[IaHawk]

seems to me much ado about not much - kind of a hard case to make that it is more about any difference in the AWD as opposed to the type of tires you've got on. I've driven M5 and M3 in Wisconsin winters - even rear wheeled drive high performance cars can do just fine in heavy snow conditions with proper tires - I prefer the Dunlop Wintersports. I haven't had any problems whatsoever negotiating unplowed streets in my neighborhood with my current 550i xdrive even despite the stock all-season runflats that came with the car.