Where I live, there are really only 2-3 times per year that snow tires would help...so I'm not buying any. Just wondering if a couple 80lb bags of sand in the trunk would help or hurt. I rarely drive in those conditions, but thought weight might help when I have to go out. But then I also thought it might mess up the 50/50 weight distribution of the car would might make things worse. What do you think? I know it helps for RWD trucks, but the weight distrubution on those is all jacked up anyway.

I have a 530i with sport package so I have the 18inch Dunlop Runflats if that matters.

 

The extra weight wouldn't hurt but I'll tell you that it probably won't help much either.

The fat tires are going to hurt you the most. When it's cold, those tires will be hard as rocks. In addition, a wider footprint has less adhesion/traction in snow. Most importantly, the car will not stop if the road is slick. Sand in the trunk will most likely not help stop the car.

If you only have snow 2 or 3 times a year, I'd simply figure out alternate transportation and park the E60. It's not worth the risk of you sliding into someone or something...

 

We don't have much snow here also.. But I did buy the wintertires because they also work very well in lower temperatures..

The last time I heard that people were putting sandbags in their car was when I was 6 and everybody had a VW beetle..

 

Sandbags in the trunk only help to get the car moving. It won't help in braking or going around corners. The summers will pull you through those 2-3 times if you're careful enough and know what to do. A friend ran summers on his 330Ci for two winters here In any case, be careful!

 

The Beetle was one of the best cars I ever drove in snow. Two reasons...tall skinny tires and engine weight over the rear tires. Only place anyone could add sandbags would be in the trunk, over the front wheels...that wouldn't work

 

I know this may sound crazy to some , but I put two sand bags in my trunk for winter driving.
I have all-season 17's on my 545, and so far so good.
It is winter so I haven't done too much spirited driving, but it hasn't affected the normal handleing of the car.

This is just something I tried, I thought it wouldn't work , but it has and we have had some bad snow.
I will be buying a set of snows next year if I can make through this winter, and mount them on my stock 17 " wheels.

Maybe the extra weight of the V8 up front helps as the balance is 51/49 % I believe, and the added trunk weight balances it a bit more to 50/50.

I can say that preformace tires don't do too well in snow, but if you only get a little snow and are careful could be a fun adventure.......

DR.Z

 

pughmat,

I agree with alpineweiss that the sandbags only help with traction. I'm still concerned that braking will be so reduced that you'll wish you hadn't ventured out! The 5er with a sport package has much wider tires than the 330Ci so that would make the 3 easier to get around in limited snow.

Once, with my summer tires, I almost slammed my E39 into my house with a very small amount of snow on the sloping driveway. It just slid as if it was on black ice! I was caught out with an early (minor) snowfall and hadn't had a chance to bolt the winter tires on -- man I was lucky! Needless to say, I bolted the winter set on that night.

My advice is still to not risk driving the car if you can avoid it but if you do need to drive, do as alpineweiss says and be careful!!