excellent? hardly so, not sure what you guys are comparing it too but i wouldn't say it's excellent in snow.
like others have said x3, 3series awd will run circles around it.
this is because of it's weight imo.
you have to drive it in manual mode and change gears yourself and use a lot of engine breaking. on ice it's where you can really tell it's weight is no good.
obviously different parts of the country gets different type of snow so what works for one might not work for another.
some mentioned all season tires, again no good specially on sport package because the size of the tires too wide!

:iagree:x10. I couldnt wait for the snow to hit just so i could drive around for an hour!

Confirmation thanks.
 

Thanks to all for confirming that my X5 will go in the snow for sure.:D
My Yoko tires are brand new, maybe 500 miles on them. So no worries there, eh?

Now I can hardly wait for the snow to come. Let it snow, let it snow.:thumbup:

I have a video on my PC somewhere of me hammering it down my driveway and through 3 feet of snow that had been piled up at the end by the town snow trucks. That blew my mind that I actually made it. My wife was certain I was going to get stuck. I rolled down the window after I did it and just smiled. She shook her head only because I used it as an excuse not to shovel. :)

It's all relative. My X5 is not as good as my previous S4 Avant, manual. But it's better than any truck based SUV I've owned. I run Pirelli Scorpion winter tires, which work quite well. No complaints. It doesn't have quite the traction and sure footedness of an Audi car with Quattro. But it still does perfectly fine even in really nasty snow conditions.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4021/...86f3ceb0_z.jpg

My Audi S4 quattro was the best car I've owned for snow driving, bar none. And I've owned a lot of AWD / 4WD vehicles.....

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/...b6a783c9_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2497/...190_z.jpg?zz=1

Do you have to fit x5 wheels or will others fit , say , landrover or other bmw models .

I have to say I was pretty impressed with the X-Drive setup. I moved from Erie, PA (where you need a tunneling machine to get around) to Atlanta (where it rains all day-then turns into snow and freezes over night). Earlier this spring I had an appointment at the dealer the day after one of those wonderful events. Drove there with absolutely no problem & picked up a 535 as a loaner. Holy s*&! what a difference. Almost took it back. The car would just stop while trying to get out of my driveway. I had to hold the DSC button to disable the traction control completely so I could basicaly melt the ice with wheelspin. I had not thought the roads were so bad because the x5 had 0 issues. This is "massive" snow for Atlanta-granted everything under the white stuff is pure ice.

The best tip I have is, drive on some less driven roads and get used to it. Then you have to train yourself to trust it! Once you learn to trust it you will love it!

I have had every type of SUV made (quite literally) and my X is the best (when trusted) snow driving machine outside of a snowmobile for WI winters. We had 90 inches, not an issue, although I do run 18" snows during the winter.

Enjoy!

I think it has a lot less to do with weight and a lot more to do with the fat tires that most run on their X5's.

I have owned trucks that get a lot more traction and weigh a lot more than the X but they also had tires no wider than 275 that were better suited for low traction conditions...Wide tires in the snow are FAR inferior to skinny tires.

My biggest gripe with the X is the inability to fully disable traction control. I trust my ability to steer out of a tricky situation WITHOUT brake (using throttle) a lot more than I trust the DSC to apply brake and slow me down efficiently.

My X5's winter performance is lousy.

But as mentioned fat tires with no sidewall is a no go, especially during an Alberta winter.