How does ur E70 handle in the Snow???
 

It's was my first drive in the snow today. The X5 handle really well eventhough i have a 20 inch sport tire. The ABS was awsome, my GMC Safary barely make it to my drive way, but the X5 drive through it with no problem at all. anyway, Can anyone tell me what's the DTC Button for??? I press on it and it say DTC Activated and DCS Limited... Do you know in what kind of situation i should press this DTC button??? I did look through the manual but still confusing... Any help is great and have a safe winter driving.

RTFM?

I had my 1st opportunity to try winter weather this weekend. I do have the OEM 18" winter package mounted. I'd give the X5 a A+ for winter ability.

Here in Iowa we had the worst combination for driving. A mix of sleet & freezing rain. We were about 100 miles from home & drove right through the heart of it. We had two vehicles so my wife drove the X5 with the kids. I actually had to call one of my daughters to have her "tell mom to slow down". I was in a front drive sedan & was having troubles with her speed (45-50 MPH), both in keeping up & worried that the X5 was making her over-confident. When we got home I jumped in the X5 to see for myself. Man, it was like a cat on carpet. I even tried to 'get it out of shape' on a low traffic road. With the winter tires & the X5's stability control I couldn't hardly get in trouble.

(I did see some poor soul going the other way in a M3 w/o winter wheels/tires. They didn't look like they were having fun :( )

We had the first snow of the year yesterday, and the X5 was admirable.

DTC is used when you want slight wheelspin. Basically, it limits the traction control. Never disable the DSC. This is what keeps you on the road if you mess up. :)

Mine did perfectly fine with the 19" all-seasons. Very similiar to my previous FX45 with winter tires - Apart from the braking aspect....surprisingly bad.

haha.. I had E46 M-Performance package on Dunlop winter sports, wasnt a day in 3 years that I didnt feel confident driving it. One time I drove into some deeper snow in an isolated area, there were kids in FX enoying 4 wheel drive, they were shocked to see a sporty BMW in same snow as them, they got mad and left looking for deeper snow as they no longer felt special.
Snow tires do make a huge difference and I was un-stopable for exception when the snow got harder and ground effects or the belly of the car was resting on it.

Warning:
DSC/DTC nor Winter tires can be echanged for stupidity, you still need to be carefull.

We've had a few snows in Colorado this season (mainly in the mountains) and the X5 has done quite well. I'm amazed how well this vehicle keeps its legs under it. My other two cars--a Suburban and a Jeep Wrangler--do not have near the traction control and tend to drift. XDrive works.

We had an inch or less of snow today. I'm having my winter tires mounted tomorrow.

I thought I would try my current summer 20" tires in my driveway. I was easily able to slide 6 feet with minimal braking. These tires have to come off...

I neglected to mention...I have 19" winter tires on my X

All are of you with the winter pkg?
 

I'm curious if everyone that has responded has the winter tires or not (at least those that didn't specify it). There's some occasional ice/snow as well as the occasional trip to go skiing at Mt Hood which usually isn't too bad (maybe several inches of snow at worst) for me and I was hoping the all seasons on the stock 4.8 (no sport pkg) would be good enough. I had some Michelin cross terrains on our Lexus RX which handled Michigan winters then Mt. Hood with no problems at all.

I have all-seasons on mine. You should be fine with them.

All-seasons should be fine for limited snow and ice action. Just carry snow chains in case. If you drove for 2+ months in some snow and ice daily then I'd go for the dedicated snow tires. It would help you avoid the idiots that shouldn't be out on the road. If you had sport summer only tires it's just plain stupid to drive in any bit of snow and ice with those.

Does anyone have tire chain recommendations for 20" wheels with the sports package? Thanks.

If you have summer tires on, dont even think of driving in at or below freezing temperatures, your rubber really stiffens up and you will be an accident waiting to happen. Summer tires do not have M+S symbol on them (that means Mud and Snow).
There are snow chains by BMW
PN 36110426949 set of 2 for 225/55R18 or 255/50R19 and retails at $500
I dont know if there is anything for 20" ones.

