from the sound of it.

Metal valve stems = TPMS

RoW (rest of the world) cars get FTM. This system uses the car's ABS sensors to determine more drag, and hence a flat tire.

[ChasVS]

Originally Posted by nikotine30

Here is my story about my suspicion that a garage stole my TPMS sensors.

Before confronting the garage manager I need to be sure that I’m right or risk looking really stupid. Please help with suggestions.

You've already made yourself look stupid by posting this instead of calling your dealer and asking what your car was equipped with! Why in the world do you think the garage would steal TPMS sensors from your wheels?
You would have come off looking a whole lot better if you had just posted a question on which models were or weren't equipped with TPMS to see if yours even had them to be stolen in the first place!

[Buegie]

didn't you realize that the shop was right when you saw all of the other cars with rubber stems like yours?

[Kolyan2k]

I also though that ONLY US models come with TPMS sensors. ......because of the stupid law and stupid people....old system was so much better.....

I would apologize to the shop big time and give him a big $100 tip on top of that. After all poor guys got acused of stealing because of your lack of knowledge.

[TheRox]

Originally Posted by nikotine30

Here is my story about my suspicion that a garage stole my TPMS sensors.

Last Monday as I was parking my 2009 328i sedan I was surprised to see the “low pressure” tire warning on my dashboard. I got out of the car and sure thing, one rear tire was really flat. Since it’s already almost November and the winter season is fast approaching, I decided to simply swap my all season tires to my set of winters and deal with the punctured tire when spring arrives.

Today I drove the car to a small corner garage near my workplace that I never used before, limping on the run flat tires. I was thinking that the $60 they charge to swap with winters tires would be a good savings compared to the $150 that I was quoted at the BMW dealer. The garage found out that two wheels had problems: a puncture in one tire, and a faulty valve that was leaking on another wheel. I was proposed to fix the valve. The manager told me over the phone “it’s only 20 dollars and I can seal it with glue – BMW charges a lot new valves since these are special valves”.

I picked up the car after work and was happy to see the winter tires mounted on the wheels. However, as I was driving out from the garage I noticed that the “low pressure” warning was still on. I performed a reset function, but the warning refused to go away. So later on in the evening, I went back to the garage and told the manager that there was something wrong with the sensor. He told me with a surprised look “your wheels are not equipped with TPMS sensors – when I was changing the tires I didn’t see any sensors”. He proceeded to show me what a sensor looks like with a spare he had in stock, and explained that TPMS valve stems are bare metal and mine were rubber. He suggested that I may have aftermarket rims which are not TPMS-equipped. I wasn’t buying it and told him that (1) I bought my car brand new, with original wheels and tires, and all BMW 328 come with TPMS; (2) the warning light came on a few days ago when I got the flat, proving that TPMS was present and functional; (3) the warning light only came on once during my 1 year of ownership which means that I have TPMS sensors. We continued arguing a few minutes and finally I told him “I want to believe you but this just doesn’t make sense”.

“Are you suspecting me? Why don’t you go to your BMW dealership on Monday to find out if your car is equipped?” was his reply.

I left the garage, determined to get to the bottom of this. I was really dumbfounded and pissed, but not sure who to be angry at. After dinner, I drove around the neighbourhood looking for other BMW 328. Luckily, being a BMW fanatic I remembered where all the BMWs are located in my area and I found 4 or 5 of them parked on the street. I closely examined the valve stems for comparison to mine: (1) the stems are rubber just like mine (not bare metal as the manager had said); (2) the valve is different but in a very subtle way: the threaded area on valve is a little longer on mine.

On Monday, I’m going to drive to the BMW dealership and have them unmount my tires to check if the TPMS sensors are missing, and I plan on confronting the garage manager if they are.

What would you guys do in a situation like this? Is there any possibility that the garage manager was telling me the truth and that somehow, my wheels are not TPMS equipped (or that another garage I used previously has stolen the sensors)? I’m thinking that the only possibility is that the garage stole them. Either that, or that manager was clueless enough to not recognize a TPMS sensor present when he saw one (which is suspicious, since he recognized that the wheel was equipped with “special valves”).

Also, I don’t think this makes a difference, but this 328 was originally equipped with an upgraded 17” package but when I took delivery of the car the dealership offered it to me with the 16” wheels instead (original with 205/55R16 Continental ContiProContact SSR run-flats).

