[F82Tazmanian]

Hey F30 crew-

Planning to trade my 440xi in, and wanted some feedback. I have driven the F80 it a few times, and it is an abosolute monster no doubt. My only concern is if that excitement will wear off and then I have this stiff car to slog back and forth to work, and traction issues. Hence, the reason I am in this xdrive.

I had a 13' E90 M3 for a brief stint, and a few other rwd BMWs in the past. To be transparent in the NE, traction always was slightly an issue. Not from driver error, or not having snow tires but simply because below 50 degrees or in light rain that's just the nature of rwd. I am stuck between wanting the rawness of an M again, but not wanting to have to worry half the year with traction woes.

Any feedback is appreciated. My current list is RS3, F80, Macan S and maybe X5M. Not trying to go past 50-55k. RS3/X5 would be a small stretch obviously.

Thanks!

[F30lolz]

Don’t let the thought of NE weather stray you away from the car you want. Get the F80 if that’s what you really want and maybe pick up a $1000 AWD/4x4 beater for those snowy/icey days. My old e28 with snows did just fine in inclement weather back in NY.

[18340i]

Originally Posted by 440iGCCB

Hey F30 crew-

Planning to trade my 440xi in, and wanted some feedback. I have driven the F80 it a few times, and it is an abosolute monster no doubt. My only concern is if that excitement will wear off and then I have this stiff car to slog back and forth to work, and traction issues. Hence, the reason I am in this xdrive.

I had a 13' E90 M3 for a brief stint, and a few other rwd BMWs in the past. To be transparent in the NE, traction always was slightly an issue. Not from driver error, or not having snow tires but simply because below 50 degrees or in light rain that's just the nature of rwd. I am stuck between wanting the rawness of an M again, but not wanting to have to worry half the year with traction woes.

Any feedback is appreciated. My current list is RS3, F80, Macan S and maybe X5M. Not trying to go past 50-55k. RS3/X5 would be a small stretch obviously.

Thanks!

I'd throw a used GS-F into the ring if you can deal with rwd. Drove one on a track, was a lot of fun, the engine note is intoxicating.

[F82Tazmanian]

Originally Posted by F30lolz

Don’t let the thought of NE weather stray you away from the car you want. Get the F80 if that’s what you really want and maybe pick up a $1000 AWD/4x4 beater for those snowy/icey days. My old e28 with snows did just fine in inclement weather back in NY.

That was my other thought. Pick up a beater worst case.

[F82Tazmanian]

Originally Posted by 18340i

I'd throw a used GS-F into the ring if you can deal with rwd. Drove one on a track, was a lot of fun, the engine note is intoxicating.

I feel like I am the only one who loves that car! Something about it is such a throwback. I wanted to test it out, you just pushed me to do it lol

[stein_325i]

The W205 C63's are a good alternative. AWD + a glorious sounding V8

[F82Tazmanian]

Originally Posted by joshuastein55

The W205 C63's are a good alternative. AWD + a glorious sounding V8

Hmm unless I'm mistaken, no generation of the c63 had awd. E63 does tho

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by 440iGCCB

Hmm unless I'm mistaken, no generation of the c63 had awd. E63 does tho

Oh your right, my mistake must of confused the two.

[BigJack75]

Originally Posted by F30lolz

Don’t let the thought of NE weather stray you away from the car you want. Get the F80 if that’s what you really want and maybe pick up a $1000 AWD/4x4 beater for those snowy/icey days. My old e28 with snows did just fine in inclement weather back in NY.

Wow going from an M car to a $1000 beater would kill me. I’d suck it up and drive the m all year.

[chenry]

Originally Posted by F30lolz

Don't let the thought of NE weather stray you away from the car you want. Get the F80 if that's what you really want and maybe pick up a $1000 AWD/4x4 beater for those snowy/icey days. My old e28 with snows did just fine in inclement weather back in NY.

