Originally Posted by Oscar

I that I would put my thoughts into numbers.

I live near Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Our weather is probably similar to Chicago's. I went with a 2009 328i without x-drive. I will be installing winter tires on steel wheels. My reasons for not getting x-drive had nothing to do with saving money. My main reason is that I believe that for 95% of my year round driving, a RWD vehicle is superior to x-drive. I don't mind being slightly inferior to x-drive for 5% of my driving.

I also just bought a mid-sized front wheel drive SUV that I will use for driving up north to ski country. I will be purchasing winters for this vehicle of course.

To borrow a phrase from a post that I read on this very forum earlier this year: People make the mistake of believing the choice is between x-drive or rwd with snows. Instead, they should be always purchasing snows, then choose between x-drive or rwd.

Oscar