K1600GTL 2012 86000 miles, Ok another TPMS Battery Update Nov 5th 2020: Just to summarize: About 5 years ago my 2012 K1600 TPMS battery went dead. A new TPMS is about $200 ish from BMW. Me being a cheap bugger I found an article to replace the battery. I first tried the CR2030 3v 200ma and it only lasted a year. two years ago I tried the CR 2050 3v300ma and it last two years. Now I am going to try the CR2450HR at 3v 500ma. The key is to get the battery with the leads already on as you can not solder these batteries. Link:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-NEW-CR2450-CR-2450-3v-lithium-battery-with-TABS-MEMORY-BACK-UP-CMOS/370908705688?hash=item565be1b398:g:RGoAAOSwcgNZCYeq It takes about 10-15 minutes the break out/cut out the old glue from the OEM BMW TPMS and make certain you have to polarity correct neg/pos when you solder on leads. Positive is the lead you see first when cutting out the glue. The BMW OEM TPMS uses a hard epoxy and the chinese us a soft jelly glue. Good Luck
Oct 24 2020 UPDATE: last month I installed the CR2450HR 3v 350ma and it seems to be the best alternative. The original BMW battery is best but I could not find one with solder tabs. You can not solder directly to the batty with ruining the battery. You have to have tabs or wires. hhttps://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-CR2050B-3V-high-temperature-tire-pressure-detector-button-battery-2pcs/163987074812?hash=item262e642efc:g:G-MAAOSwgtdd8y-X. About two weeks before writing this my OEM TMPS stopped waking up. It would be random someday wakes up and other days not so I ordered in some $10 each Chinese BMW TPMS read below:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-433Hz-Tire-Pressure-Sensor-TPMS-for-BMW-Motorcycle-8532732-36318532732-MA2333/193609968363?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649Nov 5th 2020: As for programming a new TPMS Sending unit: youtube.com/watch?v=4HAnT58b2DY Very simple no conversion necessary to hexadecimals. I recently bought some Chinese BMW TPMS for $20 for two each because the centrifugal switch inside the BMW OEM tmps became unreliable. Sometimes the tpms would turn on after 2 blocks, sometimes after 1 mile. sometimes after 2 days. I removed the battery as the Chinese TPMS have been sitting in a warehouse in china for a decade and installed the CR2050HR. I will update this later in a month of testing. The Chinese glue was a soft jelly so use a razor knife I was able to pull most of the soft glue jelly of the pocket. The Chinese battery is solder tabbed so you need a fine flat tip screwdriver to gently lift the spot welds on the tabs. The battery voltage was only 2.5v so I am glad I replaced the battery. These things are built very sturdy so do not be afraid to use a little force on the battery tabs. Positive is the top tab and the bottom negative. So the top tab closest to you when the glue is removed pops off easy with a fine tip screwdriver. The lower tab, negative be very careful to to lift the batty too high out of the pocket. My first try I messed it up and broke the tab from the circuit board. The second try was perfect. At $10 it is not a major set back. I soldered on a short wire to each tab, red positive and black negative. With the wires pulled up and out of the way a poured a thin layer of epoxy to protect the circuit board. Next I soldered the wires to the battery tabs, wrapped the battery with electrical tape and taped it to the TPMS housing. You may have to trim off a little bit of the plastic housing so the battery will lay flat and not bind the TPMS module when it is bolted down. Why did I use tape and not glue? I wanted to be able to replace the battery easier the next time. All the force from the tire rotation will be against the TPMS housing so the tape just secures the battery from drifting side to side. So far after a couple weeks things are perfect. The glue I poured in will just protect the circuit card from moisture. Advice: Be careful not to cover up the very tiny pressure hole when taping or your TPMS will not wake up or give a pressure reading. So in summary: The CR2450, CR2050 and CR2030 all seem to work. The higher mah battery is thicker but should last 5 years. I ended up going with the CR 2050 as it should last 3 years and is a good thickness that fits well. If you buy a chinese TPMS they coast around $10usd each but do change the battery as they most likely have sat in a warehouse for 10-15 years. They do work but you will need the TPMS wake-up tool mentioned on this site. Make SURE you wake up your new TPMS and program your TPMS with the GS911 before you mount the tire.
Update Oct 6 2021: the TPMS battery CR2050 works like a charm.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/172161234679?hash=item28159bf6f7:g:hfwAAOSw-RRXB-nV I took a brand new chinese (Chinese TPMS the batteries are old and near zero volts) made TPMS sensor purchased from ebay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/154552211296?hash=item23fc079760:g:U30AAOSwJnJhBfLI two for $25. cut out the soft glue, and soldered in the new battery. battery comes with solder tabs already. I did not glue in new battery, I just used electrical tape and wrapped it a couple of time. I did seal the circuit board with a very thin coat of epoxy to protect from moisture. The Chinese TPMS glue is very soft unlike the BMW glue where you have to chisel it out. Overall very happy with the repair. You will need the GS911 and the wake up tool. I figures out why my wake up tool was not working. It needs to be right up next to the TPMS to wake it up. If it is inside my tire for some reason it is not powerful enough to wake up my sensor. I will go to any length not to buy over priced BMW parts. I recently replaced both my brake micro switches. Cost be about $2 and about 1hr labor. better than paying BMW $100 ish.
https://www.shopbmwmotorcycles.com/p/BMW__/Dual-microphone-switch/42766593/61317690700.html?clickSource=relatedProduct
