Just about ready to order new tires/rims from Tire Rack and now I see if I have them install new Tire Pressure Monitoring System it will cost a total of $196. They say I can use the ones on the car now.
Since I have zero experience with this system, is it necessary to get new ones or will the old ones work? I have no idea how long they are suppose to last. My MCCs has 31000 miles if that has anything to do with it.
thanks for any info you can give me.

 

They would work, but you'd have to transfer them over. For example, if you bought a new set of wheels and tires, you would have to disassemble your old set, take out the TPMS, perhaps buy some new valves, disassemble the new set, and put the new TPMS in.

It's fine if you're just keeping one set on your car at all times, but if you want to use both sets, I'd recommend just buying a whole new set of sensors.

 

couple of question for you.

1. Are you buying new rims and selling the old ones?

2. Or will you be running two different sets of tires? (i.e. i have a winter set and a summer set)

Seals on the set you have should last about 4 years. That from what i have read and been told is about the life expectancy of the TPMS sensors.

But either way it comes down to the money. to have the sensors taken off your old rims means taking the tire off and putting it back on. This can be costly at some shops. Then when they put them on the new rims from tire rack they will have to take the tires off (unless you specify that the tire should not be mounted by tire rack) and then put back on. This again can be expensive. Also of note is that if the shop does not have the correct tools to remove the sensors they could damage them and you would then have to fight to get them to replace it or buy a new one.

IMHO you best bet money wise is to purchase the TMPS from Tire Rack and have them installed and mount the tires before shipment. Other wise if you have the tires and rims shipped separately your shipping costs go up probably.

 

Yes I'm buying new rims, since I live in Phoenix no need for a winter set. I'm buying rims/tires from Tire Rack and the $196 I mentioned in my original post is from them and having a local shop they recommend do the install. Will go with new TPMS, I hope the $196 includes the install. Either way thanks for the info. much appreciated.

 

If you are buying new rims, tires and TMPS the $196 should be an installed price.

When I ordered my new rims, tires, and TPMS Tire Rack put the sensors in the rims mounted the tires, balanced them and shipped them to me. All I had to do was put them on the car.

Now with all that said I took the car and had the balance checked on the new rims and tires on a "Road Force Balance" machine and found they were not balanced as good as they could have been but with the number of tires that Tire Rack mounts and balances every day I am sure they are not taking the time to do it that my local tire shop does.

 

Sorry about bumping an old thread. I used the search function and this thread pops up.

Quick question:

If I purchase a new set of TPMS, will I need to make a trip to the dealer for them to program the sensors in before the vehicle will recognize the new sensors?

The reason I asked is because I have another vehicle (Mitsubishi) that will not recognize the new sensors until the dealer program the car to recognize them, and at this point only the dealer can do it. Also, the car will only recognize up to 8 sensors.

I am just wondering how the Mini has to go through this same thing.

Thanks!

 

You do NOT need to go to the dealer to reset the TPMS sensors. This is done through the button at the end of your turn signal stalk. The manual details the procedure.

 

Yea, you have to go in through the service menu which can only be accessed with the engine off but the ignition on. Scroll until you find service and then scroll till you see the big picture of the tire pressure light then you should have the option to reset it. As HomerJ said - the manual tells you what the exact procedure is but it's pretty simple if you go in blind. Much easier than other models where it does have to be reset by the dealer (which is expensive and a pain in the ***).

I had to reset mine when I rotated the tires myself.