X3 in the snow?

somewhereinla · #1 09-12-2005, 10:43 AM

Alaska... you'll want to keep chains in your x3's trunk. I would recomend having two sets, for both front and rear tires. So you won't lose your 4x4 advantage.

eltroco · #2 09-14-2005, 04:24 PM

ALLCAN Rally

Do a google search for the Allcan rally 2004 and meet the X3

sinatra · #3 09-17-2005, 01:17 PM

See italian BMW forum:
http://www.bmwpassion.com/public/viewtopic.php?t=14604

sinatra · #4 09-17-2005, 03:45 PM

Hey Everyone,

We finally have snow up on the mountain. We have about 6" of wet, heavy, snow. The worse kind to drive in. The grade up to the house is steep. I have to climb about 1800' in less than 2mi to get to my house. I am using the Dunlop Wintersport M3 tires and my 2.5 X3 with auto went up flawlessly without much slippage. I did leave the car in 2nd gear the whole way up (to allow for better steering since the torque converter seems to stay locked very consistantly over the RPM range. I did notice a little delay in the front wheels kicking in from time to time, but this was all on the steep spots. I tried stopping and restarting on some steep spots and all four wheels seem to have power right at take off. the car did amazingly well. We once had a honda CRV and that darn 4wd was terrible. You had to spin the front wheels quite a bit before the back end kicked in.

My other 4wd rig is a nissan pathfinder with part time 4wd. I would have to say that the x3 did just as well, if not a tad bit better than the trusty pathfinder.

The only thing that would worry me is what were to happen if you go through alot of snow and you high center the rig. (or slide into a barrow pit). I try not to do these things, but they can happen. I would hope that all four wheels will spin to get me out of this situation, however, this is usually the scenerio where one needs a tow rope!! Speaking of which, I wish the bumpers had built in towing hooks (instead of having to screw one into the car. ;-(

Have fun and drive safe in the snow!!!!"

(English BMW forum)