So after looking at a bunch of posts on Tire Pressure Sensors, I couldn't find a definitive answer to the question I had. Here's a little breakdown on what's going on. By the way, the car is a Black and white '07 Mini Cooper.

So the dealer screwed up my original order which was to have white 16" Bridge Spokes, and the car showed up with silver one's. I was pretty bummed, and made it a point that they had to take care of it. They said they didn't want to order the wheels seperately as they would cost alot of $$. I protested and said The whole reason behind me ordering white on the cooper was to have the matching wheels. After a little bartering, they informed me that they could compinsate me by giving me a set of 17" Crown Spokes in white. I hestated at first as I wanted them to just fixed the problem, but quickly realized they were hooking me up considering the price and the fact that you can't get these wheels on a regular mini. Plus, they looked great and they were the only white wheels in the entire dealer stock.

To make a long story short, I had them change the wheels out, and as a result, the Tire monitoring light and warning noise came on after I drove off from the dealership. I brought it back and asked if they could reset the computer. He said sure. Next thing I know he comes back in and says resetting the computer won't work and that the sensors won't work with the new wheels. I said, "can't you just switch the sensors from my old rims into my new one's?" Apparently not, as he said they're different. I wasn't sure of this, so I kept the 17's and came home and did some reasearch. After reading stickies and so on, I realized the two sets of wheels have different sensors. The silver one's had metal stems, the white one's had rubber. However, aren't the valve stems all the same diameter, and can't I just switcht the sensors over to the new rims? It's not like I'm dealing with aftermarket stuff here, they're just mini rims for pete's sake? Help me out if you can. Thanks.

Here's some before and after shots with my parents too!

 

Anyone? I called the dealer in the meantime and haven't heard back from them. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

What's happening is your new 17 inch wheels (R-104) are set up for the old TPMS system.

The new system that came in your Bridge Spoke wheels (R-94) had a sending unit mounted in a recess inside the wheel and will not work in the wheels than you have.

The rubber stems are a quick way to tell. Rubber valve stems are the old TPMS and metal valve stems are the new TPMS.

Overall they'll look the same they're just different inside.

Hope this helps...

 

I guess I understand somewhat, but... Can't I still just have the dealer take the tires off and switch the sending units? Or, can I have them put the metal valve stems in the 17's? Wouldn't the wheels have the same size valve stem hole reguardless of what kind of sensor is inside?

 

Since the Crown spokes are currently offered, they must be able to accept the TPMS (the inside of the rim needs a flat spot where the TPMS sits.)

My guess: The Crown Spokes belonged to another owner who got different wheels, and the dealer swapped out the TPMS modules and installed regular valve stems (the TPMS modules run ~$60 IIRC.) Now they're trying to pawn off a set without the TPMS modules on you.

I say go back and demand they install the TPMS modules that came with your car. Funny, I would think that it might be illegal for them to provide you wheels without the federally mandated TPMS system. That aside, you shouldn't have to deal with a nonfunctioning system (which is a hazard, as with runflats you can't immediately tell the tire is flat) and a warning light.

 

Levi,

The TPS sensors are actually 2 pcs, the metal stem and the sensor itself. I haven't heard of anyone saying there are 2 part numbers for the stems, but its possible. In anycase the newer 07's have your wheel w/ sensors so there is a part out there to fit.

I think you should escalate at your dealer and insist they put it right. Good Luck.

 

The dealer should have moved the sensors from your wheels to the "new" ones. Their screw-up, period.

I had a similar problem - ordered white, got silver. We checked the build sheet and they ordered white but the factory screwed up. Dealer promised to switch them out, cool. Tried that once, they gave me wheels that were all beat up. No deal. They ordered a car with white wheels, which, again, got screwed up and came with silver. Now I'm waiting for them to find ANOTHER car with white wheels. It's been 5 months.

The first time they switched the wheels they had to take sensors out of the "new" ones and put them on mine to send off with the car, since Lewis was an early enough build to not have them. So they should know what they're doing.

 

Eric- The Crown Spokes were on a Cooper S on the dealers lot, and the only available white wheels within' the dealer ship, so I happily abliged to switch them. The service and parts manager said he put my other wheels aside untill we could get this sorted out. I think he's either a dummy, or is trying to weasel his way out of giving us 17" wheels for free. I made a fuss out of it for safety/ warranty reasons as you stated, so I think it will turn out all right.

