your experience driving X3 in snow

Hello everyone,

How did your X3 handle in the snow? Do you have snow tires or all season? How was it starting on an incline? thanks.

Only one snow fall here and I was somewhat disappointed with the performance of the x3 with Pirelli Sottozero II tires. Blizzaks on my wife's 4cyl Acura was 2x as good.

Waiting for more snow to verify that the car and/or tires suck in the snow.

I have a 2013 X3 35i with sport package. I purchased the winter tire package from BMW. We do get snow in Buffalo so I felt more comfortable having snow tires. My last X3 was a 2007 with no options and back then living in Syracuse I did not have snow tires and the X3 did well in the snow. My 2013 has wider tires so I put snows on.

Hi I have a 2011 with Blizzaks, we have not had much snow last year or this year but the few times we did I was very happy with the performance...

ABS brakes, Snow tires, sports package... everything helps only when you drive with CAUTION. Do not try to defy the principles of physics with these add ones.

My 2009 had absolutely no problem n snow or ice, all season Scorpions and lasted 40k+ miles. My 2013 just passed its first ice storm test with flying colors.

2011 35i had no issues what so ever in the snow. Handled great.

OP, I suspect the AWD system will be fine but as always it does come down to the tires. All-seasons are the jack of all trades but master of none. I prefer to use a dedicated setup. However the advantages will certainly vary depending on area (roads traveled, average snow fall, etc). You may want to see if Tire Rack has a review on your specific tire. It's a starting point.

AWD helps to move the car but there is still a need to turn and stop.

We have had a lot of snow up here in Northern Canada, over 1 foot during just one of many dumps in early November, and my 2013 X3 M-Sport with the BMW winter pkg. (Pirelli P-Sotos) handled like a champ, no issues at all. Maybe not quite as good as my old '98 Pathfinder did with Michelin winter rated all-seasons, but then you are talking about a much heavier vehicle too.

I have a 2013 X3 Msport with 19 inch Goodyear LS 2's and was absolutely amazed how well the truck went thru our recent 15 inches of heavy wet snow 3 weeks ago especially considering I was expecting a skateboard after reading so much hype over needing winter snows. The X3 even tracked well on heavily rutted icey side roads and the lower Msport front bumper provided sufficient clearance as I was having a blast trying to get the thing stuck in an unplowed parking lot and couldn't the night of the storm. In this same parking lot I helped push 2 cars out that couldn't move. The electronics work so well reading tire traction it's the first thing you notice.

To illustrate and make a comparison the X3 felt just one tick less locked in as our much beefier 2003 Durango while in full 4 wheel drive mode and that's saying a lot as I've had the Durango out on unplowed back logging roads pulling 2 snowmobiles.

With this said you still have to know how to drive in winter conditions and slow down because no tire does much on sheer ice or can prevent other idiots from barreling into you.

Cheers to BMW on dialing in excellant X3 winter driving performance!

I'm bummed. I finally tossed on the Michelin Ice 3's that I bought last month in anticipation of tonight's "death storm. " We got about 1/2" on the lawn and nothing but wet streets. Big deal.
It's the first snow since we picked up the X3 last January.
Guess I'll have to settle for reading about Jen4BMW's fun...at least for now.

Thanks everyone for your answers. Just yesterday we had a dump of wet snow which will pack very quickly forming ice. About 2 months ago, I bought new 17 inch alloy rims and Hankook snow tires. I was pretty sure my X3 would handle well but was sceptacle because Iusually drive my 2000 4Runner that has 4 wheel drive. Well, after yesterdays drive, i have full confidence driving the X3 in the snow. No spinning of the wheels when starting on a level or incline road. It was a lot of fun. The only advantage of driving the 4Runner would be when the snow is really piled high. Thanks again.