Where is tire pressure reading on 2021 i3 ?

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AlanfromBigEasy

Active member
Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Messages
34
Location
New Orleans
I owned a 2015 i3 and I routinely checked the tire pressure readings (part of vehicle status from memory).

The menu of my recently purchased 2021 i3 is quite different. After over an hour of looking on the menu and in the owner’s manual, where can I find the tire pressures ?

Thanks
 
I owned a 2015 i3 and I routinely checked the tire pressure readings (part of vehicle status from memory).

The menu of my recently purchased 2021 i3 is quite different. After over an hour of looking on the menu and in the owner’s manual, where can I find the tire pressures ?

Thanks
On my I3s the tyre pressures are on the shutting edge of one of the door openings, the driver's I think.
 
In the iDrive 6 vehicles including the 2021, at the center console press Menu, scroll to the right to My Vehicle and then scroll down to Vehicle Status.
 
This drove me nuts until discovering that BMW has offered at least two different systems: a) a TPMS which includes individual tire sensors and provides numerical readouts and b) an FTM (flat tire monitor) system that has no sensors or individual readings. Do you know which one you have? I think they're market dependant. I'm in Canada and my 2015 has the simpler FTM-- works quite well, but if you want precise tire pressures, you have to use an external gauge.
 
This drove me nuts until discovering that BMW has offered at least two different systems: a) a TPMS which includes individual tire sensors and provides numerical readouts and b) an FTM (flat tire monitor) system that has no sensors or individual readings. Do you know which one you have? I think they're market dependant. I'm in Canada and my 2015 has the simpler FTM-- works quite well, but if you want precise tire pressures, you have to use an external gauge.
Yes, I am looking for the current tire pressures. In my older 2015 i3 I caught two slow leaks by comparing the pressures of the four tires (outside temperatures make all 4 vary) but one tire dropped bit by bit more than the others.

Apparently BMW “simplified” the 2021 as it wound down production. No compass in the rear view mirror and no tire pressure readings 😕
 
Yes, I am looking for the current tire pressures. In my older 2015 i3 I caught two slow leaks by comparing the pressures of the four tires (outside temperatures make all 4 vary) but one tire dropped bit by bit more than the others.

Apparently BMW “simplified” the 2021 as it wound down production. No compass in the rear view mirror and no tire pressure readings 😕
As I understand it, BMW's FTM doesn't actually read pressure. It compares rotation speeds for all four tires, which vary depending on slight differences in diameter caused by different amounts of inflation. Sounds like voodoo but works surprisingly well at identifying an under-inflated tire. It just won't tell you by how much. Not sure what happens, if you have have two or more that need filling.
 
My 2021 as best I can tell has direct pressure monitoring (and accessing that screen it as I described above in Post #3).

I must have picked up a nail on a drive to work, slow leak, zero indications during my drive.

However 8 hours later upon leaving work, immediately at startup and before driving, I received a low pressure warning, and sure enough, I found a flat tire.

The only way the car could know that is if there is a tire pressure monitor.

I suppose that means if you're uncertain about what your i3 is equipped with, deflate a tire while parked and then check to see if the car throws any warning messages at startup.
 
Apparently BMW “simplified” the 2021 as it wound down production. No compass in the rear view mirror and no tire pressure readings 😕
You are correct that a 2021 U.S. i3 with the Tech Package might not have a compass in the rear view mirror (ours doesn't). However, our 2021 U.S. i3 includes tire pressure monitoring just like our 2019 and 2014 i3's. However, Canadian i3's don't include a TPMS. Might your 2021 i3 be a Canadian i3? If not, maybe decontenting in 2021 resulted in some U.S. i3's not having a TPMS.
 
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