As well as it does in any other weather... 18" all-seasons.

On a similar note, my A3 FWD plowed through it like a champ, thanks to my Pirelli snow tires. A Jeep Compass clogged an intersection because it couldn't get out of one icy patch, but the A3's DSC light only went on twice, and got through both encounters easily.

Hey All,

I could use your advice. I live in Washington, DC/Northern Virginia and we hardly get snow, maybe a few light snows a year. I am getting the X5 with 20" wheels and there is only the option of the summer perfomance tires.

I really don't want to get a winter wheel set because I don't think it is worth it, never has been needed in my 15 years here. I am thinking of maybe having chains for emergencies. Is that a good idea? How do they work?

Any input would be appreciated.

Kustjag...if you can find a suitable all season tire, a tire store may swap you no charge for the more expensive performance tires.

As for DSC DTC, is there a sequence of button pushes that deactivated all of these so you can have fun in an empty snowy parking lot? And, when you tap the electronic parking brake at speed, does it stay on, or just activate rear brakes while pushed in like the Volvo electronic e-brake?

I'm in a similar dilemma. I want to get the 20" wheels and need to stay with Runflats because of not having any room for a spare with the 3rd row seats (at this time the only Runflat tires in those specific sizes are summer tires). I live in Los Angeles and we obviously have no snow here and hardly any times where the temperature is close to freezing, so the 20" summer runflats would be OK here. However, sometimes we do go to skiing resorts one or possibly two days max. a year....and even then most of the times the roads are clear of snow. So is it worth for me to consider getting 19" wheels instead of the 20's so that I could get M+S tires for the 1 or 2 days a year that we may be in snow? Would chains not work well enough in that situation for us?

Here are some chain options I found for the 315/35-20 tires. Their prices range from $73 to $425.



Spikes Spider ($425): http://www.spikes-spiders.com/catalo...tegory/?id=598

http://www.spikes-spiders.com/images.../sportFull.jpg





Farad SNOW tyre crampons (£144.85): http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbv...Tyre=315/35-20

Attachment 21021




SCC Super Z6 Chain ($73): http://www.amazon.com/Security-Chain...668311&sr=8-13


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...4L._AA280_.jpg

Chains are not allowed in Canada if I remember correctly, but anyway I have the bmw winter tires package on and it is commendable in snow. the back end does kick out a bit when turning sharply without the DTC on (wet snow, about to 5-6 inches deep) but really the car will stay on course. Haven't tried any highway driving in the snow but i'd be too chicken to gun it anyway. its solid and its fun. hope that helps

To all those entertaining driving with 20's in the snow or freezing temperatures, PLEASE heed proveg's advice. Don't do it it is extremely unsafe. I was caught last year in a freak April snowfall and it was scary with the 20's. Not only is the handling and control (or lack of) greatly compromised, but you can't even brake safely. You might as well be driving a toboggan with the 20's.

Here in Switzerland we have a great experience in winter driving. Not the 20' are a problem. The tires must be adapted to the conditions. And in winter conditions (temperature below 7 degrees celsius) only winter tires do the best job.Tire tests confirm that all-season-tires and also M + S tires are bad in summer and bad in winter, because it is a bad trade-off. So, when you can affort a luxury car, like the x5, i am sure you best choice is to buy a wheel set with fat summer high performance tires and a set with 255' winter tires. And dont forget: xDrive is perfect for grip on the street up to the hill, but when you drive down from the peak, it is almost useless, then are you as safe as in a sedan in your X5!!

Just my 2 cents! :thumbup:

Greetings from old Europe!

:iagree:

Well stated.

I've just purchased the "BMW Winter Package" for my E70 X5. The tires are Dunlop GRANDTREK WT M3 ROF (RunOnFlat). They are labeled "M+S". Are you saying that these are not "winter tires"? I have checked tirerack.com and it has them in the "Light Truck/SUV Performance Winter" category so they seem to be the right tires. There are VERY few options out there for E70's using winter run-flat tires...

