Problem With red "Tire" warning Light

[Manny34102]

I'm having a problem with the red tire warning light with the interior exclamation point (located in the middle of the dash) It goes on several days after I've had work done involving the tires.

There are no exterior visual problems with them, and absolutely no loss in tire pressure. The local garage I use has been great with my cars for going on 15 highly knowledgable years and I trust them completely, but this is driving me nuts.

Does anyone have experience / input with this aggravating situation............?

[The HACK]

Some information about what tire work was actually done might help.

[Critter7r]

And which car are we talking about. The '00 very well may have a different tire pressure monitoring system than the '04.

[Manny34102]

I had the RFT's replaced on the rear a couple of months ago, and encountered no warnings subsequent to then.... until I hit a pothole of doom with my right front RFT, which bent the wheel, so, due to the timing of the situation, I had both RFT's replaced in the front and had the wheel repaired. Four or five days later, the red tire light went on, so I took it in and had the shop make sure of balance, etc, and the light went off. About a week later the light came back on. The next day, the brake warning light came on, indicating a pad issue. By coincidence, while enroute to the shop, I picked up a piece of sharp metal construction material in my drivers side rear tire, which necessitated getting it replaced after I was forced to drive on it for a minute while getting down from 75mph, out of the fast lanes and coasting to a place to stop safely. I had the brake pads replaced and a new tire put on, and everything was fine for another five days when the damn red tire light came back on. I put the car up and checked the tires and the seem fine from a purfunctory visual standpoint. The pressures are good all around. My first thoughts have been that some sensor related to the front tires might be "off", but regardless, I obviously have to do something about it.

Thanks in advance and I hope that this body of additional detail helps!

The car in question is my 04 Z4 3.0i roadster........

[guney]

This'll fall under the category of "stating the obvious", but I'd prefer to make sure: You do reset that system after inflating all tires to the correct pressure, don't you? Since it basically works by comparing the rotation speed differentials between the wheels to a user-calibrated reference setting (i.e., the point at which you reset it), it may be that it is currently set to remember an "unequally inflated" state as the reference and so it might be warning you every time the tires are back to being equally inflated because it's "different from the reference"...

[nlink720]

Wait till the morning. When you get up, go check the tire pressures in all tires. Make sure they are equal. Press the button and hold it down for a few seconds and let go. It should be reset to the current and equal tire pressures.

[Manny34102]

Will do.... and thanks!

[guney]

Wait till the morning. When you get up, go check the tire pressures in all tires. Make sure they are equal. Press the button and hold it down for a few seconds and let go. It should be reset to the current and equal tire pressures.

And make sure it's not a morning where the sun has been hitting one side of your car for a while, warming some of your tires while those on the other side are still cold!

[Zedgirl]

Any time you make an adjustment to your tire pressure, you need to reset the system.

Its all in your manual, but as I recall, you turn the key to position two (I think), depress the button, and it should go out.

But again, it's in the manual, and you have to do it ANY time you make a pressure change.

[The HACK]

...and you have to do it ANY time you make a pressure change.

No you don't.

[Manny34102]

nlink720, Guney. TheHack, Zedgirl... problem solved with the application of the tire pressure equalizing / button depressed solution suggestions.

Thanks as always to the knowledgable and always gracious Z4 board contributors, your assistance was much appreciated

Sincere wishes for a happy (and warning light free) holiday season.....!!

[Zedgirl]

nlink720, Guney. TheHack, Zedgirl... problem solved with the application of the tire pressure equalizing / button depressed solution suggestions.

Thanks as always to the knowledgable and always gracious Z4 board contributors, your assistance was much appreciated

Sincere wishes for a happy (and warning light free) holiday season.....!!

Manny - glad it resolved!

The manual generally has the answers to questions such as this. It's just a matter of getting to know the little nuances of the car.

And while on the topic of tire lights, I really wish we had the sensor that would tell us WHICH tire was having a problem...

No you don't.

The owners manual states that you must reset the TPM each time you change the pressure in the tires.

That's the info I'll continue to roll with...

[The HACK]

The owners manual states that you must reset the TPM each time you change the pressure in the tires.

Yes. In your owner's manual. Not for '06 or before with ABS based flat tire warning system where it measures the difference in the rotational speed of the tires, which the OP has. Technically, on the older flat tire systems you can adjust the pressure equally in each tire and never have to reset it.

[Zedgirl]

Yes. In your owner's manual. Not for '06 or before with ABS based flat tire warning system where it measures the difference in the rotational speed of the tires, which the OP has. Technically, on the older flat tire systems you can adjust the pressure equally in each tire and never have to reset it.

Huh. Interesting. I seem to recall in my '03 if the light went on, it was because there was a pressure/leak issue. The only way to get the light to turn off was to reset it. If I reset the system without taking care of the tire problem properly, then the light would go back on as soon as I drove a few miles.

Still, I wish they'd upgrade it so that the system would tell you which tire is compromised.

[car62]

FTM = Flat Tire Monitor which is an indirect system measuring wheel rotation speed to alert you to a possible tire problem. There are no tire pressure sensors in the wheels.
TPM = Tire Pressure Monitor which directly measures tires pressures using sensors at each wheel, though it doesn't give you the actual pressure reading or show all readings for all tires, the way the Corvette system does.
Both systems seem to be very sensitive to small variations from their set parameters - a slight change in wheel rotation speed will set off the FTM, and a few PSI pressure change will set off the TPM. It's like the BMW speedometers - they always read so much higher than the actual speed that BMW could never be accused of failing to properly warn you about how fast you were going. If there's even a hint of a deflating tire, BMW wants you to check it out right away.