I have a 2006 530Xi w sport pk and FTM. I need to replace one of the tires, as it has a bolt in the sidewall. I was able to find a used tire with approx same wear as mine for 50 bucks (lucky me, with the prices on the run-flats, this was a good find), but I did hear an opinion that cars equipped with the FTM feature are best to be taken to the dealer for replacing tires. So...

Is it really necessary to take the car to the dealer to replace a tire?

and

Is there anyone from Brooklyn here, who can recommend a shop for minor things such as this locally?

Will, as always, appreciate any and everyone's chiming in on this, guys!

depends.

if you have FTM then most likely you have the tire pressure system that is based off your wheel speed sensors. as in if one of your tires goes flat it loses pressure thus causing the wheel to spin different sped than other wheels thus triggering the FTM warning.

TPM on the newer cars 07 and above have sensors in each wheel and you can tell because you will have a METAL valve stem

if yours is rubber then you have FTM based on wheel speed sensors.

just replace the tire and then go into I drive to the FTM menu and set calibrate then start driving

the system will re calibrate it self after few min sometimes as much as 20 just give it time and you wll be good to go.

Nice bimmer, Cosmo! Looks almost identical to mine, except for the rims of course (props, btw, rims look awesome)

ok, now, and I'm not doing this to annoy anyone - i just wanna be sure I'm 100% on the issue - I take it that I do not really have to go to the dealer for this? I mean, there must be shops that know how to do this, as it seems that the TPM and FTM systems are pretty common on modern cars...

At any rate, thanks for the advice. I found the FTM reset function, so I guess, now all I have to do is find a shop nearby and get the rubber... I wonder, how long will the RFT hold with a bolt in the sidewall ... LOL