I just bought a set of Pirelli Scorpion 19" winter tires. No runflat (I will never buy that stupid rip off thing), just the good old technology (=repairable at low cost in any workshop in case of nail puncture).

I am not a fan of Pirelli but this one is really as good as the reviews said. Much smoother ride vs the Conti summer runflat my X5 came with.

Good grip, the other day the road was pretty icy and all the cars were quite slow. I took over a couple of them with much confidence.

I also live in the DC Metro area. We do not get much snow and not for very long. I drove last year in the snow we had and never had any problems.

I did not go out unless I had to and then just to work and back. I am told the tires will travel OK in the snow but you have to watch it in the turns because you will slide sideways.

Those are winter tires. The all-seasons will say M + S.

Thanks for your response but, as I said, they do say "M + S" on the tire.

Mud and snow are winter tires. I have Michelin's on my QX4 and they're winter tires. LTX M+S.

Craig

I guess I shouldn't worry about it but I was expecting what TireRack.com calls the "Studless Ice and Snow" tire. BMW supplied the "Performance Winter" which is probably more applicable to most of my winter driving anyway.

Brian Buddy, you're fine - you have a full winter set up.

On your particular tire, after the M + S (mud + snow) you will see a picture of a mountain with a snowflake inside it, it should look like this:

http://members.roadfly.com/KEF/severe_snowflake.gif

This picture denotes the tire as meeting the toughest Severe Winter Traction Standard, you can read all about it here:

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/...jsp?techid=125

Cheers,
KEF

KEF,

You're right (again). I had just completed my research on that particular tire on other web sites and decided that it'll be just fine for me. Thanks for the TireRack link --- I hadn't seen that.

I guess if I lived a LOT further north, I might want the "Studless Ice and Snow"...

. . . . Brian

I'am sorry for the confusion. :confused: Every winter tire is a M + S tire. But not every M + S tire is a good winter tire. Because all weather-tires are also M + S labeled and they are not a good choice for severe winter conditions. All weather or all season-tires don't have a good profile for grip in snow and the rubbermix is too hard. In cold conditions you need a soft rubbermix, which stays soft in low temperatures. This is only guaranteed with winter tires.

So Dunlop Grandtrek WT, Pirelli Scorpion Ice + snow or Bridgestone Blizzak are all premium winter tires. :thumbup:

Greetings
Gary

agree with Gary. here in Europe M+S can be printed on any kind of tire like so called all seasons but symbol with montain and snowflakes is allowed on tires with real winter ability only. thats including softer rubber mixture and real snowprofile. i also use Dunlop Granteks M3 which are premium wintertires and good enough even for heavy winterconditions.

as Gry said: xdrive is good for uphill driving, accelerating and cornering ability but in downhill driving and braking you just have a car weighting 2,3 tons and nearly no difference to a 7series.

greetings from rainy Hamburg
Jan

Do you guys use DTC on a roadway (winter and snow covered) for speeds say up and around 40-60 MPH? I did that and it scared me a bit. I hit a snow bank around a corner and the car was wondering side to side

Absolutely not. Why would you not want the benefits of DSC when moving?

The only time I would use DTC is if I was stuck in a snowbank and wanted to spin the tires to chew my way out. DTC will allow more wheelspin than DSC. As soon as I was moving I would re-engage DSC.

The biggest confusion with DTC is that some people think it is traction control (which it is), but don't realize that DSC (which is already on) is stability control + traction control. Engaging DTC turns off the stability control, in addition to allowing a little more wheelspin before engaging the brakes on the spinning wheel.

Pirelli Scorpion Ice&Snow was good on E53 and I put it on my E70, too. We don't have real snow yet, I can't comment handling of E70 on snow.

