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20" to 21" Wheel Question

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 3:37 pm
by jonsteele
Just wondered if anyone has swapped their 20" wheels for the 21" versions.

We've had winter tyres fitted to our 20", and SWMBO fancies sticking on some new 21" wheels and tyres for summer use. I've a couple of questions:

1. Can the TPMS senders be cloned so that the car doesn't need recoding every time we swap wheels?
2. Our dealer has told us we'll need arch extensions with the 21". Is this right, and if so do they replace the existing arch trim, or just stick on (ours is an M Sport)?

Thanks in advance.


Sent from the dark side by the power of the force!!

Re: 20" to 21" Wheel Question

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 5:19 pm
by X5Sport
Does the TPMS use wheel sensor/transmitters now then?  Apart from on the older V8s the system went over to ABS wheel speed difference detection more than a decade ago.

Re: 20" to 21" Wheel Question

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 5:25 pm
by jonsteele
Yep, not sure how far across the BMW range it is, but most of the new vehicles at our dealer have the big chunky valves - they are the ones with the sensor. I can check tyre pressure from within the car.


Sent from the dark side by the power of the force!!

Re: 20" to 21" Wheel Question

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:22 pm
by X5Sport
Makes sense.  The wheel speed sensor system won't tell you the pressures.

Re: 20" to 21" Wheel Question

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:53 pm
by Horizon
My mate has just purchased a 2013 Z4, he had a low tyre pressure warning come up last week. He said at least it told him which tyre it was. Is this just a feature of the mk2 IDrive, as mine just  flags up a pressure warning and you have to then check all 4 pressures to identify the low one ? ( sorry to hijack the thread

Re: 20" to 21" Wheel Question

Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 7:41 pm
by allforus
Hi tried a set of 21 not sure I liked the harsh ness it was like driving in sport with the 20 on or somewhere near found I ended up tip toeing around where ever I went with the lack of tyre wall