TPMS Sensors on newer VIN are different

I have a P85D scheduled for delivery next month and bought a set of cyclone take off wheels from an older car. Took my new wheels to the local service center and was pleased the new sensors run $50 a piece. However, they wanted to charge $600 for installation because supposedly both the car and the new sensors need to be reprogrammed. I was under the impression that the car programming is essentially a TPMS reset setting on the 17" display. However, the SC says otherwise. After some discussion they agreed $600 is unreasonable and agreed to do it for $160 which doesn't include balancing the wheels.

Tire Rack should have known about this back in October. I bought wheels for my VIN55228 (which has the Conti sensors) and the wheel guy had to work with Tire Rack to figure out why the sensors they sent me weren't working (that was mid-late Oct). I told the wheel folks, who then went and told Tire Rack that the sensors had changed. Not sure why they're still sending out Baolongs.

nkole said:

I have a P85D scheduled for delivery next month and bought a set of cyclone take off wheels from an older car. Took my new wheels to the local service center and was pleased the new sensors run $50 a piece. However, they wanted to charge $600 for installation because supposedly both the car and the new sensors need to be reprogrammed. I was under the impression that the car programming is essentially a TPMS reset setting on the 17" display. However, the SC says otherwise. After some discussion they agreed $600 is unreasonable and agreed to do it for $160 which doesn't include balancing the wheels.

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If you don't mind me asking, which service center did you use for the new wheels? Congratulations as well on your P85D.

nkole said:

I have a P85D scheduled for delivery next month and bought a set of cyclone take off wheels from an older car. Took my new wheels to the local service center and was pleased the new sensors run $50 a piece. However, they wanted to charge $600 for installation because supposedly both the car and the new sensors need to be reprogrammed. I was under the impression that the car programming is essentially a TPMS reset setting on the 17" display. However, the SC says otherwise. After some discussion they agreed $600 is unreasonable and agreed to do it for $160 which doesn't include balancing the wheels.

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WOW - I thought that the car would do that automatically when you went into that program. That is the feedback from others here on the board.

I had the new sensors put on my car they were $50 each and that's all my SC charged me. And I tested them to make sure they were working given the road I drive daily. They worked just fine.

We have updated our database to reflect this change to the Conti sensor....

Had seen this same data a few months back:
for late 2014 TPMS Sensors | Forums | Tesla Motors

And yeah, $600 is ridiculous. $50/corner (with free labor) is VERY reasonable. At that rate $160 is fair, too-- but still should include mount/balance IMO.

From what I understand you should be able to just use the "reset TPMS" option and then drive the car. It will learn/find the nearest moving (rotating) 4 sensors and use those for the car. (Yes, it is safe to have wheels in the trunk since they won't be in motion and hence would be inactive). So you shouldn't need the SC to do any reprogramming, at least as I've read and been informed.

It was the Sunnyvale service center. I challenged them on the programming and even pointed out the TPMS reset button accessible to anyone on the config page. They insisted there is programming required.

nkole said:

It was the Sunnyvale service center. I challenged them on the programming and even pointed out the TPMS reset button accessible to anyone on the config page. They insisted there is programming required.

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From what I understand they're not entirely incorrect. The sensors require some sort of activation to wake them up. I'm not sure what's involved in that though.

breser said:

From what I understand they're not entirely incorrect. The sensors require some sort of activation to wake them up. I'm not sure what's involved in that though.

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I bought 4 of the new sensors from Tesla, gave them to Discount Tire to put on my rims with the new tires. After putting the set of rims/tires/sensors on the car, all I had to do was the reset on the screen and drive a half mile and it all worked. No activation or magic in the process...

nkole said:

It was the Sunnyvale service center. I challenged them on the programming and even pointed out the TPMS reset button accessible to anyone on the config page. They insisted there is programming required.

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We've had great experiences with the Palo Alto service center. Would you like our service contact?

That would be fantastic. Much appreciated.

Ya I don't think there's any "programming" needed as I was told originally that les Schwab (tire place) could do the install on my next rotation but the car was there for something else and they did it.

Cottonwood said:

I bought 4 of the new sensors from Tesla, gave them to Discount Tire to put on my rims with the new tires. After putting the set of rims/tires/sensors on the car, all I had to do was the reset on the screen and drive a half mile and it all worked. No activation or magic in the process...

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ive just had my winter Rials installed, with the new TPMS which I had ordered from Tesla. We have no SC near here so I had a local mechanic do the installation. I used the tire reset as prompted by the car but it still warns me that the pressure in 4 tires is low. I haven't checked the pressure yet but the tires were inflated to 45 psi so that should not be the issue. Tesla told me that they had to be "woken up" and a ranger would need to do it. Maybe this is because I ordered the sensors moths before the car arrived. Perhaps some SCs will wake them up when the sell them.

gpetti said:

I've just had my winter Rials installed, with the new TPMS which I had ordered from Tesla. We have no SC near here so I had a local mechanic do the installation. I used the tire reset as prompted by the car but it still warns me that the pressure in 4 tires is low. I haven't checked the pressure yet but the tires were inflated to 45 psi so that should not be the issue. Tesla told me that they had to be "woken up" and a ranger would need to do it. Maybe this is because I ordered the sensors moths before the car arrived. Perhaps some SCs will wake them up when the sell them.

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oops, on checking the tire pressure I found the tires were all at 35 Psi despite my telling the mechanic to inflate to 45. After inflating them to 45 psi, the warning went away. Thus the sensors appear to be working fine.

Will the new sensors work on older VINs?

Here's some interesting TMPS info:

I ended up acquiring a brand new set of TMPS (for the older model S version) since I switched tires. I was quoted $50 per tire by Tesla to install. Since I got the tires at Discount Tire, I asked them and they installed all 4 for $40. No brainer. Discount service guy tells me they may take 24 hours to start working. I wait 3 days...still getting the error message. Call Tesla Service in Scottsdale. I'm told that the car must be brought in to activate the sensors for $135 I believe. Insists I can't do anything from here so I set appointment.

Well, being curious, I go to the Tesla Settings menu on the car and find the TMPS Reset button. Follow the menu and 5 minutes later, it works - no more error message! Based on their previous stellar service, I'm going to assume the rep was just not trained properly on that item or didn't ask the right questions vs. anything a typical car dealer would pull.....but always try the reset yourself before going in for an expensive button press.

I have a 2015 85D and am I'm looking into some 21"Turbines from an older S which, seemingly, has the older version of the TPMS sensors.

Does anyone know what will happen if I don't replace the Baolong sensors with the Continental version on the 21's? At a minimum, I'm assuming I won't get individual tire pressure read outs but am curious if I'll receive any warnings or errors beyond that.

With sensor / reader type mismatch, you'll get a TPM warning persistently on the instrument cluster.

You'll have to change out the old TPMS in each Turbine to be newer kind. Budget that into your cost.