I have an 05 Cooper S with some sort of system that tells me when I have a low tire. Is this what is referred to as TPMS?
What happens when I change rims and tires???
Sorry if this is a silly question but it seems there are different systems out there, and I really want to change my tires and wheels.
Thanks

 

When you change to new tires:

1 - Start your car.
2 - Hold the "Flat Tire Monitor Reset" Button (by the handbrake) until the Low Pressure warning light comes on.
3 - Drive away and wait for the light to go off.

When the light goes off, it's recalibrated for your new tires.

This process is also in the owners manual if you need to reference it again.

 

Nope that's the flat tire indicator that's standard on all MINIs. It just tells you of a sudden drop in tire pressure. I suppose it acts like a TPMS, but it's pretty limited. It's unaffected by tire or wheel changes since the sensors are not in the wheels.

I've got a Hella TC-400 TPMS in my '05 MCS and it tells me both the current PSI and temperature inside each wheel. The system uses valve stems with sensors in it--it's pretty cool, but it won't let you use Slime to fix a flat--so it's not a good system if you rely on Slime for road side repairs.

 

TPMS=Tire Pressure Monitoring System. There are 2 basic ways to monitor the tire pressures, that is directly and indirectly. On all Mini's up to 9/07 production, they use the indirect style of pressure monitoring. How it works is by reading the wheel speed/ABS sensors and looking for a variation (an odd reading would indicate a low tire, thus turning the light on). You can put any wheel and tire on with this system, as long as the are all the same overall diameter. The downside to this system is that if all of the tires go low (tires lose air on their own) at the same time, they system can't tell that there is an issue. This is where direct systems come in. They mount a sensor inside each rim/tire to measure the exact air pressure inside each tire. When the computer sees a sensor reading below a set threshold (typically 20%), it will set off the light. This system would require new sensors in new wheels, otherwise the light will be on in the dash.

 

Thanks for the info everyone. The actual monitoring system sounds cool, and now I kinda wish I had one .

 

I have a question about the flat tire monitor in my 06. I have new wheels on the way...will the monitor still work, or is there something we have to transfer to the new wheels, or what?

 

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Oy, sorry....don't know how I missed that the first time!

Well that's good though, I guess. Makes life easier.