How is your X5 in rain/snow?

[Keithwand]

I spent last winter in MI while building another house in Florida.
My Floridian S drive drove like awd. I got rid of the run flats and put on Continental DWS
Absolutely 0 issues and was absolutely please and surprised.
Maybe even shocked how well it performed.
Wife has explorer awd and mine did just as well.

[CarCzar128i]

Originally Posted by Doc5513

I'm coming to an X5 from a '04 Volvo XC90 AWD. The XC90 is horrible in the snow and ice, and I'm convinced they make a different model for sale in Sweden!!
How would you folks rate the xDrive AWD in rain/snow/ice? Our only other car is an A4 with Quattro and that is amazing in bad weather.
p67

My X5 is wet in rain, and cold in snow. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist that.

[Issa.M]

My f15 is not good in the snow, I find my f30 335i Xdrive to be better in the snow. The f15 doesn't feel planted and I feel it can slide at any second even with the all-wheel drive system and good all-season tires. Wierd right? The f30 feels better in the snow and barley skids. One thing to note is I have the stock rims and tires for both cars, not upgraded to 19s or anything which would prob make it worse in the snow. F15 just doesn't feel planted.

[Lighting.Grey]

Originally Posted by CarCzar128i

My X5 is wet in rain, and cold in snow. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist that.

Lol

[NYBulldog]

My X5 with snow tires is incredible! I’m flying by people in Jeeps and F150s. If you think having regular tires in the snow or snowstorm is okay, well expect mediocrity.

[Saaristo]

Driving on snowy roads is no different than any other car. However when the snow comes deeper and packed then unfortunatly F15 doesn't deliver the confidence. The other one I have is Touareg 7P and although quite similar on paper (hp, torque, wheel size, car size, clearance etc) the Touareg is completely different animal in these conditions.

Could be that it is the rear axle biased torque split in F15 that makes the front end loose and wonder around and not being able to maintain track when crawling in deep snow.

[devlinsky]

ContiWinter Contacts snow tires plus really slippery conditions with deep snow on the roads - I absolutely love this truck. DTC on, sport mode, sport transmission mode - oh, the joy!

[mikado463]

tires are key, no doubt. With that being said my wife's Subaru is still superior.

[The Libertine]

No complaints from me; X5 drives/handles well in inclement weather.

[ponytuning]

Originally Posted by mikado463

tires are key, no doubt. With that being said my wife's Subaru is still superior.

Just curious, in what way is it superior? Is the x5 being compared against the subaru an sdrive or is it just the 'placebo effect'?

We had a 2011 subaru impreza awd (hatchback) before getting into the bmw brand, drove it on snow as well as our x5 even my previous 435 xdrive (all on winter tires, straight roada, mountain roads, inclines etc) and can't recall the subaru being any more special compared to the xdrive BMWs

[Saaristo]

I also have a comparison with Subaru - 2012 Outback, 2,5L 4cyl gas. While reasonably good on packed snow road, it's like taming a wild horse on uneven terrain covered with snow. I guess due to the CVT you have to keep the revs high in order to keep all four wheels pulling. And then it's either you get stuck if you don't step on gas, or it picks up speed and you're driving over bumps like it's stolen. Just a subjective opinion...

[///d]

My X5d is pretty good in the snow with winter tires, but my E90 328xi was much better at staying planted. The X5 gets some front end push here and there, where as my E90 was like it was on rails.

I think the biggest issue with the X5 that people find is the traction system, which really comes into play with any vehicle with traction control. From a stand still in deep snow, you really should turn off the traction control until you get moving. If you dont turn it off, the computer thinks you're siding and starts to intervene causing wheels to not spin or get hung up, which is why you need to keep the rpm's up to actually get anywhere. Without the traction system intervening you can control your wheel spin better making it easier to get moving. But once moving, be sure to turn it back on.

[The Libertine]

Originally Posted by mikado463

With that being said my wife's Subaru is still superior.

FWIW, I previously owned 2 Audi Quattro models, and an MB 4Matic. To be objective, all served me well, got my family where we needed to go and back safely. Subjectivity, the MB seemed a bit more “planted” but wouldn’t say it was any better. Or the Audi, or BMW worse.

Too many factors come into play, with tires and operator experience being the most prominent in figuring how well a vehicle handles in inclement weather.

[1norseman]

Like any car I have had, tires and right foot control makes all the difference in the world, when the pavement is less than dry!

For driving in the rain, just having good tires makes a big difference. X5 has been great so far, when driving in heavy rain. Riding on Michelins A/S or summer tires.

When it comes to winter driving, having great snow tires, and being less aggressive with the right foot, and the X5 handles snow and ice really awesome.
Planted for most driving, but push it a bit, and it's easy to do donuts, or drift through turns. (donuts and drifting should only be done on a track, you know...)

All seasons are great for fall and spring, really good in the summer if you buy the better grade A/S tires, and pretty good in the winter, until it gets too cold, and then when really cold, having dedicated snow tires kicks ass.
My X5 with factory A/S tires was not great, just ok when it hit 20°. But with dedicated quality snow tires, it was another story.

