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[Headhunter.M3]

Hey I am about to buy some tires. My dealer will only put on Star BMW rated tires but I find a hard time believing they are better than the PS4S. Can anyone shed some light on this? I know the M4s and m2s come with super sports. Are the star bmw SS better than standard ps4s? Looking to purchase today or tomorrow.

[Bartledoo]

Of course they aren't. Go somewhere else. I wouldn't listen to anything a dealership representative says. I also wouldn't take my car to one, though. Lol

[Headhunter.M3]

Originally Posted by Bartledoo

Of course they aren't. Go somewhere else. I wouldn't listen to anything a dealership representative says. I also wouldn't take my car to one, though. Lol

Good advice. This dealer is so annoying. I just moved to a new area. Trying to find a good shop.

[Richbot]

Any tire shop can handle this job. Dealer tire markups are easily 100% of a decent tire shop which will usually match a Tire rack price plus their cost for mounting and any taxes applicable you'll be done with the same product at a 50-60% discount.

To answer the original question: The BMW Star tires fitted to the M2 in our OEM sizes might actually be stickier than a non-star PS4S, it's impossible to know without testing back-to-back, OE tires really are often special tires designed specifically for a certain application with different characteristics from the other tires in the line, and the M2 pulls a lot more G on the skidpad in magazine tests than the E9x on the "same" tires

[Headhunter.M3]

Originally Posted by Richbot

Any tire shop can handle this job. Dealer tire markups are easily 100% of a decent tire shop which will usually match a Tire rack price plus their cost for mounting and any taxes applicable you'll be done with the same product at a 50-60% discount.

To answer the original question: The BMW Star tires fitted to the M2 in our OEM sizes might actually be stickier than a non-star PS4S, it's impossible to know without testing back-to-back, OE tires really are often special tires designed specifically for a certain application with different characteristics from the other tires in the line, and the M2 pulls a lot more G on the skidpad in magazine tests than the E9x on the "same" tires

that is kind of what I was thinking too.

I called tirerack though and they said the PS4S would be an upgrade to the supersports, and cheaper. Just their opinion though.

The PS4S are backordered though till late march so I am about to just pull the trigger on the SS or extreme contact sports

[pbonsalb]

The EC Sport are great tires and a better value than the Michelins. I like them as much as PSS. Have not tried PS4 but have run a few sets of PSS, PS2 and EC Sport over the past 9 years on my 08 E90 M3 and 08 E61 535xi.

[Headhunter.M3]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

The EC Sport are great tires and a better value than the Michelins. I like them as much as PSS. Have not tried PS4 but have run a few sets of PSS, PS2 and EC Sport over the past 9 years on my 08 E90 M3 and 08 E61 535xi.

That is exactly what tirerack said! They said the EC sports are very good and very close to the ps4s.

[Headhunter.M3]

So, I may have made a mistake but I ended up going with 255/35/19, 275/35/19 BFgoodrich Comp t/a all seasons. W tax only 800 bucks and a 45000 mile tread warranty. I daily my m3 for now and get freezing maybe 1 or 2 days a year. These are also directional tires. I am excited to let ya'll know how they perform! We will see! Michelin owns BFgoodrich, maybe they gave them some of their special sauce.

Just found out there is a 30 day free trial also.

[Headhunter.M3]

Ended up cancelling the BFgoodrich order. Got PS4S.

[Richbot]

lol I'm glad nobody posted GOOD JOB YOU'LL LOVE EM EXCELLENT CHOICE in between 11am and 3pm

[Headhunter.M3]

I know. It's like I want the Bfgoodriches to be good cause I love the brand but I am like come on be real. Lol

[Headhunter.M3]

I am pretty pumped. I ended up just getting oem sizes since those were only ones available for immediate shipping.

[vitalsigns]

Originally Posted by Headhunter.M3

I am pretty pumped. I ended up just getting oem sizes since those were only ones available for immediate shipping.

You made the right choice. Don't buy a nice Italian suit and wear crummy shoes. The Michelins are great tires...

[doogee]

Star Approved tires are different than the normal consumer tire. For the M2 specifically, the front tire has a firmer sidewall if I recall correctly.

Handling will be different. But you'll only notice this on the track/autocross for the most part.

[Headhunter.M3]

Got them on and i got 20 titanium lug nuts all around. Oh man what a difference!!!!

[Headhunter.M3]

Tires. Yes

[Staszek]

I have the PS4S and really love them. I had SS before and I like the PS4S a ton better.

[IamFODI]

I remember reading that in the development of... the new Supra, I think? the PS4S came out late-ish in the development of the car, and by that time they had already spent a lot of time working with Michelin on a version of the PSS, which by that point was very good for the car. They could have swapped to the 4S and maybe picked up an advantage or two (wet grip?), but they would have given up dry grip vs. their highly developed PSS unless they wanted to repeat the tire development program with the new tire.

Either way, yeah, tire comparos don't always work out the way you think they should when one of them is an OE spec and the other one isn't.

That said... I'm on the 4S bus and will probably stay there...

[derbo]

Originally Posted by doogee

Star Approved tires are different than the normal consumer tire. For the M2 specifically, the front tire has a firmer sidewall if I recall correctly.

Handling will be different. But you'll only notice this on the track/autocross for the most part.

It's crazy that STAR ones actually different but it's true! That said, like doogee said, it probably doesn't even matter until you push it hard.

old article but an actual experience of differences.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/car...-same-9890716/

[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.

[Scrippy]

Michelin PSS FTW! PS4 or PS2 are good too. Let's be honest daily drivers aren't pushing to the edge so get what looks good and runs smooth.

[nyc_dude]

Two things to look at when comparing the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S and Pilot Super Sports, including the BMW Star designation.

The ZR Rating vs R (Y-Speed) might be on the BMW Star Tires. This means the sidewall might be stiffer for the 186+ mpg Speed Rating. Along with this design change, you will see the mileage warranty will drop from 30k miles to 20k miles for the ZR tires, that is a -33% reduction. So the compound is much softer for better grip, but you will be replacing tires more often. For a daily driver ///M car you want that 30k mileage warranty, and less sticky tires. BMW Star really means upping the handling specs compared with other manufacturers sports cars, for Car and Driver and Motor Trend, even if the tires only last 15k-20k miles, screwing over consumers. So BMW Star might be a net negative vs the typical P4S or PSS. You want more grip, get wider tires +10-20mm.

Post 2021-2022 Michelin Tire prices exploded to $350-$425 each for performance cars like a ///M car. So you don't want poor milage warranty Max Summer Performance tires.

Cheers