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      02-08-2013, 09:42 AM   #1
WhiteCollar
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Driving in Feb 8th Blizzard!

Hi guys, just wanted to get your opinions on how our BMW's fared driving in today.
I was impressed. I have the Xdrive on Blizzaks and even though no roads were cleaned before I drove to work today, my car handled superbly in the deep snow. Granted I didn't go over 75 on the highway and above 40 in town. Even if the traction control light came on a few times, I never felt that I was losing control of the car. I slid a few times, but it's impossible not to with the amount of snow out there.
This is what makes a BMW fun to drive. I was smiling and was excited all the way. Awesome feeling.
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      02-08-2013, 01:48 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by WhiteCollar View Post
Hi guys, just wanted to get your opinions on how our BMW's fared driving in today.
I was impressed. I have the Xdrive on Blizzaks and even though no roads were cleaned before I drove to work today, my car handled superbly in the deep snow. Granted I didn't go over 75 on the highway and above 40 in town. Even if the traction control light came on a few times, I never felt that I was losing control of the car. I slid a few times, but it's impossible not to with the amount of snow out there.
This is what makes a BMW fun to drive. I was smiling and was excited all the way. Awesome feeling.
RWD not so good today.................
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      02-08-2013, 05:30 PM   #3
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Awesome, great to hear the xdrive is taking your snow dump on with no problems. We had a total of 3" inches of snow here this winter in Vancouver and 8 dgreee temperatures forecast for the next 2 weeks so I guess that is it for us this winter. I was hoping for more snow here so I could take my car out and have some fun........I guess I will have to take satsifaction here in Vancouver in being able to blast out of corners in the rain with the xdrive :-)
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      02-08-2013, 06:16 PM   #4
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RWD with summers made it home to swap for the wife's X5. Didn't get snows this year. First year with f30.
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      02-08-2013, 07:27 PM   #5
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We got ~20 cm today. X-drive and Xice-Xi3 (that's a lot of X's!!) made it to work and back with no problem. I know people are very happy with their RWD but living in Ottawa and with the amount of snow we get it just feels so damn safe and secure (of course having a good set of winters is at least half the reason why). The plow was nice enough to leave a one foot mountain in front of my garage which was nothing for the car. Exceedingly happy with this car for the area I live in.
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      02-08-2013, 07:30 PM   #6
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I have to go pick up the wife soon from subway. Don't know what to expect. RWD with Dunlop M3 Winter Sports.
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      02-08-2013, 08:01 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raspartan View Post
I have to go pick up the wife soon from subway. Don't know what to expect. RWD with Dunlop M3 Winter Sports.
If you have no hills you should be fine..... With my rear wheel drive 2003 330i with snow tires the major issue was starting from a stop on a snow covered hill.
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      02-08-2013, 08:30 PM   #8
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I should be clearer. I don't know what to expect from these particular conditions. We've had snow several times this winter and so far so good. However, today is the most we've had all season, I believe.

My informal driveway measurement says 14 inches fell today and there doesn't seem to be much side road ploughing going on, so this will be the thickest snow I've driven the F30 in to date. Guess I'll find out soon enough how it handles.
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      02-09-2013, 06:50 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raspartan View Post
I should be clearer. I don't know what to expect from these particular conditions. We've had snow several times this winter and so far so good. However, today is the most we've had all season, I believe.

My informal driveway measurement says 14 inches fell today and there doesn't seem to be much side road ploughing going on, so this will be the thickest snow I've driven the F30 in to date. Guess I'll find out soon enough how it handles.
....and Raspartan was never heard from again

....well? How'd you do? I drove in knee deep snow with my F30 before and the fastest I could get her up to was a fast walking speed. Luckily there were no hills or I'd be SOL. But at that depth, I would think most 2 wheel drive cars would have issues.
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      02-09-2013, 10:45 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Seagull View Post
....and Raspartan was never heard from again

....well? How'd you do? I drove in knee deep snow with my F30 before and the fastest I could get her up to was a fast walking speed. Luckily there were no hills or I'd be SOL. But at that depth, I would think most 2 wheel drive cars would have issues.
I made it back!

It was pretty hairy at times though, almost got stuck right after leaving the safety of my driveway. Had to switch to DTC until I got to the main road. Almost got stuck again in TTC passenger pickup lot, DTC to the rescue again. I suppose xdrive would have helped there but it was pretty deep in places so I can't really say.
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      02-09-2013, 12:55 PM   #11
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No issues on winters.
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      02-09-2013, 03:15 PM   #12
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With xDrive and my winter tires I didn't have any issues getting home from the office last night, just had to do what I could to avoid all the other cars that were getting stuck or losing control. I did apparently do a little snow plowing though based on the looks of my car when I got home



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      02-12-2013, 09:52 PM   #13
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I was really impressed with the performance of the Xdrive and Blizzaks. My previous E90 was a 2007 335 RWD. I got stuck a couple of times with that on sideroads way back when we used to get snow(2008 and 2009)

There's no stopping Xdrive. Drove from Markham to Pearson on the 407 on a completely snow covered freeway and was really impressed.

I'm thinking to getting this mod done and helping out when we get the next dump of snow

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      02-14-2013, 11:15 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 335BBS View Post
RWD not so good today.................
I had reservations about getting a rwd car living in Barrie but with a Grand Cherokee as my second vehicle I went for a 320i last year. X drive was not available then anyway. First thing i did was replace the tires with Hankook Optimo S4 year round performance tires which are snow rated. The original tires with 500 km on them will go back on when the lease is over.

