DIY reprogram for TPMS?
 

I've seen the ATEQ gear. It seems like an expensive solution for this problem. Are there other options for reprogramming the TPMS when you switch wheels? I'd like to avoid the inconvenience of having to take it to a shop every 6 months.

Drive without TPMS for 6 months out of the year and check your tire pressures weekly manually? Cheapest DIY option available. I have four sets of wheels and tires for my BRZ and only the stock wheels (which are just on for winter storage) have TPMS sensors in them.

TPMS is too valuable for me to give up. It has triggered on my previous vehicles 3 times and in each case the advanced notice turned impending tire failure into an easily resolved situation. Weekly checks would not have worked out nearly so well.

I'll pay what I have to keep it functioning, just hoping for a less expensive option.

Techstream for sure. I think someone mentioned Carista but I could be full of shit.

Would Techstream work with BRZ?

I've heard mixed responses about Carista. Waiting to hear from the developer.

Oooo, good question. I bet all the Subie dealerships have it for the BRZ.

Carista says they are developing this capability and it is currently in beta testing. They offered to let me participate, so we'll see.

I realize you do not want to take the car to a shop every 6 months... however I just want to point out that some tire store chains will swap wheels and reprogram the TPMS sensors for free!

In Southern California Discount Tire does this - I have no affiliation other than being a satisfied customer. I bought a set of TRD wheels with tires and TPMS sensors from someone who wanted to track their car and bought lighter wheels... much to my surprise my local Discount Tire swapped the wheels and reprogrammed the TPMS for no charge even though I did not buy the tires or wheels from them!

Good luck!

You can get TPMS that can be cloned to match your OEM sensors. This will give you two sets of identical TPMS that require no reprogramming when you swap wheels.


-Craig

I have the ATEQ. Seemed like a tool worth the cost. Use it twice a year to keep TPMS in sync.

Wheel/tire packages don't leave our property without TPMS if the car requires it. Wouldn't that light bug you constantly?

It bothered me a little when I first started running without TPMS sensors in vehicles that came with them 8+ years ago, but I got over it pretty quickly. Besides, on my BRZ I usually have at least 2 or 3 other dash lights on in addition to the TPMS light, with stability control in sport mode (or turned off) and often the low fuel light on too.


I still hate the idea that it is required on all new cars. Thank goodness I don't have to run it when I swap to other wheels/tires. I would have spent thousands of dollars in the last 8 years if I had put TPMS in every aftermarket set of wheels I bought. At least some manufacturers are going back the wheel speed sensor TPMS setup (like my '05 Mini has), which don't require individual sensors in each wheel anymore.

I had that generation of MINI and their implementation of a TPMS system was interesting, but hardly foolproof. I would very frequently get false positives, even when the tire pressures between all four tires were within .5-1 psi of each other.

I've only had a couple of false tire pressure alarms in the Mini in the 11 years we've had it, but the speed sensors they use for TPMS weren't that accurate (which is why they had to stop using that system in 2008 when TPMS became mandated by the US govt). I guess the newer wheel speed sensors, like what Mazda is now using to get by without having individual TPMS sensors in each wheel, are accurate enough to meet the govt standards.