Couple of days ago, while driving on the highway, I got a FTM alarm. My initial thought was: "There we go, the software screws up !"

Got out of the car, could see nothing. Reset the FTM.

Car started pulling slightly to the right, so I took it to the garage. There was indeed a pressure loss in the right front tire. They inspected the tire, and put it in a bath to check for bubbles, but nothing.

They re-infalted it and sent me on my way. The car didn't pull to the right anymore.

Next day, it pulls to the right again. I go BACK to the garage, and they check more thoroughly. Seems there is a hole not in the tire, but in the WHEEL ! You couldn't even get a needle into the hole, it's that small, but enough for a slow air leak.

Seems they've seen the problem before, and it's a casting problem with the wheels. They gave me a new wheel free of charge and sent me on my way.

Lesson learned ? If the FTM says you have a leak, you probably do.

 

What kind of wheel do you have?

 

Yes, the system does work. But it is pretty poor that the display does not tell you which wheel has the problem. The system uses the ABS sensor I believe to monitor the rotational speed of each wheel. Wheen one changes speed vs the other it indicates a loss of pressure so the system alerts you to the flat. As the sensor must know which wheel is affected why doesn;t the display show this? It is infuriating when coupled to the run flats as there is no obvious sign of a puncture and you have to inspect all 4 wheels to find which one as the problem. The system can also be a pain to reset. When I had a puncture and had to have a new tyre fitted I hhad to reset the system at least 6 times before it accepted that the new tyre was ok.

Thumbs down to the BMW IT boys on this issue.

 

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Then I have leaks on two sets of summer tires and on my winter tires. I have the latest software and the problem keeps coming up.

 

I got a FTM alarm a month ago, I immediately stopped and checked pressure on all tires, rear passenger tire was a little low (Not noticeable). I took it to dealership and they found a nail on it, they repaired it in a little over half an hour and off I go.
Nice feature, I agree, it would be much nicer if it will tell you what tire is it. Also, it takes a while to reset itself and the car needs to be standing still, not moving for it to reset properly.

 

I thought it only needed to be standing still with engine running when starting the reset, but that it took about 10 minutes of driving for the FTM to become active.

 

I guess I did it incorrectly then , anyhow, it says active now

 

I don't know how it works but few days on the snow with summer tyres (lot of wheel spinning) did not gave any alarms. Today I changed winter tyres and got alarm. Conclusion... I don't know.

Skaffa