oh, and we only run year round tires on the XI's. No need for winter tires with XI. Again, you could spend the money and get four of them, but you do not need them.

 

I don't know where some people get their opinions from, but I have an Xi and it keeps up with some of the bigger dogs in the twisties thanks in no small part to the AWD system. I've participated in some drives where people were like "are you sure you have a 530Xi?!"... I was like "yep!"

Did I regret not having gotten the sport-tuned suspension? Yes, quite a bit. But now - that I've owned the 530Xi for over two years and have had plenty of chances to test its limits - I'm looking at it differently. Am I completely satisfied with the car's performance - is that even possible? I'm planning to upgrade the suspension in my Xi and make it handle even better - that's for sure. And having a N/A N52 engine with a manual gearbox is a whole 'nother blessing altogether - in my experience, one of the BEST platforms, engines and gearboxes to ever come in a single car. Ever. Seriously.

I've had a few Audis before - they tend to understeer! My 530Xi? What understeer?! The only time it exhibited something even remotely resembling understeer was on an icy road and summer tires - the car understeered for a split second and then made me look like a professional driver, when I downshifted, mashed the throttle and re-gained traction quicker than the car seemed to have lost it. And I have to also make a disclaimer here: the only reason the car understeered in the first place was because I turned in carrying too much speed. On ice. Yes, it was a scary situation - although I didn't have a chance to get scared, as things came back in line quicker than I could even process them consciously.

Would I get another X-drive car? Maybe - would depend on what car I'd be getting. If I went for a 335 or an M3, I'd of course want the RWD. But I'm coming to terms with the fact that even BMW has limitations. Unfortunately, there is no car that can be 100% enthusiast's dream and also be 100% usable all year round as a daily driver. There are compromises and in my experience, the 530Xi presents the least amount of those compromises - I have yet to find a better car for my personal use. Yes, really. Maybe if the F10 550i with X-drive lost 600-700 pounds, I'd consider it a true competitor for my wallet.

Truth is, if I want a true weekend curve-cutter, I'd go for a Boxster or a Cayman. Conversely, I'd gladly keep my 530Xi for daily driving - which is what I'm doing

 

Well stated.

 

if a little too long haha

 

I have an 09 535i Xdrive and it performs very well.I run snow tires in the winter and the car is unstopable and very stable.I have previously owned 2 A4 Quattro's which were also very good in the bad weather but the Xdrive system is superior IMHO.

 

Even though I'm still a bit of an Audi fan, I have to totally agree - X-drive is a much better system than any of the ones I've had in Audis.

 

Quattro's FWD bias is what really kills it.. Yes it handles well in the snow. My brother had an A4 2.0T quattro and I swear the driving experience was the same as my wife's old Civic.. FWD Lawnmower!

As for my opinion of X-Drive, Vlad stated it quite well. The X-drive is a compromise for us that cannot have our BMWs hibernate for 4 months a year. The X-drive car still provides a good driving experience, and is unbeatable in the snow. It even won me 20 dollars this past winter.

A guy in my neighborhood was digging out his 4WD V8 Explorer after we got about 15 inches of snow (he couldn't get out of the spot). I opened my car, cleaned it off, and as I was about to drive off he joked with me "20 bucks says you can't pull out of this mess with that German sled". Well sure enough, without a hitch smoothly out I went. This is with all-season Conti DWS tires too, not snows.

I opened my window and collected my 20 and said "gotta love that X-drive German sled eh?" and drove off.

That experience made buying an XI worth it

If you have to drive in the winter at all, rock an XI!

 

Quattro isn't FWD biased...

For some time, the default has been 40/60 apportioned between the front and rear axles with the majority going through the rear wheels. The older generations were mostly 50:50 biased. The system can vary front/rear bias at will, and also the level of torque distributed to individual wheels - but it doesn't have any FWD bias. Quattro's default 40/60 bias is, in fact, identical to that of x-Drive...

 

I stand corrected on the figures regarding Quattro, but I must say the 2.0T FELT like a FWD car.

I was probably thinking of the Acura SH-AWD system, that I have in my RDX, which is mostly a Front Wheel biased system, except during hard driving.

Thanks for the correction, Swajames.

 

You weren't far off at all, the Audi is probably going to feel a bit different and little heavier in the front as they typically have more of the car's mass over the front wheels than most BMWs. Audi cars tend to hover around 55/45 for their weight distribution whereas BMW usually tries to get a bit closer to 50/50.