OEM tyre for BMW, looks good, drives great, great on wet too. Almost no rim protection on the fronts 225 40 19, decent rim protection on the rear pair 255 35 19 so I guess it depends on the size. Very fun to drive, you can feel what is happening on the road, it is a great sporty tyre. Apart from all the praise and pluses, it has two minuses: the price, and the fact that the outer parts of the tyre are almost dead while the rest of the tyre has decent depth - so they went out really fast, in 1,5 dry season. They developed a harsh noise on lower speeds because of this also (just found out that BMW was working closely with Michelin and demanded that the outer parts of the tyre are made from another softer compound and that explains the high wear and great handling too. Would probably go for Pirelli for the next set.

I drive an Alpina B3S Allrad which is based upon the E92 BMW 335ix. I bought the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S* tyres from my local BMW Alpina dealer; 235/35/19 on the front and 265/35/19 on the rear. The difference between the star * designated version of the tyres and the regular Michelin Pilot Sport 4S is quite noticeable on my car and it’s clear that BMW really worked hard with Michelin to optimise the tyres’ capabilities when paired with their vehicles. I am not a person to exaggerate and I will not embellish the difference that the tyres made by saying that they transformed my car and I will stick to differences I felt between how the tyres felt as new on my car, compared to how previous tyres felt new on my car. The first thing I noticed with the star* tyres fitted was that it made my car feel like it had a tighter steering rack. The new tyres, at any speed, felt like they were mind-reading where I wanted to go, steady, progressive and immediate but also reassuring. The comfort levels felt to be slightly improved and the road noise seemed to be dampened. I recently drove 5000 motorway miles through continental Europe on them and I was really impressed by just how comforting and quiet the car became after I fitted these tyres. The grip is fabulous for accelerating, braking, turn in and progression. The tyres have to my mind, given me a tighter rein on my car and it feels as though a dial or a knob has been turned up a notch, even though I know it’s an analogue change. Wet handling is fine and the tyres don’t give me any cause for concern during any downpours or when there’s any standing surface water to drive through. I would definitely buy them again and in future stick to any tyre that’s specifically designated for any particular brand or model. So until a Michelin Pilot Sport 5S* is brought to market, I will stick with these 4S* tyres for as long as I drive my Alpina.

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