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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 To x drive or to not... in Michigan |
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01-31-2019, 08:53 PM | #1 |
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To x drive or to not... in Michigan
I'm 535i shopping. M Sport only. X-Drive is ideal in Michigan for winter driving. But its much harder to find the car I want as RWD only are cheaper and more available.
1. Dont have to swap for snow tires 2. Suspension on x drive is softer than non x drive m sport I've owned 3 M3's and 2 330i's with winter tires and got through each winter. Just wondering if anyone else had to make this decision. What did you do, and what are your thoughts... 535i m sport vs. 535xi m sport. TIA.
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01-31-2019, 09:33 PM | #2 |
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You'll have to decide what do you care for more, there are many threads about height difference suspension, handling, weight etc... between the two.
xDrive is smarter choice for winter driving, there is absolutely no doubt about it, but I'd still go with winter tires, we do on our other AWD vehicle. RWD however is very capable too with great winter tires. Here's mine, taken just few days ago. My 5th winter in this car. Made many trips to ski hills and kid's hockey games without a single issue so far. We get tons of snow and tons of freezing rain for 4+ months every year, and crazy freezing temperatures in January and February. With RWD as you know already, you cannot really get fast of the line, well not as fast as I can in my wife's "symetric AWD" but other than that, common sense and winter tires, and there's no issues at all. Then again, it's not for everyone, depends how much you value RWD the rest of the year (for me it was RWD, but also DHP and manual transmission too, so it was super easy decision considering my preferences). |
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01-31-2019, 09:36 PM | #3 |
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BBB, you have RWD correct?
Yeah, you're right. If all else is equal, I'll take x drive for this DD. But its taking longer to find, its tempting to just grab a rwd only on the market.
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01-31-2019, 09:53 PM | #4 | |
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If you really want xDrive, my advice is to wait until you find the one that you like, sooner or later something you like will come up. You already know how RWD is behaving on snow, if that's your main criteria, xDrive is better choice no doubt. |
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01-31-2019, 10:00 PM | #5 |
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I've taken my 535i on 21's every year for the WoodWard Dream Cruise in Michigan. during that time of the year usually the roads aren't full of potholes. but I never take my car in areas i'm not familiar with. the fact you can't run a very aggressive staggered setup on the XDrive was a thumbs down for me which is why I went with the RWD. plus I don't drive my BMW in the winter as it hibernates in the garage away from all the salt on the roads!
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01-31-2019, 10:30 PM | #6 |
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Yeah, the R8 captured the garage spot. The 535xi is the perfect DD for all seasons including business highway drives.
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02-01-2019, 06:48 AM | #7 |
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It's personal preference. I echo - if you're driving in the winter, get winter tires, whether you have X-Drive or not. Why do you feel that with X-Drive you don't need winter tires? How does X-Drive help you stop and turn faster? It doesn't. Get winter tires.
With that out of the way -- I have a 535xi now, but have been driving RWD BMWs with winter tires in Southern Ontario for decades. If I found myself fortunate enough to be sitting at my computer ticking options I'd like on a new car I was about to order, X-Drive wouldn't be one of them. It is undoubtedly superior to RWD in challenging conditions. The problem is that it only makes an important difference a couple of times per year. It's easier to get through deep, heavy, slop from the "warm" winter storms we usually get here but, at the same time, the ONLY time I ever got stuck in a RWD BMW was when the snow was so deep and dense that the car was basically lifted off the ground. I backed up and went around another way. The rest of the year I have almost no suspension options. I have a heavy front diff and transfer case being dragged around, adding weight, complexity and points of failure. I only have 65k km (40k miles) and I'm on my second or third transfer case (replaced under warranty which is now expired). I don't have the classic BMW RWD connected steering feel etc...etc... Of course, local market conditions dictate what is even available to you. In my market, it seems like EVERYTHING is X-Drive. That's why I've got one... Everything is also automatic, another thing I wish was different but it is what it is. I sure wish houses around here had garages like lsturbointeg's Last edited by Surly73; 02-01-2019 at 09:36 AM.. |
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02-01-2019, 07:31 AM | #8 |
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02-01-2019, 09:23 AM | #9 |
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As others mentioned just make sure to use winter tires regardless of xdrive or not.
You can invest the money you save on price difference into a good set of winter tires. I had the same dilemma when I was looking for 5-series: Xdrive or not. Since I was buying a used car I decided to go with RWD 528i 2011 to save on potential maintenance costs . My car has been great so far this winter in Toronto Canada I drive quite a bit for skiing and it behaves pretty good in snow if you use common sense. |
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02-01-2019, 09:48 AM | #10 | |
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And its too pretty to get dirty Plus the front splitter is like 3" off the ground. So wouldn't get too far
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02-01-2019, 09:53 AM | #11 | |
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Same w x drive to some extent. Worse case, I can rent an AWD car. And yes, I would miss the driving dynamics of the 535 m sport. To me, its the perfect "german luxury machine". Its not like I live in the rural hills. I live in the city, suburbs. I always got through the "winters" of M cars with a good set of snows.
