Hi all. Just wanted to share the joy of getting some nice R18 alloy wheels for the summer set I'm planning to assemble.

Some old gentleman brought them to our local dealership yesterday, wanted to install them, but as they unpacked the boxes he suddenly changed his mind and asked them to help him sell the kit. There was nothing wrong with the wheels, he just decided to go with R16, because... he already had tires for them. Weird, I know, but that was his explanation. The service manager was just as baffled as you are right now, but then he regained his senses and immediately contacted me, because he knew I wanted exactly the same wheels and was planning on purchasing them soon. Long story short, I got this brand new, unused set of wheels for a REALLY nice price.

Now I need a set of pressure sensors and good 225/50 R18 summer tires. I have my eyes on Michelin Primacy 3, I really like those.

Pressure sensors?

The 500x doesn't use pressure sensors (TPMS), pretty much all manufacturers realised just how bad that technology was and the amount of complaints and recalls that they got, eventually forced them to drop them entirely. No car that I know uses them any more.

The current technology used in the 500x is to monitor the tyre/wheel "spin" via the ABS/ESP sensors in the bearing of each wheel. Once the ECU detects an irregularity, it shows up on the LCD screen as a tyre pressure error.

From experience, its not a very accurate system, but it uses zero parts and costs nothing to the manufacturers because they reuse the existing ABS/ESP bearing sensors. I had a flat tyre once, the tyre pressure warning came up a few minutes AFTER I had already changed to the spare wheel :bang:

Oh well...

VeneziaBlue500x said:

The 500x doesn't use pressure sensors (TPMS), pretty much all manufacturers realised just how bad that technology was and the amount of complaints and recalls that they got, eventually forced them to drop them entirely. No car that I know uses them any more.

The current technology used in the 500x is to monitor the tyre/wheel "spin" via the ABS/ESP sensors in the bearing of each wheel. Once the ECU detects an irregularity, it shows up on the LCD screen as a tyre pressure error.

From experience, its not a very accurate system, but it uses zero parts and costs nothing to the manufacturers because they reuse the existing ABS/ESP bearing sensors. I had a flat tyre once, the tyre pressure warning came up a few minutes AFTER I had already changed to the spare wheel :bang:

Oh well...

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Goodcoin's car is US spec and I believe the US market 500X does indeed use pressure sensors.

VeneziaBlue500x said:

The 500x doesn't use pressure sensors

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Well this one does. And they are quite expensive, too. I have to cough up 240 euros for them, tax included.

Now that is absolutely weird, I wasn't aware that there are cars with the old TPMS sensors in the wheels.

Nice wheels though

VeneziaBlue500x said:

Now that is absolutely weird, I wasn't aware that there are cars with the old TPMS sensors in the wheels.

Nice wheels though

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Thanks!

I wasn't aware that cars had ANY kind of sensors in the wheels, before I got this one. I don't care if this particular type of sensors is outdated, because seeing the tire pressure info on my dashboard, even if it's not 100% accurate, is already a technological marvel for me.

Mine hasn’t, I changed my wheels to Alfa wheels and no sensors in mine

My wife's 2014 Suzuki has sensors in the valves which give pressure readings on the dash display. These match readings obtained from a digital guage. Good system, no problems in the three years we've had it.

I had sensors on a Renault Laguna which displayed actual pressures . Total nightmare....always giving warnings and alerts. When tyres were changed there were issues with valves.......The 500x system not as accurate but mine still goes off at random. I’d prefer no system to be honest....

Can't vouch for the accuracy, of course, but I haven't noticed any false alarms so far. After refitting tires the sensors go crazy for a while, but they come to senses (pun intended) after riding around a bit.

Yeah, I had a Laguna in around 2003 and it had a faulty sensor in one wheel which gave spurious alarms until it was replaced. Early days for such systems though.
The indirect TPMS method used by many manufacturers now has the benefits of being cheaper and simpler than valve transducers/transmitters. You have to carry a pressure guage though to find out which tyre is causing the alarm. I have to say that the system on my 500X hasn't cried "wolf" in the year I've had it. The only time it went off was when I swapped wheels front to back to even out tyre wear. The handbook does warn that this may happen as it detects a change in the relative rotation speeds.

Goodcoin said:

Can't vouch for the accuracy, of course, but I haven't noticed any false alarms so far. After refitting tires the sensors go crazy for a while, but they come to senses (pun intended) after riding around a bit.

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Give it time..[emoji23]

TrevC said:

The only time it went off was when I swapped wheels front to back to even out tyre wear. The handbook does warn that this may happen as it detects a change in the relative rotation speeds.

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I owe my TPMS an apology. It was going off about once a month, and I could never find anything wrong, somI was less than complimentary about it. Asked the dealer to check it - no fault found. In the snow I noticed that NSF was nearly flat, but no TPMS activation. Seems BOTH NS tyres had screws in. Both suitable for a repair, total bill £25 instead of £250. Neither I nor the dealer had spotted them. No TPMS alarms since.

Steering back to the main topic here: I was contemplating to use my old center caps with these wheels, but today I decided to order a new set. New wheels, new caps!

Finally! Got all pimped out for the summer.

Surprisingly, they don't ride as hard as expected. Yes, a bit harder than my "winter" R17s, but no substantial difference.

P.S. My dog already had time to pee on one of them.

They look good with the chrome window surrounds.

cowabunga said:

They look good with the chrome window surrounds.

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Yeah, the diamond cut fits the chrome detailing nicely. But the wheel design looks a bit quirky, if I want to be honest. I usually prefer stricter design, but none of the other original 500X R18 wheels I browsed through appealed to me quite like these.

Is your car a lounge or cross?
I’ve never seen a cross/ cross+ with chrome window surrounds

simon_16vpunto said:

Is your car a lounge or cross?
I’ve never seen a cross/ cross+ with chrome window surrounds

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It's a Lounge, but the reseller had replaced the front bumper with the Trekking (Cross) version. I'm planning to do the same with the rear one.