Gilgorm

I put Michelin X-Ice on my car last winter. My car turned into a tank. Four good snows and a common sense use of the throttle will keep you going in all kinds of weather.
At the first sign of snow, head to the largest unoccupied parking lot you can find and fling your car around to get to understand how it handles on snow. Aside from being great fun you'll learn how the car accelerates and brakes in slippery conditions. I go every year as a refresher. Try it with the DTC on and off. There are times in deep snow when the car moves better with the DTC off.

bimmerzone

Get snow tires... end of story

@mr

+1

And Antti.. man.... open field + snow + RWD =

Anzafin

If you're referring to the pics, that's actually a lake.

forever5

http://www.autosock.us/

give these a look.

matttytn2

do they work- snow socks

Brent P

Save yourself a lot of grief and do three things.

1) Get a good set of four snow tires (not just two in the rear). Rear tires are for acceleration, front tires are for steering and braking.

2) Learn how to drive in the snow. Next time it snows, find a big open parking lot that hasn't been plowed and have some fun learning how to control and brake the car.

3) Finally, my secret tip for turning your car from having 'so so' winter performance into a snowmobile, by comparison. Buy yourself four sandbags and position two over each wheel in your trunk (oops, I mean 'boot' for U.K. friends). The difference in rear wheel grip will be astounding and instead of spinning your tires in deep snow or at the bottom of a steep hill, you will be able to navigate most conditions with ease.

Ding Ding.... School's Out.

Edit: One more trick I'll add for those who have automatic transmissions. If it's slippery and you're trying to stop (coming up to a stop light for example, where the snow/ice has been polished by skidding cars), put your car in neutral when you get down to about 10 kph. If you don't, there is enough torque that still goes through to the drive wheels even with your foot off the gas that the car will want to move forward. This causes you to apply a bit more brake than needed if it was in neutral, which may cause the front wheels to skid when braking, and that can make a 10-15 foot greater stopping distance and loss of steering control on a slippery surface... the difference between stopping and running into the back of someone stopped in front of you. This tip has even greater value for front wheel drive cars where the drive and main braking force are coming from the same set of wheels. Of course, if you're fortunate enough to drive a manual transmission, simply depress the clutch when you get close to stopping to reduce skidding the front tires. My wife, who moved from California to be with me in Canada, says this tip made the biggest difference to her winter driving safety... and she drives an X3.

Scoops

I live in Montreal. I have an XI + some good winter tires and I didn't have one problem all winter. I drove through our worst blizzards last year and I was perfectly fine.

JohnC

I'm surprised no one else mentioned the xi. I know some people love there RWD, but once I got my first AWD, I have never bought anything else. I grew up learning to deal with the snow and a '69 Firebird 400, so it's not that I can't drive a RWD in the snow. I also never have to deal with changing to snow tires in the winter. Once they are on you have to deal with driving on them when there is no snow. If you live where they plow quickly, they are more of a pain in the ass. I also must say that the AWD also works great in heavy rain also.

Razzy530

+ 1,000,000 . I COMPLETELY AGREE