IMHO everyone should have a beater in the stable (ours as I've shared before is an early 2000's Mazda protege) / I love mine in fact mine just hung out at the U-Haul lot for the last three days without concern because we needed a van to pick up some stuff from Home Depot / my son and I returned the van and went to our beater and saw a large scratch on the bumper (I think someone backed into it) I said to my son "I don't think that was there before" he said "nope it wasn't" and we both said "oh well" got in and drove away

The BMWs stayed safely at home in the garage - thanks beater for taking one for the team

[Gen13 F36]

I'm not driving a beater either.... beater has to be cool.... so now OP you have to buy that M3 and add that RS3 for your snow day😁

[kpgray]

I sold my xDrive F30 several years back for to get better handling and drive the RWD offers. The M-Sport version provided the stiffer suspension to get back the missing handling I craved. The xDrive's suspension is very soft. When I got my RWD, I picked up a set of dedicated winter wheels with Pirelli Sotozeros and have minimal issues (18" square Rims and tires ran about $2,500 with the TPMS installed). I live in Michigan and we certainly get our share of snow. The M3 has LSD (Limited Slip Differential), that is a plus for traction, where the xDrive and RWD do not have LSD. All models have the eDifferential traction control which uses the brakes to provide traction at both wheels, not as good as the LSD. As far as the stiffness of the F80, the standard non-competition model is softer and may be more palatable if that is a concern and it costs less. Also a smaller wheel is softer (19" vs. 20") as the sidewalls are larger and more forgiving. This Base model with 19" is the route I am considering myself for the same reasons you mentioned.

[F30lolz]

Originally Posted by jack10525

Wow going from an M car to a $1000 beater would kill me. I’d suck it up and drive the m all year.

Originally Posted by chenry

IMHO everyone should have a beater in the stable (ours as I've shared before is an early 2000's Mazda protege) / I love mine in fact mine just hung out at the U-Haul lot for the last three days without concern because we needed a van to pick up some stuff from Home Depot / my son and I returned the van and went to our beater and saw a large scratch on the bumper (I think someone backed into it) I said to my son "I don't think that was there before" he said "nope it wasn't" and we both said "oh well" got in and drove away

The BMWs stayed safely at home in the garage - thanks beater for taking one for the team

Back in NY I owned a e39 M5 and the e28 with snows. Crappy days the e28 took one for the team. Decent days it was the M5. Now mind you, my e28 was a 528eA, perhaps as slow as my 320! so the struggle was real.

But the e28 didn’t look too bad...

[F82Tazmanian]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

I'm not driving a beater either.... beater has to be cool.... so now OP you have to buy that M3 and add that RS3 for your snow day😁

you're the devil on my shoulder

[F82Tazmanian]

Originally Posted by kpgray

I sold my xDrive F30 several years back for to get better handling and drive the RWD offers. The M-Sport version provided the stiffer suspension to get back the missing handling I craved. The xDrive's suspension is very soft. When I got my RWD, I picked up a set of dedicated winter wheels with Pirelli Sotozeros and have minimal issues (18" square Rims and tires ran about $2,500 with the TPMS installed). I live in Michigan and we certainly get our share of snow. The M3 has LSD (Limited Slip Differential), that is a plus for traction, where the xDrive and RWD do not have LSD. All models have the eDifferential traction control which uses the brakes to provide traction at both wheels, not as good as the LSD. As far as the stiffness of the F80, the standard non-competition model is softer and may be more palatable if that is a concern and it costs less. Also a smaller wheel is softer (19" vs. 20") as the sidewalls are larger and more forgiving. This Base model with 19" is the route I am considering myself for the same reasons you mentioned.

Very helpful. Thank you so much for writing that up. I see you were similar to me, except I went backwards! I had a 340i rwd and picked up this awd. I will say even though the 340i was much sharper, it still wasn't quite there for me.

My only fear is the M excitement gets offset with when the payments sink in, maintenance costs, way stiffer ride/steering, road noise. I plan to keep this car for 5 years.