First large dumping of snow of the year fell on a friday night. Early Saturday morning I decide to test the car and tires before the plows got to my street. I was so impressed with the car I drove around aimlessly trying to get stuck to no avail. This car feels like its locked onto the road. I even turned off the traction control for a bit and I still got around albeit with a lot more wheel spin than with it on.

I know xdrive is nice and get it if you want, but if you really want a rwd 3 series and live in the snow belt, go for it. I believe quality winter tires on a rwd will serve you better than xdrive on stock tires. I love this car with these tires all year round. Especially in winter.
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      02-15-2013, 08:51 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cokeman View Post
I had reservations about getting a rwd car living in Barrie but with a Grand Cherokee as my second vehicle I went for a 320i last year. X drive was not available then anyway. First thing i did was replace the tires with Hankook Optimo S4 year round performance tires which are snow rated. The original tires with 500 km on them will go back on when the lease is over.

First large dumping of snow of the year fell on a friday night. Early Saturday morning I decide to test the car and tires before the plows got to my street. I was so impressed with the car I drove around aimlessly trying to get stuck to no avail. This car feels like its locked onto the road. I even turned off the traction control for a bit and I still got around albeit with a lot more wheel spin than with it on.

I know xdrive is nice and get it if you want, but if you really want a rwd 3 series and live in the snow belt, go for it. I believe quality winter tires on a rwd will serve you better than xdrive on stock tires. I love this car with these tires all year round. Especially in winter.
I believe x drive stock tire is an all season like the one that your car was delivered on. .....your 4s is an all season...NOT a winter tire. Glad it works for you . Good luck.

Last edited by 335BBS; 02-15-2013 at 08:57 AM..
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      02-17-2013, 07:05 PM   #16
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I believe x drive stock tire is an all season like the one that your car was delivered on. .....your 4s is an all season...NOT a winter tire. Glad it works for you . Good luck.
No sir, it's not. It is a Transport Canada approved winter tire with a silica compound designed to work well year around. They have the Transport Canada snowflake emblem on the sidewall. This emblem is reserved for winter approved tires only.

The only real drawback to these tires is shorter lifespan. Only 64000km when used year round. They do work well though.
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      02-19-2013, 02:41 PM   #17
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I've got my 328i xDrive on the standard Pirelli Cinturato's and it made it through the storm with flying colours.
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      02-21-2013, 11:10 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cokeman View Post
No sir, it's not. It is a Transport Canada approved winter tire with a silica compound designed to work well year around. They have the Transport Canada snowflake emblem on the sidewall. This emblem is reserved for winter approved tires only.

The only real drawback to these tires is shorter lifespan. Only 64000km when used year round. They do work well though.
According to Hankook..."the Hankook Optimo 4S is an alternative to a winter tire but is not a winter tire". Snowflake does not make it a winter tire, Sir.
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      02-21-2013, 12:07 PM   #19
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According to Hankook..."the Hankook Optimo 4S is an alternative to a winter tire but is not a winter tire". Snowflake does not make it a winter tire, Sir.
Wow! Looks like some advertisers are misleading potential buyers (ie: me) into believing these are true winter tires. Heres a link to them at Canadian Tire:

http://tires.canadiantire.ca/en/tire...ook-optimo-4s/

It says they're approved by the RAC (rubber assoc of Canada I think) for winter use.

You are correct when you say it's an alternative to a winter tire but it's not a true winter tire. Thats's because you don't have to remove them in the spring. The snowflake emblem only gets put on tires that pass and exceed the severe snow service requirement.

Last edited by cokeman; 02-21-2013 at 12:14 PM..
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      02-21-2013, 01:48 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cokeman View Post
Wow! Looks like some advertisers are misleading potential buyers (ie: me) into believing these are true winter tires. Heres a link to them at Canadian Tire:

http://tires.canadiantire.ca/en/tire...ook-optimo-4s/

It says they're approved by the RAC (rubber assoc of Canada I think) for winter use.

You are correct when you say it's an alternative to a winter tire but it's not a true winter tire. Thats's because you don't have to remove them in the spring. The snowflake emblem only gets put on tires that pass and exceed the severe snow service requirement.
You don't HAVE to remove winters either but performance will be affected.
CDN Tire lists your tire under "all season". i don't think Hankook makes it any more?
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      02-21-2013, 03:06 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 335BBS View Post
You don't HAVE to remove winters either but performance will be affected.
CDN Tire lists your tire under "all season". i don't think Hankook makes it any more?
That's nice. What if i get an unrepairable flat? I plan to drive on these for the life of the lease. Typical for a large company though. Make a unique product that works really well and pull the plug after one year.
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      02-21-2013, 06:11 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 335BBS View Post
You don't HAVE to remove winters either but performance will be affected.
CDN Tire lists your tire under "all season". i don't think Hankook makes it any more?
Those Hankooks are what they now sell as "all weather" tires. There are a few others out there as well, the Nokian WR and the Yokohama W Drive. They have the snowflake rating like a true winter tire but are meant to be left on the car all year round. There is some compromise compared to a dedicated winter tire and they generally lack some of the handling and ride characteristics of a regular all season tire in the warmer months, but they can be quite good alternative for folks that don't want to switch tires every season.
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