Updated: BMW Motorcycle TPMS Battery Replacement 

Great to hear!

You can find the CR2050HR battery on both ebay and amazon. Moreover, the HR version probably isn't necessary anyway, since countless sensors in all kinds of vehicles use the standard battery.

The previous video covers some of that. It's super easy--the front sensor has a single bolt, the rear sensor is held to the wheel by the valve stem itself, which has a nut on the outside.

You can pop the bead of the tire just one side and use a clamp to hold the tire out of the way. Getting the sensor out is very easy. Use some soapy water to pop the the back on just look away when inflating just in case but usually it takes less than 60psi to seat a tire. I do my own tire mounting and balancing at home very cheap and easy and a great way to save lots of money just never deal with a bad TPMS sensor. For my KTM they cost $200 usd so I'll try replacing my battery and see what issue I encounter.

That's probably not a good idea. You'll risk cooking the circuit board inside or melting the plastic. It's really not a big deal to scrape out the epoxy or use a soldering iron to help. It just takes a little patience.

That wouldn't be a wise method. There could be differences among model years or for other reasons and the level of epoxy could also vary. It's not that difficult to sneak up on the depth. You encounter the top of the battery first, so when you see silver you need to slow down and proceed more cautiously.

Yes, if you find batteries with the leads attached that is easier than the tricky soldering which may damage the battery with heat. You can find generic sensor knock offs both on ebay and Amazon.

I had new tires installed this week and installed the $40/pair aftermarket TPMS sensors. All is well plus I got a to justify the expense of the GS911 device once again. I may try to replace the batteries in the OEM sensors per your instructions when needed. Thanks

So, I think you may just be misunderstanding how this all works. Plus, there could be some other variables at play. These sensors, once already installed and working, will normally "awaken" or become active after you start rolling. When you stop rolling for a period, they shut down to conserve battery life. There is an accelerometer in the sensor so it knows when you are rolling. You also need the computer on the bike to accept these broadcasts, which is the other side of the equation. That computer will look for the signals once it knows the bike is rolling via the "tone ring" and wheel sensor. Importantly, the computer must have the specific sensors installed on your wheels registered in it's database or else it will ignore any signal. So that's the background. The wake-up tool is just a shortcut to make the sensor become active so that you can register it in the computer's database using a scantool. Depending on the vehicle it may or may not cause the computer to start talking to an existing sensor, because the bike or car is not yet rolling. Apparently you were trying to force the sensor to communicate with the computer using the tool, but the computer wants to see other data before it will display the sensor values. Also, to use the tool you typically hold the button down continuously until the sensor becomes active. If you will be changing your batteries and reinstalling your existing sensors, you probably will not need the wake-up tool at all. The sensors will already be registered and they will work as they did before. Only when you change the sensors will you need the wake-up tool, and you'll use it to force the new sensors to broadcast to the computer so that they can be registered in the database. See this video at the 10:50 mark to understand what I mean: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xAiJy4ZC-u4.html

I'm glad you asked! I looked up that bike and it does appear that the sensor for some KTM model years is nearly identical to the BMW. Speaking generally, though, all of these tire pressure sensors in bikes and cars work essentially the same way, they just have different physical designs. The older designs often had the epoxy covering the battery, the newer designs often have a snap-together case. If it's a watch battery, though, it can be replaced as long as you can get the case apart. Now, if the cost of buying a whole new sensor is $15, then maybe it isn't worth the effort. But if they are charging $150 to $300 it starts making sense. I'd love to hear back if your sensor is the same style and if you give the replacement a try.

That's the software integral with the GS-911 scan tool device. See this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rsipwJpov38.html

Do you mean to attach the wires to the circuit card or the battery? I'm not certain how well that would hold up in the environment of the tire with heat and vibration. I can say with certainty that soldering does hold up, because I've gone years now with repaired sensors without issue.

@@tinderboxarts the adhesive to reattach the defroster lead to the glass on your vehicle window defroster works in an environment that is subject to high temperature changes as well as vibrations. It is used in place of solder because the glass will brake if you try to resolder the lead onto the glass. This adhesive is fully conductive as well. I’m going to try it as I have to replace the batteries on my TPM sensors.

Some compounds like silicone can be corrosive to the circuit board, and I'm not sure about hot glue. The tape has worked for me for years, so I wouldn't hesitate to use that.

Hadn’t though of silicone being corrosive, yet your idea of tape would make it easier to replace the battery next time, also John, that drill was a stroke of genius, 👍😃

I wondered the same. First thought was rubber cement like we used in elementary school.

You could try that, but there is a risk. The dremel tool will be difficult to control precisely when you get close to the circuit board. One catch and you will have damaged the board.

A Dremal engraving bit would work better than the saw blade I think.

Peanuts. They are standard watch batteries you can buy in any drugstore or box store. You can buy them in bulk online with the solder tabs, ten for ten bucks.

Couldn't agree more. In this instance it would be trivial to design a cap to allow battery replacement. And it isn't just our money, either--designs like this contribute to the staggering waste in our world. One pair of sensors should last the life of the bike if you can replace the batteries.