Alas, I can really only realize this once I have an M for more than a test drive.

Thanks for the feedback

[jmg]

I can't speak for X-Drive vs RWD, but I can say that the 446lb-ft of torque and summer tires on my M3 CS make driving in the rain very very interesting if you push it. I will say that the default DSC is very good and should keep you out of trouble. With M Dynamic you can have some fun. With DSC off you better have some experience. With the right tires and a light foot, it's perfectly fine in the wet. Snow... I don't know from lack of personal experience, but many F80 owners live in snowy parts of the country and they do just fine with a set of winter tires and wheels.

[PA4Series]

I second KPGrey's comments. Get a set of winter wheels and snow tires and enjoy the F80 all year long. I had a Infiniti M45 Sport which was real wheel drive only. I think it might have had an LSD as well, but not sure. I put Blizzacks on that on the stock wheels for winter. I had a aftermarket set of wheels and summer tires for summer. It was lowered a bit and I never had an issue in PA Winters. They aren't the same as New England winters, but we have our colder temps, rain and snow and the car was fine in everything other than a 22 inch blizzard we had and I don't think xDrive would have made a difference there.

PS. in case you are wondering, yes our 440i vert is an Xdrive car, but it's lowered to stiffen up the suspension since I didn't like the wallowing ride that came with the xDrive. But most importantly it's xDrive since it's my wife's daily driver. I didn't want to put here out there in the winter with just snow tires. If it was my daily, it would be an M4 vert with a winter set of wheels.

[F82Tazmanian]

Originally Posted by jmg

I can't speak for X-Drive vs RWD, but I can say that the 446lb-ft of torque and summer tires on my M3 CS make driving in the rain very very interesting if you push it. I will say that the default DSC is very good and should keep you out of trouble. With M Dynamic you can have some fun. With DSC off you better have some experience. With the right tires and a light foot, it's perfectly fine in the wet. Snow... I don't know from lack of personal experience, but many F80 owners live in snowy parts of the country and they do just fine with a set of winter tires and wheels.

Thanks for your input. I posted this in the M3 section as well and it seems everyone's a god with driving and refuses to admit that 420whp in cold or wet require a lot more attention.

I appreciate the honesty.

[F82Tazmanian]

Originally Posted by PA4Series

I second KPGrey's comments. Get a set of winter wheels and snow tires and enjoy the F80 all year long. I had a Infiniti M45 Sport which was real wheel drive only. I think it might have had an LSD as well, but not sure. I put Blizzacks on that on the stock wheels for winter. I had a aftermarket set of wheels and summer tires for summer. It was lowered a bit and I never had an issue in PA Winters. They aren't the same as New England winters, but we have our colder temps, rain and snow and the car was fine in everything other than a 22 inch blizzard we had and I don't think xDrive would have made a difference there.

PS. in case you are wondering, yes our 440i vert is an Xdrive car, but it's lowered to stiffen up the suspension since I didn't like the wallowing ride that came with the xDrive. But most importantly it's xDrive since it's my wife's daily driver. I didn't want to put here out there in the winter with just snow tires. If it was my daily, it would be an M4 vert with a winter set of wheels.

Thanks for your insight. And I agree, with winter tires it should be better than my car right now.

Nice 440 and i hear you on the wallowy drive. I did the full Dinan suspension + sways and shockware so it is night and day. Regardless, it is no M lol.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by 440iGCCB

Thanks for your input. I posted this in the M3 section as well and it seems everyone's a god with driving and refuses to admit that 420whp in cold or wet require a lot more attention.

I appreciate the honesty.

Lol yeah that's to be expected! It requires attention for sure, but a lot? I guess that's subjective. I can get sideways very easily on summer tires in the rain, but it's not like driving like a sane person is impossible.

[zamboni]

I made the move from F30 335i to F80 6MT and never look back really happy with the trade.

[arkitectonix]

@440iGCCB didn't you just get the car? That's gonna be a wash for you when you trade. What did they offer you vs what did you pay?