Before getting into OEM parts, we need to know the definition of what is OEM vs aftermarket.

What is OEM?

Stands for original equipment manufacturer (OEM). OEM parts are built by the company or by approved third party factory.

By saying OEM parts replacement, it means replacing the exact same part (same specification).

What is aftermarket?

Aftermarket parts are built by third party factories. It may or may not be following the exact same specification as the original one.

Common aftermarket parts such as wheels (e.g. Rays, BBS), suspension, wiper blade, lug nuts, filter, engine oil and more.

Some vehicle parts can only be replaced with OEM parts for vehicle safety and compatibility issues.

What does Tesla OEM TPMS look like?

There are two batches of Tesla original TPMS sensors. The only differences are the model number, and the UKCA marking on the sensor.

First batch of Tesla TPMS sensor

1. Model : 1472547
2. Tire nozzle color is silver
3. CE marking only
4. The number under the QR code has different different number:
   • 1490701-00-B
   • 1490701-01-B
5. CMIITD ID: 2020DP11040
6. Sensor package is blue in color

Second batch of Tesla TPMS sensor

1. Model : 1472547G
2. Tire nozzle color is black. (They called it black in Tesla. But it looks dark grey to me)
3. CE and UKCA marking
4. The number under the QR code has different different number:
   • 1490701-00-D
   • 1490701-01-E
   • 1490701-01-C
5. CMIITD ID: 2020DP11040
6. Sensor package is blue in color

What does aftermarket TPMS sensor looks like?

Customer claimed to have Tesla OEM sensor replaced

The image maybe difficult to see the tyre nozzle. It’s actually a brown shiny tire nozzle which is not Tesla OEM specification.

Recently, some online product shown exact match of Tesla OEM TPMS with a very low price. It look exactly like Tesla original TPMS. But the product packaging is a little different:

• One shows – Tesla Motor (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Another one shows – Tesla Motore (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
• One even shows the wrong address of Tesla company in China.

Back then when I was still working in a multi-national company, a wrong company name spelling can give me a serious trouble.

In addition, according to the Tesla website, a Bluetooth TPMS sensor sold by

• Tesla HK is HK$614
• Tesla Singapore is SGD112 (including GST)
• Tesla U.S. US$60 (exclude sales tax)

Do you think you really can get an OEM part lower than the Tesla service center?

Nevertheless, product (package) design like the above images is not responsible for the function of TPMS. The chips and processors are.

Sellers try to reframe a aftermarket sensor by saying it is OEM sensor because it is using OEM chips to make the sensor.

It is very hard to tell if the chips actually come from the same manufacturer. Even if it is the same chip, the program code inside is another important part to make the sensor OEM.

Anyway, disguising aftermarket IT parts as a OEM part is in fact very difficult to distinguish between the two.

But why aftermarket sensors can still work on the vehicle?

That will be another field in the Information Technology (IT) involving semi-conductor and programming. It will be another article as it involves Wifi TPMS as well. I will explain this as an Arduino hobbyist. (I tried making my own OBD2 scanner too.)

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