[mcjones44us]

Question for the tire specialists out there:

I love my Pilot Super Sports, and I'm one of those guys that checks pressures at least once a week. I'm sort of compulsive that way

The IDrive tire pressure screen is cool - I live in a climate where I can leave the all/season checkmark deselected. I also only occasionally drive faster than 100 so I leave that one deselected too.

I've been told IDrive pressure recommendations (which also display in the BMW app) take into account ambient temperatures, and that certainly seems to be the case. My confusion is that IDrive often recommends 4-5 lbs more than what's printed on the pillar placard. My service advisor told me today to *always* follow the placard, and that yes, if it's extremely cold outside (below freezing they said) maybe pump a couple extra pounds in.

So I'm confused. What do you guys do - follow the placard regardless, or follow IDrive recommendations ? Quite honestly I was surprised to hear the blanket recommendation for the placard and asked if it was a legal obligation to make that recommendation, or simply a dumbed-down recommendation that fits most all. They say no, follow the placard.

Thanks !

[AP]

Personally I follow the idrive
Whether that’s the correct thing to do , I’ll leave up to the experts but that what I do
I check pressures every trip and only have I make adjustments if the ambient temperature changes significantly, ie if it gets much colder , I may have to pump them up a bit

I only make changes when the tyres are cold but as you drive you can see the temps increase and so does the recommendation

Tyre wear has been even doing it like this on my cars so I believe I must be doing it ok

[Alscoob]

I have a good quality pressure gauge which seems accurate and consistant when tested against others.

I too as AP only alter pressures when cold. On previous BMW's owned have set them according to the door card with adjustment for loads and driving conditions. This has kept the wear even across the tyre tread.

Having now a 540i with tyre settings etc on i-Drive, I still only check / alter when cold but set them according to the pressures required on the i-Drive with the reading off my guage, although this may vary from what the i-drive says I believe my gauge to be correct, and tyre wear per tyre over the last 10K miles since getting the car is even. Rears are wearing slightly more than fronts on x-Drive but even across axles.

[BMW012]

Originally Posted by mcjones44us

Question for the tire specialists out there:

I love my Pilot Super Sports, and I'm one of those guys that checks pressures at least once a week. I'm sort of compulsive that way

The IDrive tire pressure screen is cool - I live in a climate where I can leave the all/season checkmark deselected. I also only occasionally drive faster than 100 so I leave that one deselected too.

I've been told IDrive pressure recommendations (which also display in the BMW app) take into account ambient temperatures, and that certainly seems to be the case. My confusion is that IDrive often recommends 4-5 lbs more than what's printed on the pillar placard. My service advisor told me today to *always* follow the placard, and that yes, if it's extremely cold outside (below freezing they said) maybe pump a couple extra pounds in.

So I'm confused. What do you guys do - follow the placard regardless, or follow IDrive recommendations ? Quite honestly I was surprised to hear the blanket recommendation for the placard and asked if it was a legal obligation to make that recommendation, or simply a dumbed-down recommendation that fits most all. They say no, follow the placard.

Thanks !

considering that the idrive fluctuates, i think the idrive is the better number as it incorporates some data and logic.

[tjbuggy2b]

I don't know for sure but I am fairly confident the placard numbers are cold pressures, and the iDrive accommodates for temperature. For instance, if the tires are "X" degrees warmer than ambient, the pressure should be "Y" PSI, or some other equation. If you notice, the PSI recommendations increase from first start to some time of driving.

That being said, I also believe their pressure recommendations are very high. I've never driven a car (including a couple other BMWs a couple gens older) that required pressures in the ballpark of 40PSI, or even higher. IIRC, my car typically recommends soemthing like 38 in the front, and 42 in the rear.

[LogicalApex]

I use iDrive. Door pressures are always cold. If it is cooler or warmer you need to adjust based on that. Since the math is already done in iDrive it only makes sense to use it.

The > 100 MPH setting is also good if you want a softer ride at speeds under that threshold.

[tjbuggy2b]

A small correction. "Cold" tire pressures aren't an absolute temperature, like 60 degrees. It means "cold" as compared to "warmed up from driving." The "cold" PSI should be what you measure after it has sat for quite a while (several hours, let's say) and all of the frictional heat has dissipated from the tires and wheels.