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      12-16-2016, 08:22 AM   #1
ClevelandBeemer
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What xDrive? I don't need it!!!

I just wanted to share my experience with my rwd 335i 6 speed manual. I live in Cleveland where we had a good amount of snow yesterday. My 335i is equipped with Michelin X-Ice snow tires and didn't skip a beat. At no point did I get stuck or lose confidence driving the car. So for those of you thinking you need an xDrive car because it snows in your area, think again.



This is not me stuck. I just stopped for photos.







Thats two weeks now driving at times in 12"+ of snow. Save some money. Save some weight. Come over to the rear-wheel-drive darkside!!!
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      12-16-2016, 08:28 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ClevelandBeemer View Post
I just wanted to share my experience with my rwd 335i 6 speed manual. I live in Cleveland where we had a good amount of snow yesterday. My 335i is equipped with Michelin X-Ice snow tires and didn't skip a beat. At no point did I get stuck or lose confidence driving the car. So for those of you thinking you need an xDrive car because it snows in your area, think again.

[IMG]http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...pshuvayjqd.jpg[/IMG]

This is not me stuck. I just stopped for photos.

[IMG]http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...psuf5o9rlj.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...psr9lpds2u.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...psqqxnlutf.jpg[/IMG]

Thats two weeks now driving at times in 12"+ of snow. Save some money. Save some weight. Come over to the rear-wheel-drive darkside!!!
X-ice are amazing. I have a 340 RWD. Auto. We don't get Cleveland snow in SE PA, but I have never had any issue. My traction control light does not even come on.
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      12-17-2016, 08:30 AM   #3
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Did you have to use Sport+ or ESP off? When do we need it?
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      12-17-2016, 01:23 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by mbfanos View Post
Did you have to use Sport+ or ESP off? When do we need it?
I would say it depends. If you are starting in the deep stuff I like to have the traction control in the middle setting...dynamic traction control I think it is called. This means either turning it to sport+ or just pressing the traction off button once if in sport, comfort or eco mode. This allows some tire spin and the best traction on snow getting moving. This traction mode works good for driving around and allows you to have a little more fun but not really get in to much trouble.

With traction control fully on the power gets cut too easily and the tires never slip. I find it isn't as good for getting moving off stop lights or in deeper snow. Once I am out driving on around...not in stop light traffic but on open roads the full traction control works really well. If you apply too much throttle it stops wheels spin or loss of traction really quickly.

Holding the traction control off button down till it turns the traction control fully off is for playing around in open parking lots only! You can have a blast
and drift the car around all day. However, you can also spin the car in a straight line with ease. Fun in a parking lot...not good on the streets.
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      12-17-2016, 10:49 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by vanbmw View Post
I would say it depends. If you are starting in the deep stuff I like to have the traction control in the middle setting...dynamic traction control I think it is called. This means either turning it to sport+ or just pressing the traction off button once if in sport, comfort or eco mode. This allows some tire spin and the best traction on snow getting moving. This traction mode works good for driving around and allows you to have a little more fun but not really get in to much trouble.

With traction control fully on the power gets cut too easily and the tires never slip. I find it isn't as good for getting moving off stop lights or in deeper snow. Once I am out driving on around...not in stop light traffic but on open roads the full traction control works really well. If you apply too much throttle it stops wheels spin or loss of traction really quickly.

Holding the traction control off button down till it turns the traction control fully off is for playing around in open parking lots only! You can have a blast
and drift the car around all day. However, you can also spin the car in a straight line with ease. Fun in a parking lot...not good on the streets.
Well, this is my first real winter since I'm from CA haha. I got a chance to try sport+ in snow this morning in Nashua, NH. Whenever I was in sport+, the tail wiggled too easily. I realized that eco pro could get me going from a stop the best because I could go easy on the gas. The easier I went with gas, the less wiggling the car was. Once I got speed, as you said, full traction control worked like a champ
Me in a RWD passed all the trucks and SUVs on the freeway with ease
However, I still think I should buy a cheap ass <$10k AWD like a Subaru for those early morning heavy snow days. Also, I drive around with winter tire only guarantees me 50% safety. The other 50% come from people with winter tires (not so many) and all season tires (a lot of them). I don't want my babe to get hit haha.
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      12-18-2016, 06:35 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ClevelandBeemer View Post
I just wanted to share my experience with my rwd 335i 6 speed manual. I live in Cleveland where we had a good amount of snow yesterday. My 335i is equipped with Michelin X-Ice snow tires and didn't skip a beat. At no point did I get stuck or lose confidence driving the car. So for those of you thinking you need an xDrive car because it snows in your area, think again.



