[dparm]

It's always hard to say how and if the OEM-specific variants are any better. Heck, how do you quantify better? The changes BMW requests aren't always performance related, they could just be for something like reducing a certain "humming" frequency they generate on that specific car. Other times it could be to increase the load rating which helps with tire durability and overall safety.

If the OEMs request a design change specific to their vehicle, you can be confident it was purposeful and intentional. They aren't sinking R&D money into that unless there's a quantifiable benefit. It will be up to each individual owner to decide if they think those benefits are worth the extra cost of said tire.

I am hesitant about putting a different OEM-specific tire variant on my car though. There could be unintended consequences, namely that the tires perform worse. Different suspension geometries could load the tire up very differently, for example (think a mid- or rear-engined car versus front-engined).


With regards to the original question, I don't think I would spend the extra money on the older PSS at this point. The PS4S has shown to be equivalent or superior across the board. Dealers don't like installing non-OEM stuff for liability reasons, plus they probably have a nicer margin on that OEM tire.