For those that swap out wheel/tire setups for the winter, did you either:

1. Purchase new sensors for the winter wheels
2. Swap out the sensors on the summer tires and put them on the winters and vice versa, or
3. Leave the sensors on the summer tires and go w/out sensors on the winters


*The dealer told me the senors cost about $100 a piece.

 

Keep an eye on the classified section. There are usually people selling off their old sensors there.
Something to note. I was told by the dealer that the sensors have to be "programmed" to be read by your car computer (or visa versa - computer has to be programmed to read the sensors). Either way, it can only be done at the dealer and there is a charge to do it. Don't know if you can set it up so all 8 sensors can be read or if you have to have the reprogramming done every time you swap wheels out. Might be worth finding out.

 

I'm in the same boat. Looking to get winter tires/wheels, but confused about the TPM sensors:

- if they're not on the winter set, is the only annoyance the light in the dash?
- do I need to get the sensors reprogrammed next spring when I remount the summer set?

Thanks in advance for sharing the knowledge.

 

hmmm. I'm going to get the tpms sensors for my winter set. But the service manager said about half the people get additional sensors, while half go w/out.

It does not seem to be cost effective to take off your summer tire sensors for the winter setup and then switch out again and again (this would add up in cost of reprogramming and labor).

The SM told me that there would be no detrimental effects of not having the sensors on (besides the light and no indication if your tires are really low)

Not sure if the tpms on the summer tires will need to be reprogrammed in the Spring

 

IMHO I think it's a waste of money to bother putting them in the winter set. A lot of people do not bother with sensors in their winter rims (myself included). The dash light comes on once in a while but it resets after you restart the car. No alarm has ever gone off just the light. Drove the car this way last winter and was no problem whatsoever. It's up to you (you could spend the money on some other mod like tint, a clear bra, a spoiler, or whatever else you need.)

 

Alright, I'm trusting you guys! Just ordered a set of Dunlop Wintersport M3 with 17" ASA EM9 rims from tirerack.com (no sensors). Perhaps now I can go get the z-tube.

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

Don't waste money on the sensors for winter set-ups. You should be checking tire pressure once/twice a month anyway. If the light goes on, no biggie. Restart the car and light goes away. Will not harm anything.