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02-01-2019, 11:34 AM | #12 | |
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There are faster, or more luxurious or more nimble... etc... but very few are "total package" as much as F10 RWD is in my opinion. As for winters with RWD, I honestly don't just "get through the winter", I'm fully embracing it with winter sports, getting to some tricky locations and what not. Yeah, xDrive is better, absolutely no doubt, but RWD with great winter tires would surprise many. One thing I forgot to mention is that, if you like driving and are attentive driver, these vehicles communicate back to the driver beautifully. Yes, the steering feel isn't what it used to be with older hydraulic type steering (E90 comes to mind), but any, even slightest potential of rear end sliding is communicated to the driver pretty clearly and early, so that you can counter or back off immediately in order to address it. Great looking and I'm sure just a blast to drive vehicle... enjoy. Last edited by Bbb34; 02-01-2019 at 11:48 AM.. |
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02-01-2019, 03:18 PM | #13 |
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RWD all the way! I had a 2013 535xi and always noticed turning and cornering felt weird and "artificial".
I picked up a 2015 535i msport and it drives SO much better. It feels like a real sedan. I couldn't believe the difference. I live in Northern VA, right outside of DC. The majority of BMWs have xdrive around here and it's rare to get a RWD. Seems really strange, but people around here feel they need it. |
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02-16-2019, 08:33 AM | #14 |
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My 320i is all but sold. So now I need to go from browsing to buying.
I'm eyeing a couple very nice 16 M Sport RWD that fit my budget. As an old school "sport sedan" lover I will probably enjoy the RWD w 704 much more. I'll likely swap out the tires to Pilot A/S to soften the ride a tad if needed. Plus I despise RFT. Then go with a dedicated set of winters. Ideally pick up something lightly used on the forum to get buy Dec/Jan/Feb. My winter driving is slush and ice, not really "snow". And mainly highway.
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02-16-2019, 11:29 AM | #15 | |
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02-18-2019, 08:17 AM | #16 |
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It's not clear to me as to what this 5 series sedan is suppose to do. As I understand it, you currently own an R8 that you cannot drive in snow and will not drive in the rain. Therefore, you are looking for a daily driver that works in well in snow and even rain. Since it's a given that the 5 series is intended for bad weather driving, then why the emphasis on at RWD 5 series? You've already conceded that your RWD R8 is useless in bad weather, so why purchase a second vehicle that will perform only slightly better in the face of snow? If one already owns a real sports car in the R8, wouldn't an AWD 5 series better serve the purpose of daily driver?
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02-18-2019, 07:18 PM | #18 | |
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Finding an x drive spec'd how I want is proving to be very difficult. If all else was equal I would prob go x drive. But since not, I'll look at the glass half full as RWD w 704 will offer a more engaging drive that I'm accustomed to. With all that said: I've had 8 different RWD BMW's with snow tires through Mich winters. Even with 265 rears. While not the perfect solution, I can navigate through the roads the few times a year it gets bad.
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02-18-2019, 07:44 PM | #19 |
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If you've already decided to purchase a RWD 5 series sedan, that's a fine decision. I doubt that any of us would dispute the fact that one can drive a RWD vehicle in snow with dedicated winter tires. However, I remain confused by the title of this thread "To x drive or to not... in Michigan". Where does an xdrive enter the picture?
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02-18-2019, 09:11 PM | #20 | |
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02-19-2019, 07:28 AM | #21 |
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A new development in these debates is xDelete, which is due to come to our platform soon. xDelete is by the same folks who do the xHP transmission tune. So far xDelete is released for the 6HP transmission cars. Although it's true that you do not recover the weight of the front diff and transfer case, the difference in the driving experience is clear and significant according to every reaction post I've read.
Essentially xDelete runs under Android, connects via K+DCAN cable (just like MHD, xHP and other apps), and remaps the transfer case to never be active. If you're transfer case ECU is locked, it may take several minutes to unlock the first time (just like DME flash tunes) and after that it's a few seconds to enable/disable AWD. If it's as good as people say, I'll probably flash RWD with summer tires and return to AWD when I mount my snows. Best of both worlds. Of course, this doesn't fix the "problem" that true 704 suspension wasn't offered on X-Drive but that's another story. For me, I'd consider it ideal if there was a mode where the car was AWD until you turned DTC on or DSC off then it went RWD. I doubt that the transfer case ECU has the appropriate information from the rest of the car to make those decisions but who knows. |
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02-19-2019, 09:47 AM | #22 |
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I'd highly recommend getting an x-drive. I had a 535ix drive with MSport package and took some time to find but I got it. It doesn't snow that much here in Seattle but when it does, the x drive handles it like a champ. And for everyday raining weather, it was very good. Never having to worry about the back end coming out in a corner. I would recommend getting rid of the run flats and putting on some other tires (I had Michelin A/S 3+).
Plus, eventually when you want to sell it you'll have a higher resale value compared to RWD Modded is pretty much the same. I was kind of limited on suspension but I ended up putting in H&R Sport springs to drop it. |
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