sahiljain22

This is what I would factor in:
- Do I plan on getting good snow tires?
- Do I plan on driving on unpaved roads?
- Do I plan to have time-critical routes (e.g. I work in a hospital and can't be 20 minutes late)

Snowtires + RWD is almost as good as AWD on paved roads with a trained driver to me. I have driven 1000 mile stretches in snowstorms in my XI and it was stable as a rock (I have snow tires) even on unpaved highways (think I-90 on 10pm on a Sunday night with no cleaning or salt trucks). I had a RWD before, and it was fine for similar trips and I was about 20 mph slower, but the AWD does give you that 10% less worry.

luigi524td

+1 I've traveled the same conditions with my previous RWD BMWs. The added caveat is that in low-traction conditions AWD supplies some benefits when accelerating or steering under power. That said, when driving steady state AWD/RWD are even up. When braking it's all about tires because we all have 4-wheel brakes.

The biggest thrill is being able to drive out of an unplowed driveway covered with 18"+ of fresh snow so the plows could clear it.

sdg1871

If you get the F550, the x Drive accelerates faster from a standing start due to the much greater contact patch. That is even the case in dry weather. Even BMW's published 0 to 60 times are lower for the AWD 550xi than for the RWD 550i. And as now who has a Dinan Stage 2 550xi with 580 lbs-ft of torque, the x Drive is key to maximizing my acceleration.

luigi524td

I don't think the faster acceleration (in dry conditions) is because of the "much greater contact patch". If I'm not mistaken, the over all gearing is nigher (numerically) and that makes it quicker off the line. But I'd like to have that confirmed by the fact-checkers on the forum!!

chasteve

Live in Minnesota for the last 27 years where we have about 5-month of winter/snowy seasons.
Have one 1998 BMW 528i (rear wheel drive) and now one 2012 BMW 535i Xdrive sedan.

To me, 528i was really fun to drive. It always have the power when I need it.
Rear wheel drive car is hard to control on snowy road when we need to climb up a hill.
Any front wheel drive car has no problem at all. That is why I don't drive my 528i in winter.
Now, will see how it goes for my 535i Xdrive.

My first concern is the MPG. I used to have a Nissan Pathfinder and 15 MPG was what I got.
I also got stuck on my driveway once. After that, I never consider to get a 4-wheel drive car.
So, why now? Look at the MPG. 535i 2 wheel vs 535 i xdrive. 1 MPG difference. For this
reason, I choose xdrive this time. will see how it goes. So far, I am getting 24 MPG
in average.

Ricracing

I got stuck two times last winter, once downtown on a moribund street (did need 8 persons to push me out of the jam)
and the second time on my home flat parking lot at home
I have very good studdless winter tires, but still.

We have now had three winters in a row with very much snow - I hope it ends now.

For 2 - 3 months a year the xDrive is excellent.

passer68

Where I live there's only 4-5 days a year that really require xDrive. However, in my line of work, not getting to work in not an option. I don't want to have a beater 4x4 in the driveway that I have to move around all the time when I want to get my other cars out and my wife refuses to get a SUV at this time. Loves her minivan too much.

So for those few days a year, I got xDrive and a dedicated set of winter wheels/tires.

If those 5 days a year I could work from home, I would have a RWD car.