X5 S Drive in Snow

[Keithwand]

Live in Florida so no problem.
Does anyone drive this car in snow? I have the staggered 20s and will be getting All Seasons.
If I get transferred back to MI will this vehicle be driveable?

[Rox335i]

Should be driveable with all seasons in the winter time. Just more wheel spin on accelerations. But, all my cars now have winter tires. If your worried, just get some winter tires. Got my tires and rims for only 1.5k.

[jo2134]

Rear wheel drive in the snow is a no go, speaking from experience =(

[Delooney]

I drive my sdrive in Alaska with no problems. Running the Hakka 8's studded (same size as staggered 469's) combined with the great traction control on this car. I had the same issue as you; Lived and bought the car in Texas, then got transferred to Alaska.

Really for me the only issue is slow uphills, but I avoid those with route planning.

[Rotzy]

Originally Posted by jo2134

Rear wheel drive in the snow is a no go, speaking from experience =(

We drove a 335i convertible in the snow for 4 years with no problems. Bridgestone Blizzak tires made all the difference. It won't be as good as an AWD or even front wheel drive vehicle, but it will certainly be drivable as long as you get the right tires.

[TOPEC]

Originally Posted by Delooney

I drive my sdrive in Alaska with no problems. Running the Hakka 8's studded (same size as staggered 469's) combined with the great traction control on this car. I had the same issue as you; Lived and bought the car in Texas, then got transferred to Alaska.

Really for me the only issue is slow uphills, but I avoid those with route planning.

Well ur on studded tires, that will make a HUGE difference in traction. To answer OP's question, RWD with dedicated snow tires will work in the snow to a certain extent. On most flat surfaces RWD will do just fine, its getting up the hills that may be a problem.

[Silververtu]

Get a set of winter wheels with narrower tires, 255 width rather than stagger 275/315, should be sufficient.

My past 3 cars were all RWD and I had no trouble during winter, including driving in snow storms. The Cayman actually struggled the most (twice in 3 winters) but it's due to low ground clearance than the traction itself. I live in hilly area with lake effect snows to give you some perspective.

[Keithwand]

All great ideas and comments. Thanks.

[Rox335i]

I'm still driving my RWD 335i in the snow during big snowstorms. If you know how to drive a RWD in the snow, you'll be fine.

[Falafel Combo]

I drove my M3 year round. Surely, you can drive your X5 as well with the right tires.



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[Keithwand]

Hate to age myself but grew up with bias ply rear drive cars. Lived in MI until moving to FL in 2004. Had AWD while there but prefer rear drive here. Nice thing is if it snows I just won’t go out right away.

[Florida-X3]

Just get some Blizzaks, when we lived in a snow climate we put them on the wifes G37 coupe, without them it was pretty much undrivable in snow.

[M302_imola]

Originally Posted by Falafel Combo

I drove my M3 year round. Surely, you can drive your X5 as well with the right tires.



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That Phoenix yellow

[23109VC]

I have a follow up question to this thread... I Just bought a CPO X5 sDrive 35i. My car came with the 20" staggered wheels, and the tires on it are brand new Bridgestone Dueler H/P - summer tires. 275s up front and 315s in the back. They look fantastic on the Y spoke wheels... I live in Southern California and the car will be in so cal 99% of the time... I do take my family up to the snow 1-2 x year. We typically go up in the busy season when kids out of school when most of the roads are being plowed.. sometims Mammoth and sometimes Tahoe. I am not offroading or heading into any places where you would encounter deep snow - of course aside form a storm hitting whiel I'm there... My trips will consist of heading to our cabin and the ski resorts, stores, etc... the times I have been on these trips, I"ve never encountered "deep" snow, but have run into mild snow on the raods... my prior car was an MDX with SH-AWD which had all seasons. I never needed chains with that car and it handled what I encountered fine.

with this X5, sicne I have summer tires, I'm trying to determine the best route to deal with my 1-2 times per year trips to the snow.

I could put on all season onto my 20" wheels..but i'd still have really wide tires, which I believe is not ideal for snow...

my plan is to keep my 20" summer tires for year round driving - and enjoy them.. and to pickup a cheap set of 18" wheels and put winter tires on them. since i'm only in the dnow for a week or two out of the year tops... the tires would last me several years or more as they would not see a lot of use.. and I would not expect them to really wear out excessively even if I drove them in the dry so cal roads on my way up to the winter areas...they'd be on the car for 500 miles up and 500 miles down... then off the car and in storage until the next trip.

what would be the best / cheapest wheel tire to get? should I Look for used BMW wheels, or would any aftermarket wheel work? any recommendations on a good snow tire?

