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BMW 5-Series (G30) Forum 2017+ BMW 5 Series (G30) General Discussions Snow / G30 / X-drive

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      01-09-2019, 02:32 PM   #23
ExGMan
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I had an E60 530xi. It was OK in the Boston, MA, USA area for winter driving, but the all-season Continentals were mostly useless in Vermont and Upper New York State. I put on Nokian winter tires, and it turned the E60 into a tractor. A remarkable difference.

I haven't had the G30 with Pirelli P7 All-Seasons in the snow yet, but imagine it will be OK in the winter. If I were a skier and headed north every weekend in the winter, I'd be sure to change to winter tires. I just don't need a tractor in the Boston area.
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      01-09-2019, 03:02 PM   #24
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Thank you all for your replies.
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      01-09-2019, 09:48 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Black View Post
I got an xDrive 530D because the street I live in is impossible in any snow. However as it came with 19" summer wheels I got a set of 18" Bmw alloy winter wheels from my local dealer. 19s are presently being stored by them. Only had one short blast of snow so far and it drove up no problem at all, much better than my last front wheel drive car on winters. So xDrive definitely helps but as others have said the rubber makes the bigger difference.
Also for anyone else wondering I have the blue m-sport brakes and the 18" wheels fit just fine.

The LED headlights on the other hand are totally useless in a snow storm, not enough heat to stop snow accumulation and rapidly get covered. I don't have washer jets and stopping on a motorway to clear is not an option. Serious design flaw which means even with the tyres sorted the car is heavily compromised at night in snow.
Interesting about the LED headlights. I never thought about the heat from the older fashion lights. We don't have a headlight washer option in the US so we are screwed.
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      01-09-2019, 10:14 PM   #26
clee1982
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maybe in the future they'll add in some heating unit in it (both front and back), that would be a better solution than headlight washer if you ask me
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      01-09-2019, 11:12 PM   #27
saporitj
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clee1982 View Post
maybe in the future they'll add in some heating unit in it (both front and back), that would be a better solution than headlight washer if you ask me
They heat the outside mirrors so no reason they can't heat the lights.
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      01-10-2019, 07:22 AM   #28
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Past week been snow, i use 20inch vredestein wintrac xtreme s tyres. Non run flat tyres at resonable price.
European made, 3 star rated.

20 inch winter tyres are very expensive and hard to find. But I wanted stay on 20inch rim, already bought new set for summer. (M.performance ones).

Much better than goodyear asymetric that comes with car in snow driving.

X drive does the job but with correct tyres.

This is my first bmw with awd. I alwayes had audi with quattro.

X drive seems try to pull to fast vs compared ro quattro. That trying to put more torq at slower speed.

When temp drops to 5C goodyears start to spin slowly. With winter tyres never experienced it. I have a small hill just down the road... summer tyres are good for temp +5C

When there cold are tend to spin.
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      01-10-2019, 10:14 AM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin30x View Post
Past week been snow, i use 20inch vredestein wintrac xtreme s tyres. Non run flat tyres at resonable price.
European made, 3 star rated.

20 inch winter tyres are very expensive and hard to find. But I wanted stay on 20inch rim, already bought new set for summer. (M.performance ones).

Much better than goodyear asymetric that comes with car in snow driving.

X drive does the job but with correct tyres.

This is my first bmw with awd. I alwayes had audi with quattro.

X drive seems try to pull to fast vs compared ro quattro. That trying to put more torq at slower speed.

When temp drops to 5C goodyears start to spin slowly. With winter tyres never experienced it. I have a small hill just down the road... summer tyres are good for temp +5C

When there cold are tend to spin.


Martin,
What was your Audi's model?

Can you compare Audi's Quattro vs. BMW's X-drive?
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      01-10-2019, 05:23 PM   #30
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Audi s4 b9 avant quattro , petrol.

I had A6 C7 quattro tdi too.

Now I have 540i x drive.

To be honest, quattro is much better. All way round.

The way it works, nice at slower speed of wheel with high torq vs x drive that feels like start to spinning wheels to fast with high torq.

Its like trying to do something to fast.

Its like walking on ice, you can keep some good grip by walking slow (smart) instead of trying to walk to fast and slip...


Thats how x drive works, 4matic its similar.


Audi quattro systems is smart vs x drive.


And x drive it seems to give to much power to front wheels. (Not balancing them like audi quattro system).

Quattro is on the market for long time... x drive isnt..

S4 and 540i are very similar in bhp and torq.

Both petrol. Comparison is fair. I think.

I like the bmw look. But handling, suspension, quattro system is much better than my 540i m sport.

S4 was far to loud (stock). Annoying. Even armytrix fitted on 540i is no match to what was fitted in factory to s4.

Hope this helps
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      01-11-2019, 11:44 AM   #31
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Quattro vs Xdrive

Don't know whether Quattro is better than Xdrive..

In fact, if this test is relevant to real life (would presume so) then if anything Xdrive has a slight edge..



What I do notice is that when four wheel drive cars go out in the ditch here in Sweden during the winter, the damage is usually quite high - indicative of a too high speed for the road conditions.

My old E46 with rear wheels driven would squirm and indicate quite early on that grip was in short supply. The 540i is like a steam roller... until you start braking and realise how little grip there actually is.

When it comes to braking then there is no difference between a two or four-wheel driven car...
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      01-11-2019, 11:53 AM   #32
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In another publication the Xdrive does even better than the quattro, see here.

.

The quattro seems to struggle quite a bit with just one driven wheel..


They need to start poking on and off all manner of systems to make it move.. Not really that impressive.

How much of this translates to real world driving is hard for me to judge. I know that Audis generally project more "safety" and calmness on wintry roads, because they have like 60% of the weight over (or in front of) the front axle, while the BMWs can feel loose over the rears, but when the Audi starts loosing grip it just ploughs in the direction where it came from. It's understeer, understeer understeer..
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      01-11-2019, 01:54 PM   #33
Martin30x
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550 and sq7 ... comparison isnt right. should be x5 or x6 compared to SQ7

Compare S6, S7 to 550.. anyway..


As you can see clearly from above video. What I mensioned. X drive does things to quick. But in real world, on real driving conditions x drive sucks... vs quattro.

Just putting to much power to wheels ending in loosing grip.

You need to drive car, x drive and quattro by yourself to see things and in snow.






Below are better comparison. Same type of cars


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      01-12-2019, 09:30 AM   #34
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Here is more honest, non sponsored either by bmw, audi or mb test...

Same type of cars with similar weight and size,power, fuel
Not mixed petrol w diesel.. like someone showed above...

Had a6 avant 3.0tdi quattro. Never had a single problem in area where I live, same with s4 avant quattro

Where current 540i x drive... slip... and goes side ways driving up the hill where I live for years. When It snow I can still manage to get home. However it is noticable... it not right.

Every single day I am going thru the same road...


When I drove up the hill in snow, is more like going fine and at some point front wheels start spinning or rear. Its like "smart logic" getting lost. Delivering to soon to much power to wheels and slip...


Take a test drive at dealer when it snow and compare youself xdrive vs quattro.







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