Bought my wife her first BMW!

[CERF04ZHP]

Just want to say hello from Maine! New to the forum, I recently picked up a CPO '06 x5 4.4i for my wife, which she absolutely loves: Sterling Gray/Black Dakota, Cold/Sport/Premium/NAV. We upgraded her '05 Volvo S40 for something with a little more room and a lot more power. I have an '04 330i myself, and am somewhat familiar with the product. I wanted to introduce myself, and hope to interact regularly with all the other BMW heads on here. Cheers!

[TwinTurboGTR]

Well congrats on the purchase. You will find a plethora of info on here. Even though you are CPO'd, its nice to go to the dealer and tell the SA exactly what is wrong. Always nice to stick it to the $tealer! Any who, I love that color combo. While you got her, check under the car and take a look for any drips or stains. Don't know about how many miles are on it, but check inbetween the motor and bellhousing. if you see any crusty coolant, take her back for a Valley pan gasket repair. I know to all on here I am harping on it, but hey, that is what the forum is for! Now sice that is X-Drive, I don;t know how it does it snow. I remember when I picked mine up for delivery, it was snowing in Jersey and had about 6 inches or so. I was excited to test her out right until I skidded onto the main highway from the dealers lot. Those Michy's they put on really do suck in the snow. People love 'em, I HATE them. So I invested in 2 sets of shoes for her. Summer/All season which are the Michy's and dedicated snow shoes, Pirelli Scorp's Ice and Snow. Since then my 4.4l is a beast with the snow shoes on. Had a blizzard in Jersey in the end of Dec; 34" Pulled the X right out of the Driveway and went out for a drive. Only person out there because I was probably the only nut out there driving in 32" of snow. Oh well I was king of the road for about 3 hours. have fun.

[askhao]

congrats on the purchase and welcome to xoutpost!

[CERF04ZHP]

Thanks guys. TTGTR: I am with you and am all about seasonal tire changeovers. For my '04 330i ZHP, I run the factory 18'' style 135's in the summer with Bridgestone Potenza RE760's, and 17'' style 44's in the winter with General Altimax Artics. Although, I think when the snows wear out, I am going to go back to Michelin Arcti Alpin or Pirelli Ice and Snow. The Altimax Artics are AWESOME in the snow, but feel like warm marshmallows on the highway and around corners when the pavement is dry. On my wife's X5 thay we just picked up, it has Goodyear LS2's (255/55R18 all-season) with approx. 75% tread remaining. We had our first test last week with some significant fresh snow, and I was not impressed so here's what I am going to do: Run out these stupid LS2's for the rest of the winter and through the summer, and when the leaves turn, junk the LS2's and mount up some Pirelli or Bridgestone snow tires on the 18's. During the winter, I am going to look for some style 214's to use during the warm months.

[TwinTurboGTR]

There ya go! Yeah I remember when I was a young lad and come to this site to ask about snow shoes. I was harped on about putting snow tires on 18's. Everyone was telling me to put 17 on because of the narrower path. At the time, 18's were all ready on and the shoes I bought and wanted were in 18. So I just mounted them on the stock rims that came with the car and bought some sport wheels from a 3.0 and used those as my summer. I mean even with the 18's, my X rips through everything. Ya know if you are looking for a good all season, check into the Conti DWS (Dry, Wet, Snow) These tires are great. Put them on in the fall and man are they suh-weet. Road noise significantly down, awesome wet traction and if you get caught in a freak snow storm by surprise, these tires will get you home safe until you get the snow shoes on. Plus, they are a really great price. Tirerack and at $165 a pop. Better and cheaper than the Energy MXV 4 crap, Dimaris(However you spell it) and Goodyear's

[CERF04ZHP]

Funny, that is exactly what I was thinking! But I think they may be a bit more that than for 275/40R20 and 315/35R20... ;-)

[TwinTurboGTR]

Oh you got the sport package. Up, now I see it I must have skipped that part. Yeah, 20" will cost more. Prob in the $190 $200 range. Actually I just check tirerack, they don't have that size for the Conti's. The Turanza's are OE, but to be honest, I don't like the Bridgestones. I had a set on my 08 TL-s, 2nd worst tire. Only lasted 24K, sucked in snow, hydroplaned like a bastard, an tire screech and road noise like a mother. Snow tires will be hard to find for that combo as well. If you are going to get dedicated tires for seasons, I'd get 18's and put the snow shoes on those guys and find a set to go on the 19's for the summer.

[CERF04ZHP]

Sorry, I wasn't clear: It does have the factory 18'' style 183's with junk Goodyears on there, that I am just going to burn out from now through the summer and into the fall. When it gets to be Thanksgiving or sometime around the first snow, I am going to mount some snow sneakers on those wheels (so they will be the designated winter wheels/tires), then pick up a set of 20'' style 214's and appropriate tires for the summer months. :-)

[TwinTurboGTR]

Ahhh gotcha! Yup would be the way to go. Anyways, good luck with her. There is a lot of info you can find on here. Utilize the search function to find answers to your problem and if you need more explanation, always welcome to post it on here. And welcome to the forum. All right, time to get ready, do some trades on the exchange then go take a look at a Cayenne S after work, excited! haha.

[CT_X5_Joe]

Welcome! Sounds like a nice ride. I'm in CT, and wish I had cold weather package in my 06 4.4i.