with all the snow, I did not noticed my car spin all wheel

[ralphy4321]

I thought the bmw x5 2001, is a 4 wheel drive , when i was stuck in the snow only one wheel spinned and a little triangle was blinking on the Miles screen, I also pressed the DSC button and the light turned on, but still did not get 4 wheel drive, is there something else i need to do. Please help

[blktoptrvl]

I would check out the owners manual. I think you can find one here on this site.

[Roadkill]

when you press the DSC button, you are turning off the majority of the cars traction control abilities. if you are stuck, the car will attempt to put power to the wheel or wheels that it thinks have the best traction. however, if the car isn't going to move, traction control does nothing for you.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by ralphy4321

I thought the BMW X5 2001, is a 4 wheel drive; when I was stuck in the snow only one wheel spun and a little triangle was blinking on the miles screen. I also pressed the DSC button and the light turned on, but I still did not get 4 wheel drive, is there something else I need to do. Please help

It is more appropriately called an all wheel drive, as 4wd implies that there is constant drive front and rear. You had all wheel drive, but if one wheel is spinning and the traction control can't help you, then you are SOL.

It is all about the tires. Sounds like you may have summer tires on there?

[Fraser]

Pressing the DSC button disables the stability control and desensitises the traction control. In really low traction situations there's only so much the traction control can do. Pre xDrive E53s (up to 2004) don't have a self-locking centre 'diff' (really a multi-plate clutch) and are less capable in low-traction situations (snow, mud, soft sand, etc) than the later xDrive models.

[kaptain]

Here is my understanding of the pre-xdrive 4wd system.

Pre xDrive X's have a relatively primitive 4wd System, I think its almost the same as my old explorer. There are also early (2000 or 2001) X5's that do not have 4wd at all. Was the wheel spinning in the rear? or front?

If you have the pre-x drive 4 wheel then I think you should see two wheels, 1 front and 1 back move. The pre-xdrive X5's lack any kind of locking/limited slip differentials between left and right (open diff). There is a DSC gizmo that uses the brakes to act like a limited slip diff but who knows how well it really works.

So what I think this means is that if there is a slab of ice under one front tire, and one rear tire, and your car is at a standstill, you will most likely not find traction. The DSC locking diff might get you moving just enough to get momentum.

[Fraser]

Originally Posted by kaptain

Here is my understanding of the pre-xdrive 4wd system.

Pre xDrive X's have a relatively primitive 4wd System, I think its almost the same as my old explorer. There are also early (2000 or 2001) X5's that do not have 4wd at all. Was the wheel spinning in the rear? or front?

If you have the pre-x drive 4 wheel then I think you should see two wheels, 1 front and 1 back move. The pre-xdrive X5's lack any kind of locking/limited slip differentials between left and right (open diff). There is a DSC gizmo that uses the brakes to act like a limited slip diff but who knows how well it really works.

So what I think this means is that if there is a slab of ice under one front tire, and one rear tire, and your car is at a standstill, you will most likely not find traction. The DSC locking diff might get you moving just enough to get momentum.

All X5s have some sort of 4WD system. There are no "early (2000 or 2001) X5's that do not have 4wd at all."

All E53s have open axle diffs. The difference between non xDrive (pre 2004) and xDrive models is the centre 'differential'. On the non-xDrive models this is an open planetary diff. On xDrive models it is a self-proportioning and self-locking multi-plate clutch. Both models, pre and post xDrive have electronic traction control. So, in summary, pre xDrive is effectively three open diffs with traction control. xDrive adds a centre 'locker' so the traction control only has to look after cross-axle control rather than both cross-axle and inter-axle control.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by kaptain

Here is my understanding of the pre-xdrive 4wd system.

Pre xDrive X's have a relatively primitive 4wd System, I think its almost the same as my old explorer. There are also early (2000 or 2001) X5's that do not have 4wd at all. Was the wheel spinning in the rear? or front?

If you have the pre-x drive 4 wheel then I think you should see two wheels, 1 front and 1 back move. The pre-xdrive X5's lack any kind of locking/limited slip differentials between left and right (open diff). There is a DSC gizmo that uses the brakes to act like a limited slip diff but who knows how well it really works.

So what I think this means is that if there is a slab of ice under one front tire, and one rear tire, and your car is at a standstill, you will most likely not find traction. The DSC locking diff might get you moving just enough to get momentum.

I'd agree with Fraser's description. It is an open diff front/rear, with a fixed torque split (38/62 front/rear). As a result, with one wheel on ice you will spin, disregarding the effect of the wheel-brake traction control system (DSC/DTC). DSC works well in my experience, as long as you don't spin the wheels long enough to overheat the brakes. Alternatively, you can turn DSC off, and purposely spin the wheels to try and churn out of a snowbank, for example.

I don't think the BMW awd system is particularly primitive; your Explorer, in locked mode, is by comparison primitive for on-road use, but effective for off-road use.

[kaptain]

What fraser says makes sense. I was thinking the transfer case was locked which wouldn't work.

So if one front and one rear tire were on ice and the other two were on good grip, the pre xdrive X5 wouldn't go anywhere (ignoring the dsc/dtc)?

[trent_ky]

Interesting. While I've never had a problem with getting stuck or even close to it in my X I have tried a procedure I read about a while ago on here that consists of pressing and holding the DSC button to turn traction and stability control completely off. Apparently I forgot the proper procedure for doing this because I tried to shut off the nanny's for some shenanigans in our 6 inches of snow we got Monday. It allowed for some fun but it was still there nagging a bit just not as much.