very poor performance on snow

mrcairnes · Dec 21, 2004

I'm very disappointed that the X3 slips and slides on snow (even when the snow cover is relatively small). Question - am i missing something with the way the transmission gears are supposed to be used during inclimate weather? Maybe I need all season tires on a brand new vehicle??

bmw046series · Dec 21, 2004

What kind of tires do you have, make sure you have the DSC or DTC button pushed and a little orange symbol refering to either of the two are enabled in the tachometer. Drive slow and drive in 4th gear more than 5th or 6th (assuming manual) gives you better control when you drive slower.

Average Jae · Dec 21, 2004

actually bmw04series, DSC is on by defaut. you have to press the btn to turn it off. (
if you have the solid orange DSC light on, that means it's off.
if it blinks during operation, it means it detected a slip and is working.

tires are probably the bigger issue. not all a/s tires are good in the snow. (well even in my snows yesterday, i was detecting slip, but snow is slippery, and i know i'm way better off now than i would be w/ other tire setup.) goto tirerack.com and check out the in snow performance rating on your particular factory A/S tires.

chuck abbott · Jan 7, 2005

I live at 6700ft level in Colorado and drive most of the winter (about 6 months) on snow. I have Blizzak LM18's on my X3 and can honestly say I have never slipped a wheel with this vehicle. It is the very best vehicle that I have ever had in snow conditions. I suggest you get a set of reputable winter tires, I would never dream of driving on M&S tires they just don't cut the mustard in real bad snow conditions. Good luck, Chuck Abbott

wood_e · Jan 8, 2005

Tires make a world of difference in winter

epj3 · Jan 9, 2005

Yup take their advice. I can't believe it but people in the past haven't believed that tires can make a big difference, but it's the ONLY thing between the car and the road! So yes, it makes a HUGE difference.

Skipper · Jan 9, 2005

All wheel drive will maximize the traction you have, but it can't create traction where there is none. I put good snow tires on my 325 xi and winter performance is pretty good.

brahtw8 · Jan 9, 2005

mrcairnes said:

It sounds like you have summer tires on your X3, which explains why it slips and slides.

You need all-seasons at a minimum. I run dedicates snows and summers and it makes a world of difference.

MrElussive · Jan 12, 2005

mrcairnes said:

Do you know what kind of tires you have? What model X3 do you have and what packages did you get? If you got the X3 3.0i with Sport Package and optional 18" Performance Wheels, they give you high-performance summer tires with that, which are not suitable for snow driving.

LaZy · Jan 12, 2005

i think the performance wheels are 19"s, but yea i got the sport package and my car was hugging a turn in the pouring rain. i know it wasnt the smartest the thing to do, but i wanted to see how well my car would perform in rain or snow.

*note i did this after reading this thread.

MrElussive · Jan 12, 2005

LaZy said:

Rain and snow are different. Performance tires have exceptional traction in the dry and wet. It's when the temperature drops below 40 degrees and/or snow-driving where the summer performance tires aren't so good.

LoMo987 · Jan 12, 2005

Definetly check your tires, they can mean a world of difference!

BigO1120 · Jan 17, 2005

My X3 came with Scorpion tires and so far they're not THAT bad...then again snow is quite slippery.

mrcairnes · Jan 20, 2005

What type of X3??

Tires on the X3 2.5i are 235/55R/17....i did some checking and saw they're supposed to be all weather tires?? Is this true?? Thanks

brahtw8 · Jan 20, 2005

mrcairnes said:

That is the tire size, not the tire type. Give us a brand and model, like Michelin Pilot Sport.

All-season tires are a compromise in all seasons.

Bmw 325i 7803 · Jan 20, 2005

I think all seasons are the best for balanced all year round driving.

brahtw8 · Jan 20, 2005

Bmw 325i 7803 said:

For one set of tires, of course, but the point is that you can have much better tires all year by using two sets of tires, summer tires in the summer and winter tires in the winter.

MrElussive · Jan 20, 2005

Bmw 325i 7803 said:

I agree....you don't have to worry about the weather at all as the all-seasons are decent in the dry, rain, and snow, and at whatever temperature. Keyword being "decent" though.

BigO1120 · Jan 24, 2005

I'm in NJ and we just had a pretty bad snow storm over the weekend. My X3 tackled the snow like a true CHAMP! Again, I have Scorpion tires on them (not sure the actual model number) and I was able to move through the snow with some ease. I was very disappointed to see an X5 having trouble getting up a hill (a pretty steep one at that) but I was able to get up that same hill with no problems.

I even put some snow hills on my driveway (about 2 feet high) and she tackled it with no problems! I was very skeptical about how the X3 was going to handle in real nasty snow weather and I must say I was very happy with the results. I'm thinking of doing the 2 sets of tires during the 2 season thing. If it does this well with all weather tires then it'll probably do even better with just snow tires. [headbang]

Average Jae · Jan 24, 2005

remember that the x3 won the ALCAN? it was pretty much a stock set up too.

very poor performance on snow

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