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      11-28-2018, 05:01 PM   #1
skitsos
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Drives: '14 M235i (F22)
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TPM Malfunction Diagnosis

I am unable to find anything on the internet that is exactly similar to the problem that I am dealing with (especially on the f-series platform), hence this thread...

To start off, I have a 2014 (12/2013 production date) M235i with 29k miles. I'm also running the stock staggered wheels with the stock TPM sensors that shipped with the car.

About a month ago, a few seconds after I started my car one day, the TPM malfunction popped up for the first time, showing all 4 wheels shaded white, meaning that all 4 sensors are malfunctioning. I know that the battery life of the individual sensors inside the wheels ranges between 4-10 years, but the fact that all 4 sensors just went out at the same time made it hard to believe that it was the batteries inside each sensor...

I also used a wireless TPMS scan tool to check the sensors from outside of the car, but the scan tool could not even find/connect to any of the sensors. It was like the sensors were not even there anymore. Now, I know that could point to the sensor batteries being dead, but I still wasn't convinced. I even hooked up my friends fancy OBD scan tool and ran a quick systems tests that also couldn't even connect with the TPMS/RDC unit.

Last week I swapped over to my winter wheel/tire setup, which have the same BMW OEM TPM sensors, and they've worked just fine the past 2 years that I've used them. I was hoping that the TPM malfunction would go away now with the wheel swap, because that would narrow it down to bad TPMS batteries in my stock wheels... I started my car up, but nothing changed and the damn TPM malfunction kept coming back.

The only possible cause of this issue that I can think of at the moment, is that the RDC control unit/antenna crapped out. (The RDC unit is a single module that communicates wirelessly with the TPM sensors and feeds that data to the iDrive through a wired connection.) I feel like this makes more sense, because all 4 sensors malfunctioned at the same time, the scan tools couldn't communicate with the system at all, and swapping my wheels didn't change anything.

All that being said, does anybody on here know where this RDC control unit is located on the 2 series?? I have searched all over the internet, but I've found nothing related to the 2 series platform. I've only found information on location for other platforms, but the problem is that the location of the RDC unit varies by model and year. I would go poking around my car to find it, but unfortunately I haven't had the time to do so yet...

Also, the RDC unit is not cheap ($324 MSRP). So if I buy a replacement and that doesn't fix the TPM malfunction, then I guess I'm SOL and JWF.

Hopefully someone else on here has experienced this issue, or at least has an idea about what is going on here, because some outside input on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

P.S. I have attached a diagram of the RDC control unit setup, for reference.
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Last edited by skitsos; 11-30-2018 at 09:28 AM..
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