[kosmokratur]

I bought my M550 (2018) just over a year ago. One of my hopes for it is that it would easily climb out of my property in winter. We've been at this house for 17 years and I have always had big issues getting my e38's and e39's up to the main road, even with fresh Blizzaks. Mrs. is smarter and has always gone for SUV's.

We just had our first real snow last night - about 8 inches or so. I'm on 245/45R18 Pilot Alpins. It climbed out like the e39 does in July. Not a trace of slip or drama. I am delighted and impressed. I will still keep it out of the slush as much as I can but it is good to know the capability is there when/if I need it!

[430Scud]

It's all in the tires. I took mine out in the snow last month, after it was plowed, just to test out the car...I have Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires...they sucked as expected. Car was no better than my E39 540 M-Sport daily driver with summer tires. Infact cornering was worse with the car wanting to kick the tail out very easily on turns.

[NTTY]

Originally Posted by kosmokratur

I bought my M550 (2018) just over a year ago. One of my hopes for it is that it would easily climb out of my property in winter. We've been at this house for 17 years and I have always had big issues getting my e38's and e39's up to the main road, even with fresh Blizzaks. Mrs. is smarter and has always gone for SUV's.

We just had our first real snow last night - about 8 inches or so. I'm on 245/45R18 Pilot Alpins. It climbed out like the e39 does in July. Not a trace of slip or drama. I am delighted and impressed. I will still keep it out of the slush as much as I can but it is good to know the capability is there when/if I need it!

Yeah, thanks to x-drive and Michelin (amazing tires). I remember years ago using my E38 or E39 (RWD), it was fun but much longer to go from point A to B in mountains and deep snow :-)

Note that with a RWD and a proper limited slip differential, I got stuck only once (I was using a Quaife at the time on a small 135i, and this differential acts as an open diff when 0 adherence, like a Torsen, so one wheel spins and the other gets 0 torque, since there's no torque to transfer to the road). I never got stuck with my M3 F82 (electronically LSD managed) and drove it a lot on snow to get everyday to a ski resort where my daughter's school was.

If you drive the M550i with DSC completely off, the car becomes tail happy (2018 models have don't have the rear LSD), it will easily oversteer. That is fun and you still get a good control as the DSC will continue to split power and torque between front and rear wheels. Be careful if you want to give it a try, the car is heavy and long, you could hit something or worse injure someone.

I also tested the Alpina B5 and new M550i with rear LSD on top of the xdrive, and they are more efficient in snow. But it's less fun in my opinion as they will lose grip later, but it's safer indeed.

Enjoy your car!