NON AWD in snow?

Originally Posted by michelito

Pirelli 210 Snowsports which are awful: it took me 1h30 to get back home in the first big storm in january, and that's for a 8km run between downtown Montreal and Outremont: I just couldn't get up Atwater/Côte-des-Neiges!!!!

I went through that same area this winter in both my RWD 528iT with blizzak WS-50's on 16" steelies and later with my 330xi with Semperit SportGrips mounted on 17" wheels. I prefer the feel of the 528 with the Blizzaks; the only problem I had all winter was the low ground clearance of the Touring caused me to hang up once. The 330xi seemed to be more "nervous" in handling with the Semperits, so I may try WS-50s on it next winter. I'll be curious to see how people do next winter with the E90 xDrive models.

Anyone hear of any improvements on the e90xi? Lower suspension? More aggressive looking?

Originally Posted by Artslinger

Buy a jack and torque wrench, no waiting at a tire shop or hassles, and they will pay for themselves after a couple of seasons.

I hear many saying changing tires is a "Do it yourself" job.

However, I am still nervous about balance of the tires.

Do you guys just never balance the tires? or no need to balance them?

Originally Posted by BEEMERBOY

I have a '06 330i on order. I previously owned a '99 323 and it sucked big time in the snow. The BMW saleman assured me I would be fine with just snowtires and that I DID NOT need to wait for the XI to be released. Has anyone had problems in the snow with snow tires?

I have a RWD 325 and I put snow tires last two winters. Specifiically, I put on 16 inch Pirelli Snow Sports on Steelies with hub caps. I did not have any problem with any of New York's snow storms last 2 years. Only problem I had was getting thorugh a foot of slush. My car definitely outhandled my wife's Subaru Outback AWD with all-seasons.

Originally Posted by egtlover74

I hear many saying changing tires is a "Do it yourself" job.

However, I am still nervous about balance of the tires.

Do you guys just never balance the tires? or no need to balance them?

I don't remember what the company recommendations are on that subject.

All I know is on my e46 I was changing winter/summer wheels and tires myself and never bothered about rebalancing (I mean once the weight is placed on the rim for a specific tire, if you don't remove the tire from that rim, where is the need for rebalancing?). I was doing tire rotation every time I reinstalled a set of tires, swapping fronts with backs.

Never had any unwanted vibration or other problem with that...

Originally Posted by egtlover74

I hear many saying changing tires is a "Do it yourself" job.

However, I am still nervous about balance of the tires.

Do you guys just never balance the tires? or no need to balance them?

You do not need to rebalance if you have a full set of snow tires (rims and tires) all ready mounted.
Tire Rack sells winter rim and tire packages they come mounted and balanced.

I just picked up my e90 330i sport package and will sell my e36 328i sport package. On that car I had Blizzaks; dropped from 16" summer tires to 15" Blizzaks. I live in a hilly area in a NYC suburb; we get decent snow, but this is not the snow belt. In 8 years with the e36 I never got stuck. (8 inches of snow before the plows came was a bit dicey once, but that was the worst.) I used to pass AWD SUVs and other cars on hills here all the time. Go with 17" snows, or 16" if no sport package.

Originally Posted by Broken1

I don't live in a place that it snows, but I can tell you...a rear wheel drive car in the snow...won't be very good at all. Rather wait for the XI - you never know when you might need your car in a snow emergency, and when it doesn't work...

REAR WHEEL DRIVE AND SNOW DO NOT GO!

BS, In the early 70's there were very few front wheel drive cars and even fewer(if any) all wheel drives. I never got stuck. It's all about tires. If you running fat, low profile, performance tires, any car will be worthless. Normal snow tires would be fine.

Originally Posted by pony_trekker

I have a RWD 325 and I put snow tires last two winters. Specifiically, I put on 16 inch Pirelli Snow Sports on Steelies with hub caps. I did not have any problem with any of New York's snow storms last 2 years. Only problem I had was getting thorugh a foot of slush. My car definitely outhandled my wife's Subaru Outback AWD with all-seasons.

Duh, of course your Bimmer outperformed your Outback with All seasons. Our X5 was nasty the first snowstorm with All Seasons. Got the winters on and I couldn't even make the DSC engage if I tried. Your Outback with winter tires would be bombproof.