I had a false alarm too!! It was very chilly the other morning...of course I FREAKED when it came on... got out checked the tires...checked the manual to reset and its been fine ever since...

 

Mine came on for the first time yesterday before work It was still on after work, and this morning, and this evening as well. The car has been sitting out in the cold, so I attribute the problem to that.

 

Wow, I'm so glad I am not the only one experiencing this! I left my car outside the garage the other night and when I left for work the next day (6am and very chilly outside compared to recent mornings since I have bought the car) the TPM came on. I got out and visually checked the tires and everything seemed fine so I went to work

22 miles one way and then 22 miles back home everything is fine. I get home and get a tire pressure gauge out and every tire reads 40psi. I call the dealership and they say "MINI recommends that you reset the TPM every couple of weeks." I said "Okay" and reset it and haven't had a problem since. This has only been a couple of days though since I have reset it. The dealership said if the problem persists that I need to call back and schedule an appointment for them to look at it.

It's funny because my first thought of why it went off was the decrease in the temperature outside. It doesn't get very cold here in Florida (especially now, we still have very hot days in October) but that morning was lower than normal compared to the previous days.

 

Add me to the TPMS warning club. I normally run 38psi on RF's.
I checked yesterday morning and I was down to 32-33.
Added a little air, reset and was on my way.
I hope this won't be a constant hassle.

 

Hrm are run flats even worse at making the sensor go off? I don't have run flats myself...

 

your first gen MINI has a very different flat tire monitor than the late 07+ models. Yours works by sending tire rotation speed which explains how you can get a false alarm on gravel. The new systems measure the actual pressure inside the tire.

 

Aha! Well thanks for explaining. Never knew that...now that I'm on to my 2nd Generation, it will be interesting to see what happens. No false alarms yet, but I will say that when I checked the tires about a week ago I was shocked and stunned at how different each was. All seems fine now, however. Again, thanks for explaining the differences between the generations.

 

The problem out here in central mass is that the temperatures have gone down drastically lately. For every 10 Dergree drop in temp reduces the pressure in the tires by approximately 1 psi.

No sure how long it has been since yo last checked the tire pressure but if it has been a couple of months this may be the reason.

so for the 38 to 33 drop that would be an approximate 50 degree drop in temps.

As our BMW only gets driven rarely (once a month in the summer and less fall and spring, but a lot during the winter) i found that the last time the tire pressure was checked was in August when the temps were in the high 80's and now that the morning temps are down to mid 20's that is a 60 degree drop in temps so i was expecting a 5-6 drop in pressure and that is what i found when i checked them last weekend.

So the suggestion by many places to check the tire pressure monthly is a very good idea.

 

My sensor gives off a false alarm whenever the temperature drops below 30 degrees unless the tires are exactly the same pressure. The problem I have is that it dows not correct itself. It will also give an alarm if all 4 tires hit 30lbs. I always thought it only sensed a difference between tires, not the actual pressure.

 

This month's NAM Alliance publication has a great article that talks all about TPMS and the MINI Cooper. I plan to keep it with the owner's manual. My subscription has already paid off! Now if only the article had been in last month's magazine before my light came on for the first time, I could have avoided the near stroke, ha ha.

 

Yup, I've been checking the pressure every 2 weeks and have not had the issue since.

My fingers are crossed......now that I've spoken!!

 

Called my dealership today about an airbag light issue and their service department has a new message explaining to people that the fluctuations with the recent temperature changes (we're in the NY/CT area) will make the tire pressure monitor go off, that people should check their tire pressures, reset, etc. Hasn't happened to us yet...maybe the 1st Generation version was a better one?

There's a discussion about the tire pressure issue in the Stock Problems/Issues forum...along with one about the airbag warning light issue, as well - just FYI.