Well the 15" tires were not run flats, and they certainly aren't performance tires. But hey I admit I got a horrible memory here. Once I got my MINI, I never thought about configuring a new one---well except when I got my 2005 MCS--but that's besides the point.....

 

15s arnt even offered in run flat as an option. ok, that enough our thread hi-jack

 

it's telling you to get off your phone while driving.

 

Did you have the car washed recently? I had the light come on (at the dealership) after the dealer washed the car and accidentally unplugged one wheel's sensor.

 

Yesterday afternoon, on the way to the store, our light went on, accompanied by a 'ding' and then flashed. Since the car was new, every other time it had indicated a problem was a false positive.

I got out, looked at the lf tire, and it looked low. Checked the pressure and found 25 psi. Checked the rest of the tires. rf 20 psi rears both 35psi. Stopped by a tire shop to at least get some air. The lf had a nail, the rf had a staple.

Observations from almost 4 years of history with the 03 MC. The car has the 15" wheels, no runflats. The TPW system works - sort of. You get a lot of false positives. When you do have a tire low on air, I have found it needs to be 15-20 lbs low before the system recognizes a problem.

You still need to check your tires.

 

The "false possitives" are from not initializing the system after setting the tire pressure or replacing/rotating tires. Anytime you make a change, regarding wheels or tires, reset the system by holding the button down until the light stays on (this can take 30 seconds). It will turn off when the system has finished resetting.

 

I couldn't find the mark, and there was a reference to their being "Tubeless." So they must be ordinary tires. Oh well!

 

I checked my tires today. They are all at about 32 psi. Maybe that is why the light went on???

 

When I first got my MC, the low pressure light went off right off the bat. I cked the tires and thought they were okay til my husband made me go to the tire shop. Lo and behold...a nail was embedded, making for a slow but constant leak. I never question the ping!

 

From the Manual:

"The Flat Tire Monitor cannot alert you to severe and sudden tire damage caused by external factors. Another factor which the Flat Tire Monitor does not recognize is the balanced and very gradual pressure loss that takes place in all tires over an extended period of time."

...So that wouldn't be why. But the manual does note that false alarms may occur due to other causes, like driving over a slippery surface.

 

You will not apease the car gods by making psi adjustments in response to the flat tire monitor.

The car does not know what the psi is. It only knows what you tell it is normal and then alerts you to a change.

Set your pressures, then intialize the sytem. Otherwise you will be chasing your tail.

 

If one tire is a little lower than the rest, does it trigger the light? Mine has come on twice lately, and I kept obssesively checking the tire pressure, but the light finally went off. It was slick out that day, so I assumed it was the weather. Then, one day (dry weather), it came on again. I pressed that button and it went off. How can you tell if there is a real tire problem? I have a new 06 MCS with run flats.

 

The light turned off because you reset the system when you pressed the button.

You can tell there is a real problem by checking the actual pressures with a gauge.

You can avoid false alarms by initializing the system AFTER you make pressure changes, rotating tires or replacing tires.

 

There seems to be a TON of confusion on this topic so here's the scoop:

1. Tire pressure is extremely important to safety, handling and fuel consumption so check your pressure and check it OFTEN even if the light doesn't come on. (Suddenly I feel like Wilfred Brimley) At least every TWO WEEKS if not more frequently you should check and balance the pressure in your tires. My run-flats are over $200/ea and they have lasted almost 70k miles. Protect your investment and your life.

2. The monitoring system measures the ROTATION of the wheel. When one tire is slightly lower in pressure compared to the other tire the computer will notice that the diameter has changed and thus one wheel is rotating more than the other. This is why the light may blink at you if you peel out slightly.

3. Resetting the monitoring system should be done while the car is moving. After balancing pressures you should take the car out on a nice straight stretch of road where you can reasonably maintain speed until the computer resets. If you don't do the reset while driving you will get MANY false alerts. The reset is accomplished by holding the button until the light stops blinking and goes steady. When the light turns off the reset is done.

4. You can NEVER look at a tire and tell if it is low on air. Especially if it is a run-flat. You will only be able to see a FLAT tire with no air in it. My friend just bought a Mini used with Toyo tires that were running at 19, 12.5, 15, and 21.5 psi. He thought the one with 19 "looked a little low". The lowest ones looked fine. NEVER rely on what the tire looks like.

5. Run-flat tires come in two types: Goodyear Eagle NCT5 EMT and Dunlop SP Sport DSST and maybe a few Pirelli eufori@. If you don't have the "EMT" or "DSST" tires you most likely don't have run-flats.

6. Run-flats are a life saver literally. I tore a hole 1-inch by 3-inches in one of my tires while cruising at 80 mph in the middle of the night. Needless to say there was NO air pressure left in the tire. It took about 60-90 seconds for the computer to calculate the difference at that speed, but I notice no handling or ride change. I thought it might be a malfunction too since this was my first experience. I got off at the next exit and pulled into a gas station to have a look. I was horrified and amazed. Had that been a normal tire I'm fairly certain I would have lost control of the car.

If anyone has any questions feel free to PM me and I'll be happy to explain in further detail.

 

I had the light come after changing sway bars. The new sway bars apparently modified the rotational speed for the rear tires in conjunction with the fronts.

 

Thanks, Jebernauer--great writeup!

 

Also on the topic of warning lights:

The flat tire monitor looks like ( ! ) with a line across the bottom simulating a flat tire.

The brake pad warning light is a circle with three bars on the left and right side. For the slightly myopic they may be confused with parentheses (O) but upon closer inspection they are broken up into 3 bars. I actually called up Roadside Assistance since it wasn't in my manual ANYWHERE!!! Somebody dropped the ball on that one! This is a great feature that MINI should be proud of! And it saved me about $1200 since the light came on at about 34k miles right before the warranty ran out!