[BMWinNorthdakota]

I was worried for a while, beings that this is my first RWD car. Honestly, its been great the last week. These tires are awesome.... The seem to stay soft even down bellow zero..

I do not think I will be considering X-drive in the future.. Its just not worth sacrificing the performance unless you live in a rural area where the streets wont be plowed for a day or two after a snowfall... or you live in some kind of elevation.

This car tracks better and grips better than my E46 325xi w/ all seasons. There is some tail slide involved at times but a brain and traction control makes up for this.

Very impressed

[Sara]

325+Blizzaks+Snow+SLC= A really hard time getting to my meeting this morning. Although it would have been much worse with my 710's still onboard.

[VanM3Lover]

Originally Posted by BMWinNorthdakota

I was worried for a while, beings that this is my first RWD car. Honestly, its been great the last week. These tires are awesome.... The seem to stay soft even down bellow zero..

I do not think I will be considering X-drive in the future.. Its just not worth sacrificing the performance unless you live in a rural area where the streets wont be plowed for a day or two after a snowfall... or you live in some kind of elevation.

This car tracks better and grips better than my E46 325xi w/ all seasons. There is some tail slide involved at times but a brain and traction control makes up for this.

Very impressed

RWD with snow >>> 4WD with A/S is a given, I have first hand experience too. The tires make the biggest difference.

[Dackz]

Yea, my 335i is fine with blizzaks. The problem you will run into is ground clearance to a degree. 6" is the most I have taken mine out in and it was okay, but more then that might be starting to get a little difficult.

[lesha]

Originally Posted by BMWinNorthdakota

I was worried for a while, beings that this is my first RWD car. Honestly, its been great the last week. These tires are awesome.... The seem to stay soft even down bellow zero..

I do not think I will be considering X-drive in the future.. Its just not worth sacrificing the performance unless you live in a rural area where the streets wont be plowed for a day or two after a snowfall... or you live in some kind of elevation.

This car tracks better and grips better than my E46 325xi w/ all seasons. There is some tail slide involved at times but a brain and traction control makes up for this.

Very impressed

what do you mean by "sacrificing the performance"? i thought that xdrive is faster 0-60, does RWD handle better?

[VanM3Lover]

Originally Posted by lesha

what do you mean by "sacrificing the performance"? i thought that xdrive is faster 0-60, does RWD handle better?

It's the FUN from driving a RWD car.

[lesha]

Originally Posted by VanM3Lover

It's the FUN from driving a RWD car.

sorry for being a pain, explain FUN, never owned a RWD car

[VanM3Lover]

Originally Posted by lesha

sorry for being a pain, explain FUN, never owned a RWD car

It depends, if you enjoy being planted on the road all the time then AWD is for you.

Most people enjoy the lower ride height, better steering (only function for front wheels is steer), feel of the acceleration (being pushed only by the rear wheels) etc offered by the 335i compared with the 335xi. The xi performs marginally better during winter, so people who live in areas with just a few days of snow each year would cope with the little compromise.

Just an example, 911 GT3 vs. 911 Turbo. The Turbo has AWD, offers better acceleration, but the GT3 is the more fun car, much more fun.

[lesha]

thanks, must get next bmw in rwd

[VanM3Lover]

Originally Posted by lesha

thanks, must get next bmw in rwd

You're very welcome!

[fdiprete]

good to hear. I put blizzaks on my xi but haven't gotten the chance to try them in the snow yet. These snow tires do perform *much* better that the all season run flats on dry/wet pavement. Much smoother ride.

[cotmfk]

I have the Hankook Icebars on now. I am in the same boat as original poster. I pretty much only had AWD cars in the past, so I'm a little worried about snow. There was a snow here over the weekend, but no accumulation on the roads, so I am still waiting to see how these do.

[BMWinNorthdakota]

Originally Posted by fdiprete

good to hear. I put blizzaks on my xi but haven't gotten the chance to try them in the snow yet. These snow tires do perform *much* better that the all season run flats on dry/wet pavement. Much smoother ride.

Hahah, youre not going to be able to slide at all...

[carve]

The purpose of AWD is to keep you from getting stuck, but it does very little for the braking and steering, so can give you a false sense of security- you don't realize quite how slick it is. Also, many people use AWD as an excuse to not get winter tires.

I'd rather have a 2wd with snows than an AWD on summers or even all seasons. The snows give you better braking and steering, and the 2wd gives you lower operating costs. Where awd would be important, however, is if you live somewhere rural where you just can't afford to get stuck, or if even snow tires arent enough to get traction. In the future though, unless it's a truck/SUV, I think I'll get 2WD with snow tires for my cars. (Going to get blizzaks for my 335i this afternoon)

[Easternedge]

Originally Posted by lesha

what do you mean by "sacrificing the performance"? i thought that xdrive is faster 0-60, does RWD handle better?

