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

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)

Ahhh, if only I could speak Italian!

http://www.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html/

http://w4.systranlinks.com/trans?sys...stransoft.com/ :thumbup:

Alcan rally 2004
 

BMW X3, 3.0.

Arrived 1 and 2 no modifications, only tyres and under carriage reinforcement.
http://www.alcan5000.com/pdf/Bimmer.pdf :D

i drove my x3 in germany last winter is the best suv i ever driven in winter

Speaking of X3 in the snow, has anyone found winter wiper blades for this snow capable vehicle? BMW doesn't acknowledge any.

We just got our first taste of snow where I live at here in Germany. I must say I was not to happy with my X3. It slid around a lot more than I thought it would. I'm sure a lot has to do with the tires that are on it (Scorpion STR). What shocked me was how the rear wheels would start to spin and then you could feel the front wheels kick in. Is this normal for the X3 AWD system? My 04' 325XI doesn't do this and seems to do great in the snow. Suggestions?

You certainly will have problems with your tires. In my opinion, all season tires drastically compromise the handling and safety of any vehicle in winter conditions versus having a set of proper winter tires. I've never noticed the rear wheels spin on our X3 any more than they should in relation to the fronts. In the Jeep we used to own it was easy to fishtail the truck if cornering under power, but I've found it almost impossible to do this with the X3. That indicates to me that all wheels are being driven with the correct amount of power.

I wonder if there may be a problem with your X-drive that is delaying the transfer of power to the front? It should be nearly instantaneous if working properly.

I was up in Tahoe this past weekend. It was a great weekend with some snow, then it stormed overnight. I was very happy with my X3 as it performed excellently in the snow. We drove over multiple passes with snow, rain and all that good stuff. While other cars and trucks were stopped on the side of the road playing with chains, we were just cruisin' along.