I have what seems to me to be an incredibly stupid question...

I have a 2007 MCS which has run flat tires. One of the valve caps seems to have done missing on the front passenger side, so I thought I'd just buy a replacement (as I've done on other cars previously).

It was at this point I got stuck... the internets seems to suggest that because I'm now in the USA and because I have RFs, I need some kind of magical valve caps that makes the TPMS work and i can't just replace them with a standard plastic or metal cap.

Can someone help me out on what I need to buy?

 

The OEM caps have a label to tell the owner and tire installers that a TPMS sensor is installed. Other than the label, there is nothing special about the cap itself and you can replace it with any standard cap. Plastic caps are recommended. Some owners have had problems removing stuck metal caps that fused and bonded to the metal stem

 

Any cap will work.

 

You want to avoid using other metals on brass valve stems, but as long as the caps are plastic or the caps have brass threads they will be fine.

Aluminum caps actually react with the brass valve stems, which is why they end up getting stuck on them.

 

Anti-seize, like a copper paste, works if you want to keep the big metal tops - otherwise any cap works the same. I don't think it is a dumb question, at least, I wondered too when I first got the car.

 

Here are some valve stem caps sets and singles from MINI . There are a couple styles if you are looking to upgrade to match your MINI. Any cap will work. Some guys add a little anti seize with the metal caps.


http://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2007-Cooper-R56-S-Coupe-L4_1.6L_N14B16A/Wheels/Valve_Stems/Caps/








Thanks

 

Thanks for all the replies guys, much appreciated!

I think I'll pick me up some plastic ones for the moment.

 

You are welcome. Down the road you might want some to match your MINI.

 

Many 2007 r56 cars got rubber valve stems with the indirect tpms that gen1 cars got...based upon the production date....

 

Interesting. The one that's missing looks like a brass valve stem (well, the threaded bit is brass), although I haven't checked the others.

Any idea what build date they still fitted the old ones?

 

I have a early 07' R56 that has the rubber base standard valve without the newer TPMS, that runs off the wheel speed. Looks like 8/2007+ for the wheel module based TPMS.

 

Aha. I checked the car this morning, and the wheels do indeed have rubber stems, so it presumably has the FTM/RDC rather than individual TPMS.

Interesting, my previous S in the UK had a later build date than 08/2007 but it still had FTM/RDC as well.

 

Did not know you were in the UK. There might have been a different production date for that region. I am basing off the US MINI diagrams.

 

Ah, sorry for confusion. Not in the UK anymore, I'm now in SoCal

 

No problem. I was trying to figure out, makes sense now.