I experienced the low-pressure warning light on my one-week old coupe yesterday.

Long story short, the nut that holds the sensor tight to the rim was loose, either right from the factory, or perhaps the sensor was replaced previously at the dealership.

I took the car to Discount Tire this morning (my dealership is a couple hours away, and service dept. is closed on Saturdays); they removed the sensor, installed new rubber seals, torqued the nut properly, and all is good again!

It's something to look for if you get a tire that's not holding air.

 

it's soo funny you have posted this story

the day i bought the Mini on DEC 08, i drove maybe 10miles on the freeway, the TPMS light comes on, and I called the sales person that it came on and he said its normal and just fill it with air when I get home. His explaination was that the car was sitting in the lot couple months and maybe air just let itself out...
it sounded plausable so i believed it.

so 10 more miles down the road i fill the tire with air and park it in the garage. That was a Saturday. the car sat for two days. the day i was leaving for college, i pulled out the garage to begin my two hour trip back and the light was on agian... so on the odometer there was a total miles driven 27 miles.

so i drove another 20 miles back to the dealership and said there is something wrong with the wheel and tire and demand a new one.
Bretch Mini, of Escondido CA the SA said, i had to pay for the replacement tire which would have been 180 for the tire and 60 for labor.. pissed and told him the car was purchased only 2 days ago and proof with 40 miles on the odometer i said grab a wheel and tire off one of the Minis sitting in the Lot and replace the damage one through Mini. and have MINI eat the cost of replacement.. I shouldn't have to pay for the replacement.

first they refused, and said since i didn't purchase a warranty for the tires i HAD to pay. i decided to pay and fight it later. they replaced my tire, and hour later i head out and guess what. the light came on agian right after leaving the lot, made a U turn and back, they reset it and drove off agian only for it to come on agian. Then I came right back, and said. "did you ever check the TPS, maybe it's that.. if it is that. refund my tire and grab me a TPS off one of the Mini.

They refused to take a TPS off one of the Minis and swore my TPS is fine.. 5 hours later. they found the TPS was not secured on tightly and it was leaking AIR, WTF right.... long story short, I never made it home til later that night. and that they had the worst SA ever.. he never listened and assumed he was right..
I went to LB Mini and their SA is stupid as well, Im about to give up and trade the car in for a Honda or Toyota at least their advisors listen...

and lastly.. the tires the Mini Came equipped with are horrible... I would never purchase runflats ever agian...

 

I have a driver's side rear tire that started loosing about 10lbs every week. There aren't any obvious signs of a nail or any damage to the tire. I think I'll check the TPMS sensor for tightness... Thanks guys!

 

From my experience, to check the TPMS module on a wheel, one should do two things...(1) inspect the seals of the tire value assembly to make sure they are intact, etc & (2) ensure that the TPMS module is tight into the bottom of the value assembly (I think the only way to check this out is to remove the tire from the wheel and visually see if the hold down screw is tight.

 

I did find the TPMS sensor somewhat loose, I was able to tighten it about one and a half turns, didn't have to remove the wheel, just used a short 10mm wrench. The others were much tighter. I had already lost 5 lbs since yesterday, reinflated and will ckeck it again tomorrow.

 

I had my car about 3 months when the left front tire started losing air. I found that the valve stems on the wheels were all loose - the left front more than the others.

After I figured out the problem, I went all around the car checking bolts and nuts. About 10% were loose.

 

Well I checked my tire pressure today and it's holding, looks like it was a loose TPMS. It's nice to find this info here on NAM and then be able to fix things myself without going through the hassle of taking the car in for service.

 

Update: The leak slowed down to about a 10lb leakage per week, taking the car in tomorrow. They'll probably replace the valve stem/pressure sensor unless the tire is leaking .

 

Had the pleasure of paying $462 for a new tire. It had a screw in the sidewall that was unrepairable. Nice way to start the weekend.........