Before confronting the garage manager I need to be sure that I’m right or risk looking really stupid. Please help with suggestions.

Dude, you're in Canada. We don't have TPMS sensors

We use the ABS system to analyze the rotation of the wheels.

[Kolyan2k]

The guy probably never gonna come to that shop or here again....at least under that username.

[J02 335i]

We get uneducated people in our shop all the time, some argue and are ignorant (like the op) and some people listen to the professionals. The people that listen tend to get a lot further in life, by not making themselves look like complete tool bags, good job OP, good job, you are a hero in my eyes or even a quick Google search would have gave you the answers you were looking for, so now you look like a tool bag x2.

[Chriztofor]

Originally Posted by nikotine30

Here is my story about my suspicion that a garage stole my TPMS sensors.

Last Monday as I was parking my 2009 328i sedan I was surprised to see the “low pressure” tire warning on my dashboard. I got out of the car and sure thing, one rear tire was really flat. Since it’s already almost November and the winter season is fast approaching, I decided to simply swap my all season tires to my set of winters and deal with the punctured tire when spring arrives.

Today I drove the car to a small corner garage near my workplace that I never used before, limping on the run flat tires. I was thinking that the $60 they charge to swap with winters tires would be a good savings compared to the $150 that I was quoted at the BMW dealer. The garage found out that two wheels had problems: a puncture in one tire, and a faulty valve that was leaking on another wheel. I was proposed to fix the valve. The manager told me over the phone “it’s only 20 dollars and I can seal it with glue – BMW charges a lot new valves since these are special valves”.

I picked up the car after work and was happy to see the winter tires mounted on the wheels. However, as I was driving out from the garage I noticed that the “low pressure” warning was still on. I performed a reset function, but the warning refused to go away. So later on in the evening, I went back to the garage and told the manager that there was something wrong with the sensor. He told me with a surprised look “your wheels are not equipped with TPMS sensors – when I was changing the tires I didn’t see any sensors”. He proceeded to show me what a sensor looks like with a spare he had in stock, and explained that TPMS valve stems are bare metal and mine were rubber. He suggested that I may have aftermarket rims which are not TPMS-equipped. I wasn’t buying it and told him that (1) I bought my car brand new, with original wheels and tires, and all BMW 328 come with TPMS; (2) the warning light came on a few days ago when I got the flat, proving that TPMS was present and functional; (3) the warning light only came on once during my 1 year of ownership which means that I have TPMS sensors. We continued arguing a few minutes and finally I told him “I want to believe you but this just doesn’t make sense”.

“Are you suspecting me? Why don’t you go to your BMW dealership on Monday to find out if your car is equipped?” was his reply.

I left the garage, determined to get to the bottom of this. I was really dumbfounded and pissed, but not sure who to be angry at. After dinner, I drove around the neighbourhood looking for other BMW 328. Luckily, being a BMW fanatic I remembered where all the BMWs are located in my area and I found 4 or 5 of them parked on the street. I closely examined the valve stems for comparison to mine: (1) the stems are rubber just like mine (not bare metal as the manager had said); (2) the valve is different but in a very subtle way: the threaded area on valve is a little longer on mine.

On Monday, I’m going to drive to the BMW dealership and have them unmount my tires to check if the TPMS sensors are missing, and I plan on confronting the garage manager if they are.

What would you guys do in a situation like this? Is there any possibility that the garage manager was telling me the truth and that somehow, my wheels are not TPMS equipped (or that another garage I used previously has stolen the sensors)? I’m thinking that the only possibility is that the garage stole them. Either that, or that manager was clueless enough to not recognize a TPMS sensor present when he saw one (which is suspicious, since he recognized that the wheel was equipped with “special valves”).

Also, I don’t think this makes a difference, but this 328 was originally equipped with an upgraded 17” package but when I took delivery of the car the dealership offered it to me with the 16” wheels instead (original with 205/55R16 Continental ContiProContact SSR run-flats).

Before confronting the garage manager I need to be sure that I’m right or risk looking really stupid. Please help with suggestions.

OP: only kidding, just grow thick skin on this forum a lot of people have sand in their vagina.

[a08335k]

Rule of thumb - Unless you have a good relation with the mechanic and trust them never leave your car unattended. It would prevent situations such as this where you are not educated about the car or them actually messing something up.

[Express]

why the hell did you accept that car with 16 inch rims?

[raleedy]

Never leave your car unattended? Great idea. You can even sell your house.