BMW Tire Gauge Died

[tconnell]

I have a BMW tire gauge, the one that's the dial indicator type with the braided piece to the stem. It's about 18 months old and it's gone the way of the wind I guess. Tried to use is yesterday on the '07 LT and noticed the dial is resting at about 16 lbs when it's supposed to be at 0. Bumped it a couple of times against my palm and pressed the reset button numerous times but it stays up there at 16 lb and of course the readings are that much inaccurate. Sure thought, at almost $60, that I'd get a better product than that and more longevity out of it. I keep it in the suede bag that it came in and it's not been abused.

Anyone know if there is a place to call or complain about something like this, or do I just file it in file 13?

Thanks

 

[pauls1150]

First try taking it back to your dealer's parts counter and see what they say... The usual parts warranty (except for electrical items) is two years, I think, at least for anything they install.

Can't say for your particular gauge, but I have their digital gauge with the 45-degree chuck. Right there on the packaging it clearly states "Lifetime warranty" and "return for replacement". For about $22, that's hard to beat. And I've directly compared it to at least 6 other gauges of various types, and it's right on. I keep it in my RT's glovebox, wrapped in a small towel to protect it from temperature & vibration.

 

[racer7]

A tube type gauge can get stuck for any of several reasons including friction on the needle by the dial, failure to bleed pressure when the bleeder is opened, mechanical damage to tube, and internal plugging from debris, etc. It may be something easily remedied if you don't want to see if it can be exchanged. Normally such gauges are extremely reliable unless abused (usually by being dropped on a hard surface). I don't use digital gauges because they depend on batteries which are often dead when needed and none of my tube type gauges has ever failed (mine are either BMW, Longacre or other calibrated track type inflator gauges) despite either being carried on the bike, toted to the track or whatever. The newest is 5 years old, the others about 15-20 yrs old.

If the needle has gotten loose and spun on the shaft, the gauge is no longer be in calibration and would need proper inspection / repair before it could be considered suitable for use again, even if the needle were repositioned to zero properly.