Advice on tyre pressure

[pfz]

Have been finding that my tire pressure seems to drop quite quickly on all 4 wheels. I usually pump it to 250-260 (which seems to give the right responsiveness) but it drops down to 230 or lower in about a week's time. Is this normal?

Tires : Continental Conti Sport 2/3 (front/back) running off 17" rims
Car is a 325 E90 saloon, just goes back & forth from office carrying one (large) driver only, about 30km/day. 2-3X a year it goes up the NSH for a 300-500km ride.

I don't mind changing to a better set of tires as it looks like 20K has already been done on one set, about 10K on another and the grip sometimes slides around a little.

Apart from getting the driver to lose some weight , any suggestions from bros out there? Grip in the wet is probably the most important factor to me, followed by road noise. Tks vm

 

[ryan]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

Did you take your readings consistently at the same time (i.e. temperature)?

My car differs from 5psi when it's cold / warm. Are all 4 tyres the same drop?

 

[Ah Lian]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

I still prefer to see the readings on my TPMS using PSI instead of bar, which is still ok but takes a longer time for me to digest. As PSI is usually two digits.. while bar can read .point something... Unfortunately, most of the pumping stations e.g. Esso /Shell uses bar...

For those who have TPMS, configure it to PSI or BAR? Thanks!

Did you take your readings consistently at the same time (i.e. temperature)?

My car differs from 5psi when it's cold / warm. Are all 4 tyres the same drop?

 

[jinooi]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

it's the same thing right?

just like whether you prefer to measure your waistline in inches or centimetres?

unless you can only read up to 2 digits? :uhhh:

don't make life more complicated than it already is...

I still prefer to see the readings on my TPMS using PSI instead of bar, which is still ok but takes a longer time for me to digest. As PSI is usually two digits.. while bar can read .point something... Unfortunately, most of the pumping stations e.g. Esso /Shell uses bar...

For those who have TPMS, configure it to PSI or BAR? Thanks!

 

[Ah Lian]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

Life is indeed so wonderful

Yeap, unfortunately, I can only read up to 2 digits..

My question is to those who actually use TPMS and whether they use PSI or BAR. And not so much of comments whether I can read up to 2 digits. This is my problem. The question is so simple.

it's the same thing right?

just like whether you prefer to measure your waistline in inches or centimetres?

unless you can only read up to 2 digits? :uhhh:

don't make life more complicated than it already is...

 

[jinooi]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

whichever rocks your boat...

 

[Ah Lian]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

Thanks for your GREAT ADVICE! You really rock!

whichever rocks your boat...

 

[jinooi]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

many thanks... my pleasure...

and back to the original topic before we digressed...

pfz: your experience seems to be quite normal. mine loses about the same pressure as yours, that's why i make it a point to check tyre pressures every week. but even 230 is within the recommended range. so no worries there...

as for tyre recos, check out tirerack.com - lots of comparison you can make before you settle on something that suits you. but make sure you choose a more popular brand that is available locally.

 

[pfz]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

Thanks jinooi, ryan & all for the advice - appreciated. Will keep to the weekly tire checks.

 

[sszone]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

pfz, why don't u
1) run a visual check to see if there's any nail etc lodged in the tyres
2 when was the last time u changed the "nipple" (yup, thats what the tyres shops call em)....its the part when u pump in the air into tyre

can try changing that if its old, abt 5 bucks each if i remembered correctly

 

[pfz]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

Thanx bro. Have already checked all the tyres, although unlikely for all 4 to be affected at the same time. On the other point, more likely that I'll change all 4 tires in next couple of months anyway. Might check back with the forummers when I've narrowed down the choices. best, P

 

[AikiCar]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

Guys, new to the forum but I have a related question to tire pressure.

Normally, I just pump air into my tires and drive off. But, I read somewhere in the manual that there is a initiation procedure for the runflat tires. But I'm not on runflat tires. So, do I still need to do this procedure?