I was thinking of used BMW take off wheels - and getting the 255-55-18 which I belive is a stock wheel/tire size for the F15... I don't care if it looks small or wimpy... it's just for snow/safety.. I can put my nice 20s back on when I am home in the sun.

thanks for any advice! I am really enjoying my "new to me" X5. it is a beautiful car, drives wonderful, and is a huge upgrade from my OLD 2007 MDX.

thanks.

[DuSh]

Originally Posted by 23109VC

I have a follow up question to this thread... I Just bought a CPO X5 sDrive 35i. My car came with the 20" staggered wheels, and the tires on it are brand new Bridgestone Dueler H/P - summer tires. 275s up front and 315s in the back. They look fantastic on the Y spoke wheels... I live in Southern California and the car will be in so cal 99% of the time... I do take my family up to the snow 1-2 x year. We typically go up in the busy season when kids out of school when most of the roads are being plowed.. sometims Mammoth and sometimes Tahoe. I am not offroading or heading into any places where you would encounter deep snow - of course aside form a storm hitting whiel I'm there... My trips will consist of heading to our cabin and the ski resorts, stores, etc... the times I have been on these trips, I"ve never encountered "deep" snow, but have run into mild snow on the raods... my prior car was an MDX with SH-AWD which had all seasons. I never needed chains with that car and it handled what I encountered fine.

with this X5, sicne I have summer tires, I'm trying to determine the best route to deal with my 1-2 times per year trips to the snow.

I could put on all season onto my 20" wheels..but i'd still have really wide tires, which I believe is not ideal for snow...

my plan is to keep my 20" summer tires for year round driving - and enjoy them.. and to pickup a cheap set of 18" wheels and put winter tires on them. since i'm only in the dnow for a week or two out of the year tops... the tires would last me several years or more as they would not see a lot of use.. and I would not expect them to really wear out excessively even if I drove them in the dry so cal roads on my way up to the winter areas...they'd be on the car for 500 miles up and 500 miles down... then off the car and in storage until the next trip.

what would be the best / cheapest wheel tire to get? should I Look for used BMW wheels, or would any aftermarket wheel work? any recommendations on a good snow tire?

I was thinking of used BMW take off wheels - and getting the 255-55-18 which I belive is a stock wheel/tire size for the F15... I don't care if it looks small or wimpy... it's just for snow/safety.. I can put my nice 20s back on when I am home in the sun.

thanks for any advice! I am really enjoying my "new to me" X5. it is a beautiful car, drives wonderful, and is a huge upgrade from my OLD 2007 MDX.

thanks.

You again You posted same thing in 3 different threads. What's even funnier people answer to you and you still keep posting same thing lol. Ok, I'll shut up and let others answer. You win.

[Kzang]

Originally Posted by DuSh

You again You posted same thing in 3 different threads. What's even funnier people answer to you and you still keep posting same thing lol. Ok, I'll shut up and let others answer. You win.

Lol... you know what forget all the hassles of winter tires. Just go to enterprise and rent a awd suv for your 1 or 2 trips a year in the mountains.

[mpowered5]

Been driving rwd bmws since I got my license.

Always fitted with good winter tires. Drive accordingly and turn OFF your traction control when needed. Your TC can really cripple you when you need the go pedal to get out of a slide... Or when you want to put yourself into one.

[Rotzy]

Originally Posted by mpowered5

...Your TC can really cripple you when you need the go pedal to get out of a slide...

That may be true, but modern stability control systems do a great job of keeping you out of the slide in the first place! I would NOT recommend that most drivers turn off stability control as a rule when driving in winter weather. However, turning it off could be helpful to get you un-stuck once you've already gotten yourself into a "situation".

If your really worried about the 1-2 trips a year into wintery weather, either swap out the summer tires with all season tires (Continental DWS06 seems to be the favorite around here), buy a dedicated set of winter rims and tires (seems like a waste of money for you) or rent an AWD SUV.

[23109VC]

I got my winter tires on dedicated 18's. Not pretty looking but it worked great! Made it through some snow and ice and up some inclines where others without AWD or snow tires had to chain up.

It would've been better to have all wheel drive but the snow tires seem to be doing the trick!

Thanks to all for your input !!