This is not me stuck. I just stopped for photos.







Thats two weeks now driving at times in 12"+ of snow. Save some money. Save some weight. Come over to the rear-wheel-drive darkside!!!
+1.

This is my experience in my RWD 335i with Michelin X-Ice Xi-3 tires.

xDrive in a 335i doesn't offer significantly better deep snow performance since the main problem is the lack of ground clearance with these vehicles.

If it's the deep stuff, I'll just use the BMW X3 35i.
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      12-18-2016, 07:51 AM   #7
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That's awesome. I have Nokian Haka R2's on my f80 M3, and have no problem getting around in the white stuff.

BUT ... truth be told, xDrive does a much better job. Even with all seasons. The problem with xDrive is that it is a compromise 100% the time, when you only ever need it 5% of the time.
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      12-19-2016, 07:53 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mbfanos View Post
Did you have to use Sport+ or ESP off? When do we need it?
ESP off if I'm having fun otherwise I'm driving in comfort mode.
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      12-20-2016, 10:14 AM   #9
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must be a east sider of cleveland.
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      12-21-2016, 04:17 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mbfanos View Post
Well, this is my first real winter since I'm from CA haha. I got a chance to try sport+ in snow this morning in Nashua, NH. Whenever I was in sport+, the tail wiggled too easily. I realized that eco pro could get me going from a stop the best because I could go easy on the gas. The easier I went with gas, the less wiggling the car was. Once I got speed, as you said, full traction control worked like a champ
Me in a RWD passed all the trucks and SUVs on the freeway with ease
However, I still think I should buy a cheap ass <$10k AWD like a Subaru for those early morning heavy snow days. Also, I drive around with winter tire only guarantees me 50% safety. The other 50% come from people with winter tires (not so many) and all season tires (a lot of them). I don't want my babe to get hit haha.
Hey, I was having some fun in the same area last Saturday, in the afternoon I was exploring industrial parks off 101A in Merrimack/Nashua, found some good ones and had a lot of fun drifting in sport+ with some young kid in a Civic SI. Shows my maturity level. I've been around here for a while but this is my first BMW. It's an xDrive with Pirelli Sottozeros, working pretty well so far. Handles the snow like a champ but in Sport+ it feels much more tail-happy than any of my Audi A4s ever did. Fun combo so far.
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      12-22-2016, 09:11 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Nodge View Post
Hey, I was having some fun in the same area last Saturday, in the afternoon I was exploring industrial parks off 101A in Merrimack/Nashua, found some good ones and had a lot of fun drifting in sport+ with some young kid in a Civic SI. Shows my maturity level. I've been around here for a while but this is my first BMW. It's an xDrive with Pirelli Sottozeros, working pretty well so far. Handles the snow like a champ but in Sport+ it feels much more tail-happy than any of my Audi A4s ever did. Fun combo so far.
That's because Sport+ gives you much more play room before traction/stability control intervenes.
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      12-22-2016, 09:34 AM   #12
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That's because Sport+ gives you much more play room before traction/stability control intervenes.
Right, that was my point! More tail-happy in Sport+ is a good thing in my book.
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      12-22-2016, 11:29 AM   #13
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Right, that was my point! More tail-happy in Sport+ is a good thing in my book.
I agree! I bought my RWD F33 435i to replace my AWD G37 coupe. I can honestly saw that between these two cars, I'm much happier with the RWD 435i/winter tires compared to the G37/DWS tires. The G37 nannies also made it hard to have fun.

I'm using Michelin Alpin PA4 winter tires and the car is impressive in the snow/sleet and never feels unsafe or at risk of getting stuck. I can't say the same about my outgoing G37. I'd imagine xDrive with snow tires is the ultimate snow performance, but much more than I need on streets that are plowed relatively quick. I prefer the feel of the RWD over the couple days I may marginally benefit from AWD. Not to mention the small bump in MPGs! (Not like anyone in cars like these are most concerned about fuel economy. lol)
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      12-23-2016, 12:43 AM   #14
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must be a east sider of cleveland.
You got it. Painesville/Mentor area.
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