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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 BMW 5-Series (F10) Forums General 5-Series Sedan and Wagon (F10 / F11) Forum RWD handling in the snow
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      01-09-2015, 01:08 PM   #23
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My last car was a 330xi, which with AS tires I could not begin to get it to slip, slide or get sideways even if I wanted it to. Then I bought a 2011 528i RWD. I decided to spend what I saved by doing away with AWD on more options. I felt that for the few days per winter that I needed AWD for ice and snow I could make due. Then from 2011 to now we have had much more snow and ice. My experience has been that I really missed my AWD. The 528i can't get up my driveway in 1-2" of snow. The 330xi would plow through anything. I felt much more secure and confident in the xi. Fast forward to the present. I ordered a 535 x drive. In the meantime my wife drives me to work in winter weather in her X5.
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      01-09-2015, 05:26 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by valbmw View Post
This is a winter talk and when summer comes, the discussions will switch again to the performance tires and wheels upgrade. As for now, regardless of how cool you are as a driver or how many electronic safety systems your FWD, RWD or AWD car really has, it's a very proper thing to have good winter tires.

Living in a large city even in snowy winter you will notice the streets are clean and somewhere even secured with deicing chemicals. But who has to travel far outside of the city can be challenged with ice and snow terrains where the Nordic-type studded tires are very much recommended and effective.

For that mixed driving I use my factory 18" 350M with 255/45/18 Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8. Together with xDrive this winter setup seems to be second to none.
NOKIAN snows, and tires in general, are THE BEST. I have them on my Toyota 4x4, and they totally transformed my X5. Don't hesitate to give them a try.
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      01-09-2015, 06:11 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Noggie
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Originally Posted by Hobbe74 View Post
I have to object
Most premium brands have "won" tests over the last 3-4 years in the Nordics.
Depending on type of test and magazine Nokian, Pirelli, Goodyear, Conti, Mich and Bridgestone all have had top results since they all focus in the growing Russian premium market where there are large sales volumes to gain.
What i want to say with this is that its good since competition drives development forward and its beneficial for consumers.
The difference between premium winter tires is very low 2015 compared to just a few years ago.
Most important: Buy premium.
Well that is kind of true, depends on the goal of the test.
Also you need to buy a Tire based on the weather where hou live.
A Tire that is good on snow and ice, might not be as good on dry and wet roads.

I imported a car from southern Germany 7 years ago.
It came with winter tires.
They were ok on dry and wet roads, but virtually useless on snow, so they was replaced after a season.
Thats what i meant in my earlier post, regarding the tires on the car you imported from southern Germany. They are European winter tires, not Nordic. The compound work well on wet and slush, not so well in Nordic conditions. But a Nordic compound, from any premium brand since a few years , is good up here
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      01-10-2015, 04:04 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grover432 View Post
I run 18's on wheels I bought at The Tire Rack. You can get better traction on narrower tires but you have to remember that you aren't always driving on a snow covered surface in the winter and narrower tires don't have the grip on dry roads that you might be accustomed to from summer driving, especially if you are on 19's like I am in the summer.
I've heard wider tires are just as good on hard packed snow and ice.
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      01-10-2015, 04:44 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hobbe74
Quote:
Originally Posted by Noggie
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hobbe74 View Post
I have to object
Most premium brands have "won" tests over the last 3-4 years in the Nordics.
Depending on type of test and magazine Nokian, Pirelli, Goodyear, Conti, Mich and Bridgestone all have had top results since they all focus in the growing Russian premium market where there are large sales volumes to gain.
What i want to say with this is that its good since competition drives development forward and its beneficial for consumers.
The difference between premium winter tires is very low 2015 compared to just a few years ago.
Most important: Buy premium.
Well that is kind of true, depends on the goal of the test.
Also you need to buy a Tire based on the weather where hou live.
A Tire that is good on snow and ice, might not be as good on dry and wet roads.

I imported a car from southern Germany 7 years ago.
It came with winter tires.
They were ok on dry and wet roads, but virtually useless on snow, so they was replaced after a season.
Thats what i meant in my earlier post, regarding the tires on the car you imported from southern Germany. They are European winter tires, not Nordic. The compound work well on wet and slush, not so well in Nordic conditions. But a Nordic compound, from any premium brand since a few years , is good up here
Depends on where you live and drive here in Norway...

My driving is 99% on the lowland coastal area where we might have a few days with snow and the rest of the winter it's mild or we have salted or wet roads. For me European spec winter tires are actually better for 99% of my winter driving. Nordic style tires are much better up in the mountains and those parts of Norway that has snow in the winter though. I just happen to live where the winter road conditions are much better suited to euro spec winter tires IMO. I deliberately ordered Nokian euro spec winter tires since that means I don't have to compromise so much wet and dry tarmac performance, which is what I drive on for 99% of the winter

If you go up in the mountains each weekend then I would NOT have bought the tires I have now. They suck on snow and ice compared with nordic winter tires!
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      01-10-2015, 05:35 PM   #28
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I've driven RWD BMWs for a long, long time in the snowy northeast. It's perfectly acceptable so long as you know how to control the car in each circumstance.

However, I decided to go xDrive with the 550 purchase. The reality is, while RWD is perfectly fine, AWD is superior in the snow - there's no doubt about it. Find yourself in a slightly slick situation trying to get up a hill, and AWD can do wonders when giving all four wheels the ability to help motivate the car.

That said, where people go wrong:

1. AWD isn't a substitute for good tires. If you're going to be in a heavily snowy area, winter tires are going to have the biggest impact on finding traction. Winter tires on an AWD car? Priceless.

2. AWD helps cars find traction to accelerate - doesn't help STOP them, though.

I enjoyed RWD on my previous 3-series cars, but the 5 certainly does well with xDrive. I bought this car to be as comfortable, powerful, and pampering as possible - and I think xDrive is integral to that mission, as it's one more aid that will help ensure the car controls to the best of its ability regardless of driving environment.
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      01-11-2015, 08:40 AM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by remmib View Post
I've heard wider tires are just as good on hard packed snow and ice.
Word on that. We have made quite a bit of testing on the matter and regarding friction tires on certain surfaces as packed snow and ice the results are similar.
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      01-11-2015, 08:47 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Boss330 View Post
Depends on where you live and drive here in Norway...

My driving is 99% on the lowland coastal area where we might have a few days with snow and the rest of the winter it's mild or we have salted or wet roads. For me European spec winter tires are actually better for 99% of my winter driving. Nordic style tires are much better up in the mountains and those parts of Norway that has snow in the winter though. I just happen to live where the winter road conditions are much better suited to euro spec winter tires IMO. I deliberately ordered Nokian euro spec winter tires since that means I don't have to compromise so much wet and dry tarmac performance, which is what I drive on for 99% of the winter

If you go up in the mountains each weekend then I would NOT have bought the tires I have now. They suck on snow and ice compared with nordic winter tires!
Yes i agree to some extent, many of the the european compounds are far better now then they were just a few years ago. Technology makes them more variable in terms of how the compounds handle different temperatures. Several of the SUV Nordic tires are more or less european compounds and patterns with lower speed index.

I meant that in general if you drive in various conditions in the Nordics, a Nordic compound is safer.
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