Hi all,
So I bought a mini roadster in December and just replaced the run flats and their 16" rims with new 17" rims and michelin pss tires. Since I only had a few thousand miles on the run flats, I decided to replace the TPMS sensors as well. Here however I cheapened out a little, buying them off eBay. They are 433mhz as prescribed so I thought this would all work out perfectly. Fast forward to the day Costco dropped on the new rims and tires...everything looked great and the ride was so much smoother! The problem is the sensors won't reset. Took it back to Costco who checked each sensor and claim they are working, however every time I start the car up it displays a tire with the word INACTIVE. I asked the local MINI dealer and they said I should never buy a TPMS system from a non-MINI source, that they have never seen aftermarket sensors work and would love to charge me $130 just to assess the situation. Recommendations?
Thanks,
John

 

Yea, so Mini used two systems for the 2nd Gen cars.

One is from 07-2009.. the other is 2010+ cars. I made the same mistake, so do many vendors. The MHZ is the same, you can "Read" the sensors with a scanner, but your Mini will never read them right.

The only fix is to replace them with the later sensors..

 

Thanks Dan. How do you identify the correct sensors? From what source?

 

They should be listed as from Sept 2009 or newer.. (2010 model year or newer)

433 MHZ.

http://www.titantpms.com/tpms/mini-c...uminum-9452372

 

The sensors I used are for that period:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TPMS-Tire-Pressure-Monitor-Sensor-10-13-Mini-Cooper-36106856227-433Mhz-4-Pieces-/121504634211?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3ACooper&hash=item1c4a3d9563&vxp=mtr

 

yup, get your money back...

 

Thanks Dan!

 

Put the originals back in if you still have them. They were working right? I think I had close to 100k miles on mine. They don't tend to wear out quickly in my opinion

 

Although you're dealing with it and will get it corrected, for what it's worth regarding that "aftermarket" TPMS comment from your dealer... I bought 4 sensors installed on four 17" rims from Tire Rack, they work just fine, and I'm almost sure they weren't from MINI. Initialized right up. For our 2012 Countryman S.