Knubblo

Hi,

I have been very satisfied with my 530xi so far. A snowstorm and the start of winter season begun today. We got -10C and about 20 cm of snow in just one day. Finally, it was time for a real test of the xi handling capabilities.

1) Traction (rate 100%)
Going from standstill to 60 on a road with mixed snow / ice was unbelieveable. Ok I have 225x50x17 with studs on 138 rims so I guess the studs helped a bit but 0-60 went on 8.4 sec which was just 1.1 sec slower than I did with my summer tyres. I would call that "almost instant traction"

2) Handling (rate 90%)
Accelerate through curves was not a problem. I could almost keep twice the speed vs my FWD car, a Volvo V70 without drifting. But I rate it 90% only beacuse I had to release the pedal until the DSC system started to adjust respective wheel speed. I thought that the system would adjust while riding. Perhaps it does it very subtile. Anyway, it was very noticeable when I released the accelerator.

3) Summary
Sorry for the Audi people but the BMW xdrive does infact react faster than their Quattro system. A collegue at work has a 3.2 Quattro sedan. With synced starts on a road with ice and snow the BMW got traction quicker vs the Audi. When we reached about 40 mph I was 1.5 car lengths ahead an growing. Yes, both cars had studs. Would I chose the 4WD option again, YES most definitely.

Thank you BMW, you got one more repeat customer.

/Knubblo

Kadonny

Did he have studs too? They make a HUGE difference.

amigo525

wow....you are psychic. I was about to ask to the forum about the performance of the xi on the snow.

Thanks for the report.

i had a chance to order the Xi...but went with the i version instead. Oh well...

Knubblo

Hi,

I think you missed some text in my previous post. "Yes, both cars had studs.". Anyway, I noticed something else today which was news to me, maybe not to the rest of you BMW drivers. But when I drove my xi in the snow using DS mode the dsc system did not respond as forceful as when driving in regular D-mode.

/Knubblo

Kadonny

Hi,

I think you missed some text in my previous post. "Yes, both cars had studs.". Anyway, I noticed something else today which was news to me, maybe not to the rest of you BMW drivers. But when I drove my xi in the snow using DS mode the dsc system did not respond as forceful as when driving in regular D-mode.

/Knubblo
[/quote]

Oops, my bad, you did mention that.

Anyway, very interesting. I have a quattro now and the cars are only as good as the tires on it. I spun my quattro out last year in about an inch of snow, so it is not that hard. But I am glad that the X drive seems to be a good system.

Chorethorious

So did you both have studs, or just him? haha Joking! Glad to hear that the xi is worth the money!

geneclark

Also the first week of snow for me. I drive an "i" and the car works on snow and ice WITH studs. I like RWD in these conditions (winter until late april).

Ricracing

If you buy an x you really need to live at the North Pole or worse.

For the 5 to 10 days when I would really need the x, I could take the bus or taxi,
or have girlfriend to pic me up with her VW Golf

Ray Hull

Thi is all very fine to hear, but the "bad rap" on winter driving still lingers on for BMW in 2WD format. Even after 30+ years, I've never found them to be a problem, but it has been considered a major sales hindrance here in the northeast US. It's all probabaly attributable to guys moving up from front-wheel drive Japanese cars. I came from American and British iron, so the BMW's 50/50 weight ratio was a pleasant surprise 20-30 years ago.

I guess the electronics and good tires all around have made a big difference in popular opinion. But I still recall buying a set basically new snow tires from some dentist clown who totaled his new 320i playing in the snow; he bought an Audo after that. Silly boy.

Ray Hull