Espeazy- Thanks for the info on the sensors. I didn't know they were two seperate pieces. As for the dealer, I called them again in protest and concern. I think it will work out (It better!), as I don't want to be driving around with a warning light the whole time.

Miss Lindsey- I agree, they have to move the sensors over, period! I mean, why wouldn't the sensors be interchangeable? It's not like the stem holes on the rims are different sizes? That doesn't seem like a logical route to go down for them. The dealer definitely admitted that they had a problem with the computer system and the whole white wheel thing. I guess it's happened more than a few times for them. Sorry to hear about your misfortune with the wheels. Hope it all gets resolved, and I agree that they should be competent enough to handles switching out sensors?!

-Levi-

 

The tire pressure monitoring sensor looks like this:



As mentioned above, it's a two-piece thing, with the valve stem and then that bat-winged part. The wing part is meant to sit in the groove inside the wheel. Some wheels have a groove that is not shaped correctly, so they can't easily be put in every wheel.

Not that this is the case with the Crown Spokes, but if the sensor could not be bolted directly into the wheel, you could take the valve stem and the sensor apart and the sensor part can be secured inside the wheel with a large band that will wrap around the inner surface of the wheel and hold the sensor in place.

Anyway, the dealer is now in a bit of a fix, because dismounting the tires from BOTH sets of wheels, moving the sensors over, remounting the tires onto both sets of wheels, rebalancing eight wheels, will take a whole bunch of labor, and that means a bunch of money, much more than just swapping wheels would have cost.

(Now that I think of it, the dealer would probably be better off to just buy four new sensors. That way they only have to take apart one set of wheels and tires, and they can sell your old rims to some other R56 person who needs the sensors, too.)

At any rate I think they're obligated to make things right for you at this point.

--Dan
Mach V

 

Just a note, the old system, which I have is called FTM, (Flat tire Monitor) and I have 17" crown spokes with metal valve stems. Not trying to say you are wrong, but, I have the old system with these wheels and metal valve stems. I also just got non mini winter rims and tires without replacing anything and the FTM is working fine. Where as, it seems with the new system (TPMS) you need the sending unit on any new wheel you put on the car.
Just my 2 cents...

 

Yeah, my dealer did dismount, switch, and mount two sets of rims+tires. They had to move the sensors, and wouldn't give me the new tires. Only problem was they scratched the crap out of the white ones when they were mounting or dismounting them, and one had a couple big gouges in it.

 

Um, I'm not sure who you are speaking to, but if you have an early-build R56, you have a "passive" flat tire monitoring system, which uses wheel speed to deduce if there's a tire with lower pressure. Those wheels have NO sensor in them. The car just watches the speed of each wheel and compares it to the others. So you can use ANY stock or aftermarket wheel, with or without the sensors inside, and the passive system will still work fine.

Valve stems have always been available in both rubber and metal, so a metal valve stem is not a guarantee that you have a pressure sensor inside your wheel. On the other hand, the sensors can ONLY be used with a special metal valve stem, so if you have rubber valve stems, you don't have the sensors.

The ACTIVE TPMS uses the sensors pictured above, and requires the sensors be in each wheel that's on the car. This system became standard on the MINI starting some time...late this past summer, I think? If you have the active system, you will have to have sensors in any set of wheels used on the car, or it the car will complain.

--Dan
Mach V

 

I was speaking to Kazlot about his quote I had in my post about metal valve stems. I just wanted to note that I had metal stems and not the new system with the sensors in the wheel, so that if someone was looking for the new system, you couldn't tell by the stems alone. Was just hoping to help clear that up.

 

Mach V Dan- Thanks for the info and picture. That helps clear things up a lot. I did speak with the dealer today, and they said that they would switch the sensors out after xmas. I guess your right, they probably told me that the sensors wouldn't work, so that they could avoid dealing with unmounting, mounting, and balacing of eight wheels. They must assumed that I didn't know anything about cars :-). At any rate, I will make it a point to tell them that they can save money by just putting four new sensors in. That will probably make everyone happy.

Misslindsey- Sorry to hear about your wheels. Sounds to me like they either had a new trainee doing the work, or didn't have the right machine for the run flats. If I were you I'd ream 'em a new one. hopefully they don't jack our wheels up when I bring the car back in, as they looks so good right now.

 

Wow - I ordered an 07 with white wheels and it came with silver (dealers fault) and after getting messed around for 2 weeks I told them to keep it and ordered a 08 from another dealer ...