Hey, when you are driving 60 mph on a snow covered street you don't need any assistance by your car, you need assistance from a higher level.... :yikes: !! Imagine a deer or anything else appears on the street. No chance to brake or pass it. We have good SAV, but even for us bimmerdrivers there are some physical limits .. ;) !

Greetings form Switzerland
Gary

we have divided roadways/ secondary highways in Canada that are not often plowed with posted speed limit of around 100km or 60MPH, i was going about 70-75 km/h (around 45mph) on a divided 4 lane roadway with snow in between tire tracks but while cornering the car gettered a bit. I hear about the slowing down but really on a highway up here I do reach 60 mph often in the winter. (Especially in Alberta ;) )

So 20" rims with good winter tires will do the trick or would I still be better
something smaller with winter tires.

(in Belgium it snows twice a year so nothing like Canada, Switzerland, Iowa, and Colarado)

tks

Sam

High Sam

Not the size of the rims is the key. The tire width is important. On snow covered streets you have the best performance with thin tires like 255's. As widther they are as worser is the traction of these tires. A good wheel combination for winter is 255/50 R19 107 H. You can use for example the bmw rim 177 19'. That looks good on your E70. If you desire a tougher look with fat tires, you can choose winter tires on 20' rims in the dimension 275/40 R20! They are fat but in severe conditions the traction is worser than with 255. And you can't use snow chains with these tires.

Your choice!

Greetings from Switzerland :thumbup:
Gary

Hi Sam

have rather similar conditions in norther germany with some snow and some ice time to time but mostly temps arnd plus 3-5 degrees. as long as you go for real wintertires even widths doesnt matter that much as you normally dont have much snow there. in the montains i also would go for 255s for better traction in deep snow but for belgium?

regards
Jan

I have been driving mine in a foot deep of snow already and every day for the last few weeks (live in a ski area in Colorado) on packed snow. I have the standard tires that came with the sport package on 19" rims. It is doing way better than my Touareg did with standard tires ( although I did buy winter tires for that car eventually).

When you are driving on packed snow or in deep snow you should hit the DTC button just once. Because the car, any car is going to slip in those conditions regardless of the type of technology you a car has. It stops the car from "over-trying" to correct the slippage using the brakes etc. If I drove my car without hitting the DTC button once all winter where I live I would get through my brakes in a jiffy and get way less mpg. The car actually has more capability and handles better in these conditions with the DTC button hit once than leaving it in normal mode. If you drive in normal mode especially in deep snow, you can feel the car freaking out trying to stop the slippage that is normal in driving in those conditions. You just have to learn to drive in snow and packed snow conditions, just like powder skiing, and have fun! I think I am going to put Blizzak tires on though, it will help with the rally driving.

Can I ask what brand/type of tyres you have?

i believe the 19'' are dunlops atleast in my case..excellent grip and performance with DTC on

Are these marked as Summer or all Seasons?

The car came with Bridgestone Dueller H/L 400's. These are not too bad and I would not bother changing them if I did not live in an extreme snow and ice climate.

I just ordered the Bridgestone Blizzak LM25 4x4's that I will use for the winter months.

Tell you exactly how it handles
 

Link:

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/286081

Well, its quite amazing how much snow we are getting (still falling as I type) and I have gone to church this morning only to find out that all churches here are closed (first time ever in my life) and I'm pretty sure that the schools will be close tomorrow as well. So my point is, this is pretty much as bad as it gets in terms of snow. (I am in the Waterloo region, not too far from the GTA which is in the linked article) No joke, I just saw two people skiing to get around.

The X5? man it is so solid you barely get any under or over steering on bends and I I can make it through the thick stuff NO PROBLEM. I have to turn the DSC off completely to get through the parking lot (where its not plowed) and getting through the foot and a half of snow is a breeze!
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Love my X5. This is the best vehicle to be driving in the winter. Other cars cannot even dare to go where I go. I have the BMW certified Winter Tires Package on mine (18 Grandtrek Dunlops, they are awesome).

I would buy this car again just for how capable it is on winter roads.