 

[jinooi]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

initiation?!

as in "dear air pump, meet tyre. and tyre, meet air pump, who's going to inflate you." kekeke...

ok, jokes aside... just inflate your tyres and you're done.

Guys, new to the forum but I have a related question to tire pressure.

Normally, I just pump air into my tires and drive off. But, I read somewhere in the manual that there is a initiation procedure for the runflat tires. But I'm not on runflat tires. So, do I still need to do this procedure?

 

[MapleLeaf]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

Guys, new to the forum but I have a related question to tire pressure.

... But, I read somewhere in the manual that there is a initiation procedure for the runflat tires. But I'm not on runflat tires.

For 5ers on run-flat, there is a bulit-in pressure sensor. The 'initiation' is in the iDrive, centre "i" mode. You need to initiate it to 'tell' the system 'this is the correct pressure.'

 

[Girettom]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

I run TPMS on PSI. Runs to 1 decimal place, so you get 3 figures... but in steps of 0.5 PSI.

On 3er, E46 has a button that looks something like this (,,,) I believe it uses the ABS system to measure the rotation of the wheels based on the current pressure. To initiate it, you press once and it spends 10 minutes taking readings while you drive around. Once set, if your pressure is off by quite a bit on one of your tyres the warning system highlights that you need to check pressures.

Personally, don't think its very effective though.

I keep my tyres around 32psi cold. They get to 35 in the heat here without a problem once running.

 

[AikiCar]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

I run TPMS on PSI. Runs to 1 decimal place, so you get 3 figures... but in steps of 0.5 PSI.

On 3er, E46 has a button that looks something like this (,,,) I believe it uses the ABS system to measure the rotation of the wheels based on the current pressure. To initiate it, you press once and it spends 10 minutes taking readings while you drive around. Once set, if your pressure is off by quite a bit on one of your tyres the warning system highlights that you need to check pressures.

Personally, don't think its very effective though.

I keep my tyres around 32psi cold. They get to 35 in the heat here without a problem once running.

Wah! I don't quite understand this message.

Anyway, I went to pump my tires before filling up at the petrol station today. After filling up, I tried the tyre pressure check initiation. But it didn't finish before I reached home so don't know if I'm doing it right. I guess that I'll just pump and go next time.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Ah Lian]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

Yes, thanks for your insight!
my front is always 32 psi and back is 36 psi. On a cold morning, it can be 31 psi and when hot the front can become 35 as you had mentioned. My rear tires pressure can range from start 36 psi to 41 psi.

Thus everytime step into car - just check the tire pressure and zoom... very efficient... no need to mess my figures... at all. No need to pump for more than 2 months liao..

I run TPMS on PSI. Runs to 1 decimal place, so you get 3 figures... but in steps of 0.5 PSI.

On 3er, E46 has a button that looks something like this (,,,) I believe it uses the ABS system to measure the rotation of the wheels based on the current pressure. To initiate it, you press once and it spends 10 minutes taking readings while you drive around. Once set, if your pressure is off by quite a bit on one of your tyres the warning system highlights that you need to check pressures.

Personally, don't think its very effective though.

I keep my tyres around 32psi cold. They get to 35 in the heat here without a problem once running.

 

[Ah Lian]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

I "accidentally" pumped up to 2.50 bar or 36 psi for the front and my rear tires is always at also 2.50 bar or 36 psi.

(Running stock bridgestone RTF on my FLE90)...

Any advise? Is it ok to leave it at 250 psi ... for the front?

 

[jinooi]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

it's ok. no harm done.

 

[Ahbengdriver]

Re: Advice on tyre pressure

I "accidentally" pumped up to 2.50 bar or 36 psi for the front and my rear tires is always at also 2.50 bar or 36 psi.

(Running stock bridgestone RTF on my FLE90)...

Any advise? Is it ok to leave it at 250 psi ... for the front?

Why you like it so hard? my e90 is 35 psi nia.