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Sedans BMW 3-Series BMW 3-Series AWD - Pros and Cons
74 messages, Last post on Feb 04, 2008 at 4:16 PM
You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 17, 2008 9:14 am) It's all about the tires. At the end of the day, AWD is just that more of an advantage with snows as you have represented by your friend's experience in Tahoe.  Regards, OW |
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Replying to: shipo (Jan 16, 2008 1:31 pm) 
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Replying to: sedmund (Jan 17, 2008 9:16 pm) Best Regards, Shipo
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Replying to: shipo (Jan 18, 2008 5:12 am) A couple years ago, I upgraded my 325i for summer use by getting some new 17" wheels & tires, and was swapping them with the original 16" wheels and all-season tires for the winter. I got along OK with them, but when the original tires wore out I ordered the Dunlops from Tire Rack and had them mounted for about $600 or less. I could do the swapping myself, but I really don't want to take up the room to store the other set. So I pay $50 twice a year for swapping and storing the alternate wheels.
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Replying to: gordonwd (Jan 18, 2008 7:17 am)  Best Regards, Shipo |
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To those that are asking about choosing between RWD vs AWD, if you haven't already read through the thread titled "BMW 3-Series - AWD or RWD?", http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX/.f13ae3e/411, I thought message #356 posted by redsoxgirl on 11 Dec 07 made a lot of sense. My takeaway from that is "The fact that I may be willing to trade off superior dry weather handling for very good dry handling and all weather versitility [sic] is my personal choice". I would also suggest visiting the 3 series and 5 series threads at Bimmerfest for additional thoughts and discussion on this subject. I happen to be one who chose AWD, and I tend to take note of postings that highlight AWD. Given that, there have been two postings there that particulalry caught my attention. One was from a person who had previously owned RWD BMWs and used winter tires in the winter season, and now owns an AWD BMW also with winter tires in the winter season. The gist of his post is that he never failed to make it home with his RWD cars, but the AWD car provides a more secure and less nerve wracking experience. The other post was from a person in CT with a steep driveway and two BMWs, one a 7 series with winter tires and the other a 335Xi with all season tires. He said the 335Xi did much better going up his steep driveway than his 7 series. This was in the context of discussing the Eagle F1 all season tires which he has on his 335Xi. I have no idea if these individual posts were 1 sigma or 10 sigma, but I found them interesting. Bruce
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Replying to: bruceomega (Jan 18, 2008 7:50 am) Case in point, back in 2003 I severely broke my right leg and partially tore my foot off, and as such I had to let my California born and raised wife drive my 530i 5-Speed (with winter tires of course) while I got the family minivan (which I drove left footed). That winter we had just shy of ten feet of snow in our area and her daily commute was some seventy miles. Even though she had absolutely zero RWD experience driving in winter weather (in fact, very little winter weather experience of any kind), she had no problems driving my 5er to and from work every day, and never once did she say that driving in weather was even remotely a concern (in fact, she threatened to break my other leg when the first one healed so that she could keep driving my car). Thinking about this further, I suppose the individual who "had previously owned RWD BMWs" could have been comparing a 2007 vintage AWD car with say a mid to late 1990s car that didn't have the sophisticated DSC that my two RWD BMWs have had. Once as a test, I turned off the DSC on my 328i while I was climbing a snow covered hill and the rear end immediately tried to pass the front end. There is little doubt that I would have called that car "nerve wracking" in the snow were it not for the DSC. Best Regards, Shipo
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Replying to: shipo (Jan 18, 2008 8:09 am) I apologize if I wasn't clear in my wording that led to: describing the driving experience of a winter tire shod RWD BMW as "nerve wracking" compared to that of an all-season shod AWD BMW is disingenuous at best. That person had winter tires on both his former RWD cars and his current AWD car. There were no all season tires involved. Tires were the same in both cases. I do not remember if he indicated the vintage of the RWD BMWs he previously owned. The post regarding the 335Xi versus a 7 series, where all season tires were involved, was from a different person. I was intrigued with your comment: There is zero doubt that an AWD car with all-season tires will accelerate and/or climb better than a RWD car with winter rubber. I would have guessed the opposite, that the greater snow / ice traction of winter tires combined with the weight shift to the rear on an uphill, would have given the 7 the advantage. Thanks Bruce
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Replying to: bruceomega (Jan 18, 2008 12:55 pm) Not that it's exactly Apples-to-Apples, however, my neighbor across the street (the dude with the rediculous ~30 degree incline on his driveway) could occasionally climb his driveway in his all-season shod A6 Quattro when my winter tire shod 530i could not. I say occasionally, because even the A6 is challenged at getting up that driveway with pretty much anything more than a dusting of snow covering it. Best Regards, Shipo |
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Here is an excerpt of a post from xeye: I shoveled my way to the 335xi door, climbed in and drove out like it was mid-summer. (This was over 10" of unplowed snow.) I have 225 45R17 all-season tires on all corners. It really was no problem. No slippage, no DSC warning. Then I tried my wife's 318ti. Even with the "dry" spot where my car was, the RWD 318ti slipped and spun (with Toyo snows at all 4 corners) like a wild-car. I had to rock it and rev it high between R and 2nd to eventually get it out, not without risk to person and property. This is just one experience. For me, the 330xi exhibits the purposeful edge over the rwd in traction-starved conditions. For dead nuts on sport driving, RWD is KING. Choose your weapons wisely, lock/load , drive safely and stay aware. The bottom line is these cars are both high end examples of excellent vehicles. There really are no mistakes here. Regards, OW
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