Major Rant

[CapeX5]

OK, I have reached a breaking point. We just had our first snow of the season. Probably 3+inches. Nothing major at all. First time I have taken the X out in snow since owning it. Right away leaving my driveway I slide all over the place like there is no all wheel drive working. Then on the way to get my daughter for school I start skidding and sliding and brush a telephone pole. I honestly thought I was going to hit it dead on and was ready for impact/air bags to go. Absolutely no control like it is on rollers. Again, on the way to school, just driving down a slight incline I spin in the middle of the road. Thank God no one was coming the other way. Mind you, I have driven in snow my whole life. I was really taking it easy and not pushing at all. Between this F$%*$ thing having it's major engine noise that I can't seem to track down, the engine having a surge up and down on part throttle that makes it real fun to drive in snow, to the rear wiper getting caught on a piece of ice this morning and decides to stop working, to so many other issues, what a piece of sh*$. I had the ABS module rebuilt and that worked fine and solved the problem for 2 months until yesterday, decides to blink twice and now the trifecta is on again. WIll that stop the 4X4 function from working?? Knowing this rat trap I probably need a new transfer case. I have owned many BMW's and this has to be the biggest piece of crap I have seen in a long time. Just like so many others, something seems to come up either daily or weekly. I know about it being 15 yrs old, it wasn't really taken care of before, etc etc. But the durability and the overall construction is abysmal. So I go and remove the module again and send it back for warranty work. I try to see if the rear wiper just blew a fuse or if I need a whole new %*$*$ computer system……..Back to my E39Touring, I know I can rely on that at least.

[TiAgX5]

All that and no mention of condition/type/age of tires?

Even the best 4x4 will be bad on snow/ice with the wrong tire.

[Joshdub]

You're an angry elf.

You probably don't need a tcase. Your pre facelift is an all mechanical awd, so it's always working regardless of what lights are on.

Scan for codes to see what's up with the DSC. What tires do you have? And is it possible that it was just straight up icy?

[Ricky Bobby]

Temps, wheel size, tire size, tire age, tire type, would be helpful to know if its the X5's fault you slid around or not. Also, cold tires will always be less grippy until warmed up a bit. I always go extremely easy for the first few mins of driving as I know even if my tires are good they still need to warm up

[weiln12]

Sorry to hear that, the situation sucks.

Like Joshdub said, your '01 is a mechanical AWD so the chances that you're not getting AWD is very unlikely. However, if you have the trifecta on then you probably don't have function traction control. If you've already had the ABS controller replaced it's again unlikely this is the issue, and is more likely a wheel speed sensor. At this point they're almost 15 years old so it's likely one of them has failed.

However, none of the above would describe why you kept sliding everywhere. The only way this could happen is due to tires. I have Open Country on mine and they do fine in the snow here (several inches ATM) even with traction control disabled.

Lastly, my rear wiper constantly freezes to the window and doesn't work until thawed. I've never had it break, it just doesn't work until it's unfrozen. I would not expect it to break or blow a fuse.

I hope everything works out for the best! Also, having a bad PO can do some serious damage to a vehicle, hence the reason I'm tearing my engine apart right now.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by TiAgX5

All that and no mention of condition/type/age of tires?

Even the best 4x4 will be bad on snow/ice with the wrong tire.

You love the power of that V8, but that power will get you nowhere and in trouble pretty fast on snow and ice. With the trifecta of lights on you don't have ABS or DSC, so if you don't know how to drive without those features, park the X!!!

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by CapeX5

OK, I have reached a breaking point. We just had our first snow of the season. Probably 3+inches. Nothing major at all. First time I have taken the X out in snow since owning it. Right away leaving my driveway I slide all over the place like there is no all wheel drive working. Then on the way to get my daughter for school I start skidding and sliding and brush a telephone pole. I honestly thought I was going to hit it dead on and was ready for impact/air bags to go. Absolutely no control like it is on rollers. Again, on the way to school, just driving down a slight incline I spin in the middle of the road. Thank God no one was coming the other way. Mind you, I have driven in snow my whole life. I was really taking it easy and not pushing at all. Between this F$%*$ thing having it's major engine noise that I can't seem to track down, the engine having a surge up and down on part throttle that makes it real fun to drive in snow, to the rear wiper getting caught on a piece of ice this morning and decides to stop working, to so many other issues, what a piece of sh*$. I had the ABS module rebuilt and that worked fine and solved the problem for 2 months until yesterday, decides to blink twice and now the trifecta is on again. WIll that stop the 4X4 function from working?? Knowing this rat trap I probably need a new transfer case. I have owned many BMW's and this has to be the biggest piece of crap I have seen in a long time. Just like so many others, something seems to come up either daily or weekly. I know about it being 15 yrs old, it wasn't really taken care of before, etc etc. But the durability and the overall construction is abysmal. So I go and remove the module again and send it back for warranty work. I try to see if the rear wiper just blew a fuse or if I need a whole new %*$*$ computer system……..Back to my E39Touring, I know I can rely on that at least.

There's your problem, you have an engine that is surging and you wonder why the X is all over the place on ice and snow. Fix the surging problem and the X should be easier to drive on ice and snow.

[4.8isguy]

I had a 2001 3.0 with 19" style 132 with maybe 40-50% tread on continentals and that thing was sliding all over the place in heavy NYC snow. Hard to keep it straight. Now my 04 4.8is with half decent tires was a champ in the snow. As long as your light on the throttle given all the torque its pretty well planted on the road.

[TiAgX5]

I run staggered 19s with Vred Ultrac Vortis, X has NEVER been on ice or snow. These are similar to Michelin Pilot SuperSports (almost no tread, can track all day long/handle speeds over 180 and not turn to grease). The downside is they get ROCK HARD at freezing temps.

If the X ever sees snow, I will install the 18s with B'stone all-season tires.

Always good to have 2 sets!

[BMWX5CHI]

Check your rear tires. If you have a problem with the rear camber, most likely your tires are bald and you need to replace a few parts in the rear. Seen a few X's over the years with the same problem in the snow and they all were sliding all over the place due to the tires and issues with the rear camber. GL.