[Bonny_23]

If I have to choose between a 2018 Xdrive msport vs a msport? which one would you suggest?

In terms of maintenance and cost of ownership, is there any major difference.

[BWilson263]

Originally Posted by Bonny_23

If I have to choose between a 2018 Xdrive msport vs a msport? which one would you suggest?

In terms of maintenance and cost of ownership, is there any major difference.

I would assume both would be the same. Both are the same car depending on options and the xdrive or are you asking the difference of a Msport and a M car?

[RonronEG]

The need for xDrive depends on the weather you'll be driving in. If you plan on driving the car in any sort of snow, get the xDrive. Yeah there are more maintenance costs but for the most part it's negligible and I haven't seen too many issues regarding xDrive repairs on the forums.

[AP]

You don’t mention which engine but I’d also say xdrive enables you to apply the power keepin the car stable

Depends upon your driving skills . I’m not a racing driving but I find xdrive gives me a lot of confidence on those occasions where rear wheel drive may lose grip under higher power settings

You may prefer the purer driving feel of rwd only though as th front wheels just do the steering rather than help out with power.

[Joe-BMW33]

X-drive isn’t all about snow, but it is certainly a must if you have any snow in your parts.

That said, power to all the wheels has a positive impact on cornering and powering through corners. I would opt for the X drive car for this reason.

[Alscoob]

X-Drive while helping in poor weather conditions (with the right tyres) and in spirited driving, while good, does have some disadvantages.

The main issue I have is the fact that tyre wear and sizes front to rear in x-drive are critical with little tollerance and if you use non * rated tyres and have a warranty issue with the system, BMW could well blame the use of non approved tyres. So your choice of rubber is limited and more expensive.

So, say your tyres are at 4mm rear & 5mm fronts and you have to replace a front tyre, you can't have a new tyre 7 -8mm tread on the same axle as a 5mm tread depth, so you have to replace both, but then the front tyres will be way out of tollerance (1%) allowed with the rear, so before you know where you are it's a new set of tyres all round!

Non x-drive - while you still want a fair degree of similarity with tread depths, in the above scenario you could just replace both the fronts without issue.

Having come from non x-drive F31 330d & 340i I can certainly say that I preferred the two wheel drive option as a drivers car and... never had a problem in snow etc with the tyres for the occasion. A 2 wheel drive car with winter tyres is far better than a 4 wheel drive on summer tyres. Unfortunately here in the UK they ditched the 2 wheel drive option in the bigger engined cars some time ago so I had no drive options with the 540.

Just my thoughts hope it helps.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by Alscoob

X-Drive while helping in poor weather conditions (with the right tyres) and in spirited driving, while good, does have some disadvantages.

The main issue I have is the fact that tyre wear and sizes front to rear in x-drive are critical with little tollerance and if you use non * rated tyres and have a warranty issue with the system, BMW could well blame the use of non approved tyres. So your choice of rubber is limited and more expensive.

So, say your tyres are at 4mm rear & 5mm fronts and you have to replace a front tyre, you can't have a new tyre 7 -8mm tread on the same axle as a 5mm tread depth, so you have to replace both, but then the front tyres will be way out of tollerance (1%) allowed with the rear, so before you know where you are it's a new set of tyres all round!

Non x-drive - while you still want a fair degree of similarity with tread depths, in the above scenario you could just replace both the fronts without issue.

Having come from non x-drive F31 330d & 340i I can certainly say that I preferred the two wheel drive option as a drivers car and... never had a problem in snow etc with the tyres for the occasion. A 2 wheel drive car with winter tyres is far better than a 4 wheel drive on summer tyres. Unfortunately here in the UK they ditched the 2 wheel drive option in the bigger engined cars some time ago so I had no drive options with the 540.

Just my thoughts hope it helps.

Good points overall. X-drive is certainly higher maintenance. Just so you know, star rated tires are not any more expensive than the same tire without the star rating. You can look on Tire Rack to confirm. You also don’t have to get star rated tires from the dealer, as shown on Tire Rack, so you aren’t bound to dealer prices for the tire or the install.

[Alscoob]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

Good points overall. X-drive is certainly higher maintenance. Just so you know, star rated tires are not any more expensive than the same tire without the star rating. You can look on Tire Rack to confirm. You also don’t have to get star rated tires from the dealer, as shown on Tire Rack, so you aren’t bound to dealer prices for the tire or the install.

Here in the jolly old UK they like to charge extra for * or specific manufacturers spec tyres, buggers they are !!

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by Alscoob

Here in the jolly old UK they like to charge extra for * or specific manufacturers spec tyres, buggers they are !!

Agh, yeah, I'm a typical American, thinking we are the center of the universe.

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by Alscoob

Here in the jolly old UK they like to charge extra for * or specific manufacturers spec tyres, buggers they are !!

When I bought my mps4 zp's they were around £9 per tyre more expensive for the star marked….an extra £36 wasn’t enough for me to worry about in the grand scheme of things

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

Agh, yeah, I'm a typical American, thinking we are the center of the universe.

You don’t pay for your bloody TYRES anyways…

[Alscoob]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

When I bought my mps4 zp's they were around £8 per tyre more expensive for the star marked….an extra £36 wasn’t enough for me to worry about in the grand scheme of things

There was me looking to save money using Goodyears, when I looked the * ones were a fair bit more than the non & in go flats.

Agree £36 makes no odds when your in the Michelin price bracket.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

You don’t pay for your bloody TYRES anyways…

Fair point, hahaha.

[Neusser]

If you want a driver's car RWD is the answer.

The steering is uncorrupted and the front wheels benefit from the division of labor.

I went Xdrive on my car (due to regular jaunts to the Alps), but I still miss RWD.

That said, Xdrive is better than most of the other systems, as it acts like a Haldex the right way 'round. Mostly RWD, with intervention in the front as needed.

Still, I'd be happy to lose the weight and get the purity of RWD back sometimes.