My RS SE doesn’t have TPMS (Tyre Pressure Monitoring System) as standard, it was part of the comfort package I didn’t want to shell out another £800 for as that also includes Keyless, which I’m not a fan of on a bike, but like the 3rd eye TPMS only has to work once to potentially save you from a world of pain. I could have added TPMS to the build but didn’t at the time which I later regretted. I could have spec’d it separately but it didn’t cross my dim brain to do it at the time and coukd have gone for a retro fit but that would have been ££££
So I’ve got this to try out. It looks a well made bit of kit, switches on and off automatically and the control unit has a natty magnetic charging cable. I’ll post more when it’s fitted on the bike
Cost was £110 which compared to the BMW one is a bit of a bargain. You have to pay in USD so I used PayPal rather than my credit card just for a bit of added security
So fitted it today, no wires to mess with so reasonably straightforward although tightening the locking nut on the wheel sensors was a bit fiddly due to lack of room but that wouldn’t be an issue on other tyre valves I guess where the valve went into the rim rather than the spoke.
Another possible downside is obviously you have to take the sensors off if you need to pump your tyres up or have a puncture so remember to take the spanner with you to undo the locking nut that keeps them in place.
Display is easy to see and it appears accurate as I checked the pressures with a digital gauge before fitting them and it have the same readings.
Having the pressures displayed all the time you’re
riding rather than have to go into a menu is benefitial as it’ll prompt you to pump them up if they get a bit low.
I tested what happens once the minimum value is reached and the reading for that tyre goes from a steady to flashing display. It does also beep at you but the volume is quite low so you probably wouldn’t hear it on the bike.
It’s quite a nice feature that it swithes on and off automatically so all in all if you don’t have it as a factory fitting it’s a possible alternative.
After fitting I found that the pressures went up 0.2 bar front and rear when out on the bike after the tyres warmed up, but didn’t return to the “cold” reading once the bike had been stood, so I took the sensors off to see what the pressures actually were and they’d returned to the cold pressures, even though the system said they were 0.2 bar above. I also noticed that the front sensor casing was damaged. So I put the back on the bike and found the sensor was striking the inside of the RHS front brake caliper. Obviously once I found this out I took the whole system off and contacted Chigee. They were very good, thanked me for letting them know and gave me a full refund. They said they will update their website but if anyone else buys their system with the external sensors make sure they’re not doing the same as they did on my RS ( I suspect any BMW with 17" wheels will be the same as they have the valve in the alloy spokes, rather than on the rim) serves me right for buying a ditchpump I guess
The valves on my XR are “normal” so not all BM’s are weird
But I’d rather have the right angled valves on my Speed3 (something to look into when tyres need changing).
I don’t think I’d want the external sensors again. In retrospect I should have opted for the BMW TPMS when I ordered the bike but I was in buy mode by then. The internal sensors with the big Chigee screen thing that has apple var pay and android with navigation and bike cams would be what I’d have as much like the BMW TPMS it brings up a big warning on screen where as the Q3 flashes the pressure reading and the sound it gives off is rather weak so you wouldn’t hear it at anything above a few mph.
No TPMS on my XR either, I just make do with a pressure gauge before I leave home. Seen a bit about that Chigee do it all thing on the XR forum, seems the way to go in future. So far my Nav VI is behaving so I’ll stick with that for now.
