I had a good experience with snow driving here in NJ as well. I too was a sedan man all my life, and with some rear drive sedans, going to SUV's is a great improvement! After I got my ML, I'm now finding myself real comfortable driving SUV's. The superior handling of the X5 also helps a lot.

Some turns were a little troublesome, but generally speaking, it was able to go with little drama, and I didn't feel I would get stuck anywhere. However, the tires are near new, so the real test will be next year.

I've had some experience with a Ford Explorer in heavy snow, and I will say that it handled that snow beautifully. It was the kind of the snow that I wouldn't dream of taking the X5 or ML out in unless I had snow tires on.