$re = '/((?:P2 x=\")(.*?[^\"]+)(?=.+((?:P3 x=\")(.*?[^\"]+))))/m';
$str = '<P1 x="-0,36935" y="0,26315"/><P2 x="4,29731" y="0,26315"/><P3 x="5,29731" y="-0,40351"/><P4 x="-0,36935" y="-0,40351"/>
<P1 x="4,64065" y="0,26315"/><P2 x="5,97398" y="0,26315"/><P3 x="5,30731" y="-0,40351"/><P4 x="4,64065" y="-0,40351"/>';
$subst = "P2 x=\"\4";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php