X5 xDrive35d in the Snow....
 

So the introductory pics of my X5 aren't quite a scenic and perfectly composed as I had planned on, but the opportunity struck and couldn't be missed...

I live in Northern Illinois, and we received about 18" of snow yesterday/last night/this morning. Last evening, I was coming home from a meeting in the X5. I've mounted a set of Blizzak LM-60 RFTs on a set of Moda EB1 18" wheels, and I can honestly say that the BMW is the best handling car in the snow that I've ever had. Previous vehicles have included 4wd F-150, Toyota Tundra, Ford Expedition, Jeep Liberty, Toyota Highlander, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Cherokee, and a few others. While I had a 77 CJ-5 that would go through deeper snow than the BMW (it should have, with 6" of lift, 35" tires, and a healthy 304 v-8), the BMW is the best 'on-road' vehicle I've ever driven. Pressing the DSC button one time (to switch to DTC mode) results in a car that is amazingly stable, predictable in power slides, and has a ton of traction. Sure, shutting the DSC off can be a bit more fun when playing, but being in the DTC mode, in my opinion, produces more forward tractive force.

I took a couple pics when I stopped for fuel, and a couple at home. If you look closely, you'll see snow packed in the lower valance, and even some snow inside the grille. That snow is not snow that blew in there, but rather is snow that pushed in there when I went through a couple drifts that were up to the hood. Fortunately, it was pretty dry snow. FWIW, the mudflaps held up perfectly; no problem. It was truly an impressive performance. For my part, when it got blustery, I just clicked the seat heat up a notch and turned on my steering wheel warmer. ;)

On my lengthy drive last night, I encountered ice, slush, deep, rutted, frozen snow, deep powdery snow, big drifts, heavy winds, and everything in between. My only complaints are: 1) the rear of the car packed with snow and covered the tail lights. Not terribly safe. 2) Even with the defrost cranking, I had to stop a few times and bang the ice off the wipers up front.

Anyhow, she did a great job. My driveway had a 5' deep drift across it this morning...and no, I didn't try to plow through that. The X5 is in the garage, nice and warm (and dry, now).

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Would LOVE to see your pics, but all we can see is little red Xs :( Bummer

Fixed.

And BTW...she's got:

Cold Weather Package
Premium Package
Technology Package
Towing Package
Roof Rails
Rear Climate
IPod Connection
Navigation
Space Gray
Black Nevada Leather Interior
Panoramic Sunroof
Dark Burl Walnut Trim
Weathertech Digital Fit floormats and cargo mat
Rear Seat Entertainment System (BMW Dual Monitor)

I do wish it had comfort access and ventilated seats, but otherwise, it was exactly what I was looking for.

Oh, and can't forget:

425 lb/ft of Torque...:wow:

GREAT write up and AMAZING pics...although it was hard for me to even imagine my 35d looking like that. While we might have Sky high DMV fees, expensive gas, fires, earthquakes...California keeps our cars nice and shiny most of the year. We are on week 2 now of electric blue skies, 70-75F, breezy...awesome CA winter weather!!

When you pull the car in the garage with all that ice and snow...do you have drains in the garage floor? What happens to all the melt off??

It's really hard to look at these pictures :-o I cannot even imagine this!!!!

Yeah, if I didn't have a family and career here, I'd be living in San Francisco.:iagree::iagree:

I'd love to have floor drains in my garage, but they're illegal where I live. Accordingly, when we built the house, I had the garage foundation poured such that the concrete comes up 12" above the finished surface of the floor (and the garage drywall ends 10" above the finished floor). The whole floor is sloped towards the garage door...not so much that you can't roll around on a creeper, but enough that water drains to (and under) the garage door. Also, there's enough slope that if you put a car in neutral, you can relatively easily push it out the door without starting the engine.

Not to rub it in...Well, actually yes to rub it in...LOL :D

I just snapped a picture from my bedroom window of our backyard and street. Ahhhh, bright blue skies, warm sunshine, cool breeze

Just like Illinois, right??? HA HA HA HA

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r02Feb2011.jpg

That's not very nice. Take a pic next time the fires roll through town :D

Speaking of DMV fees, what do you figure you pay yearly on your X5? Reason I ask is we are actually considering a move to CA, maybe next year.

Well, they keep going up, but it is about $1000/$1200 a year.

Ok, here is a picture from 2 years ago, taken from an upstair window in our hallway. The air was choking, full of smoke and ash. Mandatory Evacuations! But, it was the first fire our Canyon has had in about 40 years, and our awesome CA firefighters were amazing. NOT one structure lost!! :)
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...ire21oct07.jpg

gotta be careful with hitting snow drifts... my service advisor told me quite a few Xs were brought in recently to re-align the black bumper with the colored body (right below the reflector). I swear I didn't hit anything and it was off... they popped it back in but it's not as tightly aligned as it once was (eyeballing the other side).

BTW, with all that snow in the wheel wells, you had to have vibration issues, no?

RH,

No, vibration wasn't an issue. The fastest I went after going through the drifts was still sub-30mph. Had I gone faster, I'm sure the snow built up on the inside of the wheels would have either flown off, or vibrated badly.

I hear ya OP....

Living in MN we get our fair share of snow and cold.

I recently started another thread on how I just swapped my All Seasons for some Dunlop Snows on my 011 X5 35D...

Ain't no comparing all seasons with proper winter tires when you live in the snow belt (or NE Coast!)

You guys over the Bears loss yet? I was rooting for you guys and as a Viking fan -- that wasn't easy :D

Snow tires are one of those things like a heated steering wheel, where one is very skeptical about the benefits. And then you try them, and won't areally ccept all-seasons as substitutes anymore.

I drove my pop's X5 diesel in the snow with the standard Bridgestone All-seasons. Um, yeah, it accelerates okay but handling and stopping a 2,5 ton truck was pretty hairy, and that's at low speeds around the neighbourhood.

2011 X5d + Pirelli Scorpions + 15 inches of snow = no problem.

im using pirelli scorpions, and i can attest to this car's awesomeness in the snow. went up residential hills in whistler during blizzard conditions this winter and didn't have a problem...easily kept up with a range rover sport.

only when i braked on thinner snow did i feel the grind'n'slip. gotta go slower i suppose?

Depends on whether they were Pirelli Scorpion winter tires, or the all season variant labelled M+S. Going slower will always help, but using the winter tires will really help.

Charlotte recently had snow one day and it iced over the next. My neighborhood streets were sheer ice. The Scorpion Ice & Snows had amzing traction. I only had a slight slipping on a down hill icy section. Other than that, it was absolute traction the whole drive into work.