Just to quick note to provide an update to my original post.

It turned out that the 'flat tire' message in the I drive was faulty, I did not have a flat tire after all?!

And to be 100% sure I took the car to a tire shop to double check the air pressure and physically inspect the tires, no issues.

So I will need to get used to occasional idiosyncracies from the I drive system.

Thanks all and off to Tokyo I go....

 

LOL. Wait till the iDrive tells you its cold outside. Will ring every winter day.

 

Hey man -- I don't care what the iDrive system and your navigation tell you, don't try to drive from Pittsburgh to Tokyo. Your tires can't handle ocean that long.

 

FYI,
FTM is different TPMS. FTM is part of the DSC system where it will measure the speed at which the wheels are spinning. If there is a discrepency in the speed other than previously set (or reset), the iDrive warning will come on. You can simply reset FTM (unless you actually do have a flat) by coming to a complete stop then going into the menu in the iDrive. TPMS, on the other hand, does actually monitor tire pressure. If the air pressure falls below a certain level, the iDrive warning will chime.

I have the FTM as well. I reset FTM everytime I adjust air pressure due to hot/cold weather. I did this just a couple of weeks ago when the ambient temprature here in SoCal reached close to 100 degrees which makes the air in the tires expand thus having over-inflation effect on the tires. So I let some air out. And during the cold months, it's opposite so I put more air in.

Oh and +10000 on ditching the RFTs! Happy motoring!

 

I just arrived in Tokyo , you need to have faith in your RFT tires, they handle the pacific waves very well, I was impressed.