A couple years ago, trip to CO, I pushed through whiteknuckle driving conditions, a lot of vehicles slid off the road etc. but my X5 with square 19 winter tires set up, handled it great!

My personal belief is when people complain about an AWD vehicle not handling snow that well, it's often a version of the PEBKAC error.. I guess we can call it PEBSWAS...

[mikado463]

Originally Posted by ponytuning

Just curious, in what way is it superior? Is the x5 being compared against the subaru an sdrive or is it just the 'placebo effect'?

We had a 2011 subaru impreza awd (hatchback) before getting into the bmw brand, drove it on snow as well as our x5 even my previous 435 xdrive (all on winter tires, straight roada, mountain roads, inclines etc) and can't recall the subaru being any more special compared to the xdrive BMWs

the other day while driving my X5 to the gym in the morning(snow and ice) the AWD combined with BMW's electric steering left me with a less than desirable feeling, kind of a 'front end wash out' if you will. Mind you my X5 has Michelin all season runflats(nothing great in winter conditions IMO) but having driven the wife Outback('18) in numerous snow events prior I just seemed to feel somewhat more confident in it. Again, tires are HUGE, but being retired I pretty much don't have to drive in this crap anymore, LOL !

[Jars914]

When I first bought my used x5 it has garbage presla tires on it, x5 was terrifying to drive into the mountains in snow storms, next year I threw on some blizzaks and wow what a difference, haven't lost control a single time in any of my drives to Vermont in 8 major snowstorms

[Gkacmaz]

My 50i has been horrible in snow, I got stuck 2 Times BUT it was absolutely my fault which I realized later. My tires had very little meat and I was stepping way to heavy on the Gas. Got myself some new DWS06 and much more careful with the Gas and voila! I'm in NYC where we had big snow and over the Weekend I made a trip to the Poconos with medium snow. No problems whatsoever. I'm running the staggered 20" setup with 315 in the back. I believe proper winter tires with smaller 19 inch would be phenomenal in the snow, the 315 just don't allow much weight to be pushed on the snow. Despite that im very happy with the DWS06 !

[IlliniX5]

X5 + Nokian Happelitia R3 =

[Breezer88]

I know this is an old thread but hey... 2 weekends ago hit 20"+ to 30"+ POW and bottomed out and thought I was going to get stuck, lil behold my nokian hakkapeliitta r3's worked extremely well with traction activated. Little slipping until it grabs and slowly pulls/pushes me through with ease. In fact in traction hard to spin out as it just tracts. Comparing my nokian hakkapeliitta r3's to my old Blizzak DM-v2's I prefer the Blizzaks much better traction.

[Saaristo]

Mine is running on Toyo Observe GSi-5 soft compound winter tires. Even with lower temperatures ( -20C) you can feel with your fingers that the thread blocks are soft and flexible.

[///d]

Originally Posted by 1norseman

Like any car I have had, tires and right foot control makes all the difference in the world, when the pavement is less than dry!

Very true. Winter tires are a night and day difference. Being from MN I hear folks complain about bad traction all the time, but then they refuse to get winter tires saying its just crappy roads and their all-seasons are just fine. I was never a winter tire person until my E90 had them when I bought it, now I'll never run an all-season again in the winter.

Story time, when I had my E90 I was heading down to Little Rock for work. I hit the northern Iowa border about midnight, had the cruise set at 80 and the music blaring. Noticed a fine mist on the windshield in oncoming vehicles headlights that you otherwise wouldnt notice, looked at the outside temp and it was 28F. Thought to myself "oh shit", clicked off cruise and the ass end started waving around. It took me at least a mile to slow enough, I had to use engine braking mostly. Not far after the State Patrol was trying to slow folks down, vehicles everywhere, semis overturned in the ditch. The next hour was 30mph driving on ice, and the next 6 hours was a snow storm. If it hadn't been for the winter tires theres no way I would have stayed on the road at 80mph before I realized it was slippery. They were Hankook i-Pike, best winters I had on the E90. Unfortunately cant get them for the X5 so now I'm rocking Blizzak DM-V2. They are decent, good in snow, but wander a little on semi-slick surfaces.

[Qsilver7]

I'm running Yokohama BluEarths dedicated winter tires (in a 20" staggered set-up mounted to e53 Style 87 wheels) and I'm not having any issues at all. Since 2003 I've had various versions of Michelin winter tires (Alpins/X-ice/etc). But this year I went with Yoko BluEarths and they've been excellent this winter. In the last two weeks were the initial 8.6" snow fall blanketed everything...and since then more snow, some melt which brings a layer of ice, and more snow (like this morning).

I thought the 315/35/20 rears were going to hinder traction and handling significantly since I've normally gone 1 or 2-minus sizes down for winter tires...but it hasn't stopped me a bit. The rear tires are about a foot wide...but the rubber compound, sipes, & tread pattern are getting the job done.

If you live in snow country where varied winter driving conditions/situation can occur...as many have stated...dedicated winter tires are the way to go. Much less white knuckle driving situations occur with dedicated winters.