RWD is way faster... About .6-1.0 sec. faster. Some PPl say x drive handles better.

Ordering winters this week...

[wesborl898]

Originally Posted by VanM3Lover

It's the FUN from driving a RWD car.

+1!!

I bought my 335i about a month ago. I drove both the XI and I. Before going to the dealer, I wanted a xi because my mind told me so.

I drove the Xi first, too planted, very stale drive.
Drove the 335i, mmmmmmm RWD...

Needless to say, I bought the RWD

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by VanM3Lover

RWD with snow >>> 4WD with A/S is a given, I have first hand experience too. The tires make the biggest difference.

And as the temperature drops even more, the magnitude of truth to this statement increases proportionally. Just like how our summer tires turn to hockey pucks at 40 degrees, all seasons have a threshold as well.

Originally Posted by carve

The purpose of AWD is to keep you from getting stuck, but it does very little for the braking and steering, so can give you a false sense of security- you don't realize quite how slick it is. Also, many people use AWD as an excuse to not get winter tires.

I'm not trying to advocate AWD or argue for a sense of security in the snow, but another advantage it has is recoverability. You can recover from a much sharper angle than you would be able to with RWD.

[SpmnE9zero]

I dont understand when peopole say - snow tires on rwd is better than XI with all seasons, I have witnessed both first hand and let me tell you, if you were to stick both cars on a hill and come to a stop, the XI with all season is going to get to the top of the hill way before the rwd with snows.

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by SpmnE9zero

I dont understand when peopole say - snow tires on rwd is better than XI with all seasons, I have witnessed both first hand and let me tell you, if you were to stick both cars on a hill and come to a stop, the XI with all season is going to get to the top of the hill way before the rwd with snows.

Yes AWD plus A/S tires may be better for a timed event up a straight hill. It will, however suffer greatly braking and turning (minus the recoverability aspect), which are the two most important factors in avoiding other people who aren't so well equipped/skilled/attentive/etc. And, it gets worse as the temperature drops below 0F. At that point, A/S tires aren't all that much better than summers.

[Wires]

I was in a tire shop once, and the advertisement there said once the temperature drops below 5C (41F) you should have winter tires. I had always bought decent all weather tires for our car, as the driving it hit, they worked fine. (Thought the ad was a little BS).

Interesting note after I read that though: I started to take note of handling when out driving. I'd be out one day and the temp was above that point, car handled decent, all was well. There was a definite decrease in traction when the temperature dropped below that point though. Just like you flipping a switch in the traction department.

I had a 2000 Mustang V8 RWD. Bought it, city got a snow dump a week after delivery (it had summer gaterbacks on). That thing was brutal. Got stuck in a parking lot with 1" snow! Hit the tire shop and bought a set of Norian Hakapalitas (sp?). I could WALK away from a lot of vehicles at stop lights with those things. They just bit into the ice and snow. Very cool.

I have the blizzacks now on my 335xi, and they there isn't much they can't go through. Ground clearance becomes an issue far before tire traction ever is.

[Nikolas]

Originally Posted by Easternedge

RWD is way faster... About .6-1.0 sec. faster. Some PPl say x drive handles better.

Ordering winters this week...

Not according to C&D that just tested both the XI and the I. The XI was quicker by .2 sec to both 60 and the 1/4 mile.

I have an XI and in the winter I wouldn't think twice about tires. Dedicated snow tires are the only way to go. Snows on the XI make for by far the more superior winter transportation. All you need is an incline to prove it.

[crazed792]

Originally Posted by Wires

I was in a tire shop once, and the advertisement there said once the temperature drops below 5C (41F) you should have winter tires. I had always bought decent all weather tires for our car, as the driving it hit, they worked fine. (Thought the ad was a little BS).

I think that a/s can do fine below freezing, but the point is that around 40F the compounds in all season tires start to harden, where as the winter tires will stay grippy. If you go really low temp it makes a large difference though, especially if you've got snow that's gotten crushed into the road and turned to ice.

As for the a/s on an xi vs winters on an RWD, I'd go the winters in a heartbeat. As others have said, the only time most AWD setups matter is during acceleration, and it's really handling/braking that will make or break you in the kind of weather. People that are trying to launch in snow should go to an empty parking lot so as to not risk killing someone, AWD or not. If you live at the top or bottom of a steep incline that gets lots of snow, that's different, but not too common.