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Sedans BMW 3-Series BMW 3-Series Sport Wagons
346 messages, Last post on Apr 01, 2008 at 8:03 PM
You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
I am considering upgrading my Subaru to a 325i wagon and am struggling with whether I need AWD or not. We live in northern CA but don't do the snow thing too much (1-2x per year), and the weather is mostly rainy in the winter months (very rainy!). I do like camping and in the past have found myself on fairly rutted, winding dirt roads for miles heading towards a trail head or stream access. I've always used a Subaru AWD and 4WD for these purposes and found it sure and reliable, but was it really necessary? Invariable I'd arrive somewhere feeling like an accomplished off roader only to find several sedans (Camery's, Honda's, etc.) already there. Can a 325i wagon with good tires handle this type of activity, and the occasional snow trip, or should I get the xi package? The A4 or a Saab is the other consideration.
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| I would recommend the 325iT. If you don't do much snow driving, it's not worth getting the AWD. AWD slows down the wagon significantly. I drove both versions before getting the AWD. RWD feels significantly lighter. You'll get better mileage as well. Sounds like a good all season tires is all you need. I felt the need to get AWD since we've been getting around 30 inches of snow a year in the northeast. | |
| Bob,I certainly hope you mean the 3.0 engine and not the 1.8t... That engine is fine in the Jetta and the Beetle but hardly appropriate in a $45k car(Canadian$). | |
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From the Department of Anal-Rententive Car Guys: after I wash my white car, I spray on that foam on the tires that makes them shiny. But then when I drive it, black specks (a lot) end up behind the wheels on the surface of the car, both behind the front and back wheels. It looks bad. Does anybody have a solution for this? Try a new product? Let it dry overnight? |
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Replying to: sapes (Apr 04, 2004 8:16 am) I live in north CA, and find that BMW's AWT to be far superior in handling to Subaru and Audi, and especially Volvo and Mercedes - forward balanced ones. It is not as good off road, but it still handles deep snow Tahoe trips better then many SUVs. AWD helps not only in snow and rain. Yeah, yourdrag racing time will take a slight hit - but in a curve it is far more stable and easy to handle for hard driving then RWD and FWD. |
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Replying to: djw7 (Oct 09, 2003 10:05 am) |
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Replying to: cabbatan1 (Feb 01, 2004 8:21 am)
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