road trip - rent or take the X5?

[c4racer]

Originally Posted by AZX54.4

c4racer: I was gonna say if you dont take your X I want to rent your snow wheels! HAHA. Wise choice! You will enjoy the X much more than a rental!

I am heading up to Mammoth on Sunday and it looks like some serious snow is going to be coming down. I am running on the 255-55 18's with michelin mxv4 all seasons. I think I will have to pick up some chains! I am almost wondering if we should see if we can reschedule our stay in mammoth to mid week??

well that depends if you want to ski the pow - I shoot for the eye of the storm myself when my schedule allows it. You should be fine with those tires btw.

[AZX54.4]

Originally Posted by c4racer

well that depends if you want to ski the pow - I shoot for the eye of the storm myself when my schedule allows it. You should be fine with those tires btw.

Oh course I want pow pow!!!! I think we will be getting in at just the right time. Sometimes it doesnt work out the best at Mammoth to be on the mtn when it is snowing because the winds get really high and they close a lot of the lifts.

Now the next question. Which X5 do we take? The 3.0 with all seasons or the newer 4.4 and put the all seasons from the 3.0 on that one because it is ridding on summers....haha

[c4racer]

Originally Posted by AZX54.4

Oh course I want pow pow!!!! I think we will be getting in at just the right time. Sometimes it doesnt work out the best at Mammoth to be on the mtn when it is snowing because the winds get really high and they close a lot of the lifts.

Now the next question. Which X5 do we take? The 3.0 with all seasons or the newer 4.4 and put the all seasons from the 3.0 on that one because it is ridding on summers....haha

ah to have such choices!! Enjoy. I know what you mean about the winds - same deal at one of my favorite places Squaw. I am going to have to find a day to get up to enjoy some fresh pow next week tho. This weekend looks pretty dicey due to the winds. Monday / Tuesday may be pretty good. Sounds like a heavy storm coming thru at least up north over the next 3-4 days and maybe longer.

[AZX54.4]

I have been watching the weather and it looks like a big storm for the next few days and it will start to calm down on sunday. Maybe a couple dustings on monday and tuesday but nothing extreme and the system will have passed through by wednesday!! I think our timing should be good! My friend is in Tahoe right now. I am not sure where he is riding but he is getting some great conditions!!

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by Naz24

Funny you say that actually. I dissuaded my mom from taking her 4.6is on a road trip to ohio. about the same mileage as you say... I didnt want her to put the wear and tear on it..

but then again, these cars are meant to be driven, and you obviously take care of the car! whereas, i cant really be sure what my mom and dad do to it! (my dad used the rough edge of a kitchen sponge to try and get tar off the rear hatch..OUCH. took me 2 hours and a random orbital to fix that one.)

where in ohio? (lol sorry to get off topic)

[Naz24]

Originally Posted by Freddy

where in ohio? (lol sorry to get off topic)

Kettering, near Dayton. My sister works for GE out there for the time being.

[RickM5X3]

I will go ahead and take the counter-point on this one. If you can rent a mid-size for 200 or maybe even use the BMW CPO Hertz discount code and rent a Forester or similar, do it! You'll be busy with family stuff probably and piling in and out of the car visiting Oregeon wine country (maybe sake too) and sometimes its fun to hit the road in something low profile and which you can, ahem, test the durability of. You'll save 1,500 miles of life on your expensive winter tires and save that tread-life for Tahoe! Everybody in OR drives too slow anyway and the hipsters in Portland will key your 4.6.

[c4racer]

Originally Posted by RickM5X3

I will go ahead and take the counter-point on this one. If you can rent a mid-size for 200 or maybe even use the BMW CPO Hertz discount code and rent a Forester or similar, do it! You'll be busy with family stuff probably and piling in and out of the car visiting Oregeon wine country (maybe sake too) and sometimes its fun to hit the road in something low profile and which you can, ahem, test the durability of. You'll save 1,500 miles of life on your expensive winter tires and save that tread-life for Tahoe! Everybody in OR drives too slow anyway and the hipsters in Portland will key your 4.6.

We had a preview for the trip over this weekend for a high school basketball game up in Sacramento. Spent 4-4.5 hours in the car, which is at least 1/3 of the trip to Portland. Drove the 740i. Encountered some nasty rain along the way, but that car with brand new all season tires is so well composed and stable in the wet that I hardly noticed. It was a nice drive.

I'm taking the X5 for 3 reasons:
1. I couldn't imagine doing 1500 miles over a 4 day window in a rental fleet car.... I am way too spoiled by BMW's for long distance travel now!

2. With all the wet weather we have been having there is a very good chance we will run into some snow in the mountains up past Redding. And no sense adding any drama.

3. plenty of room for christmas presents in the back vs. a midsized car trunk

[TQ2K]

Originally Posted by c4racer

I'm taking the X5 for 3 reasons:
1. I couldn't imagine doing 1500 miles over a 4 day window in a rental fleet car.... I am way too spoiled by BMW's for long distance travel now!

2. With all the wet weather we have been having there is a very good chance we will run into some snow in the mountains up past Redding. And no sense adding any drama.

3. plenty of room for christmas presents in the back vs. a midsized car trunk

- made the mistake of taking our leased 2010 Corolla for a trip down to FL from PA to save some $'s for gas but regret the decision as body felt sore and tired after the long drive...

[J.Belknap]

Originally Posted by Wayne's World

BMWs don't need rest. Strong like Ox.

Originally Posted by motordavid

Actually, if it was summer, I would rec'd taking your Vette!

I'm onboard with this.

In the summer, the wife's fam is in Chicago. We drove her 3KGT TT there as we were stopping by Indy on the way back for the 3000GT/Stealth national gathering. PA turnpike was a blast (on coilover suspension) but after 1000 miles I felt like I should have been inducted into the Iron Butt Association. In my car, (springs/oe struts) I'd drive it coast to coast and not mind being confined.

So now we're getting ready for 964mi (one way) trip from Va Beach, VA to Hollywood, FL to see the wife unit's family at their winter digs. The Michelin's were looking more like slicks than street tires, and I didn't trust them for the trip, so it was early Christmas present time for the X5.

RoadwayWholesaleTire.com - Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport - 315/35/20

Only $230.32 each! (Shipping wasn't crazy either.... right around $996 to the front door.)



Got those fitted and oil changed, should be good to go. (Man those old tires got hard, the ride is so much better.) Anyhow, don't care what the odometer says, I'm always up for putting more miles on the X5.

Have safe travels, all! Don't forget to check spare tire pressure, etc.