Thanks again...

So is the 325xi worth the money? Not a trivial purchase for me and I'm
having a hard time deciding... I've read just about everything I could
find on the 325 which seems to suggest it is. But just when I convince
myself the car is fairly priced for what you get I pick up the paper and
see $19k AWD Subaru or Suzuki ads. One big concern is cost of ownership
after the 4/50 warranty period.

Bob



"fbloogyudsr" > wrote in
:

> "Bob" > wrote
>> In the meantime let me run this by you... The whole idea behind my
>> interest in a 325xi is as a safe replacement for my wife's FWD Passat
>> equipped with Michelin Alpins during the winter. We both really like
>> the VW 90% of the time but I'd like something a little better for her
>> during some of our pretty bad driving days here in Upstate NY.
>
> My 330xi has Pilot Alpine's on it! The car is way better in snow than
> my wife's Toyota Highlander with all-season Toyo tires, or my T100
> Truck. As long as it doesn't get high-centered, it's almost
> unstoppable. It climbs the road to our vacation home (10:1 grade) with
> no problems whatever. Directional stability is far better - it
> doesn't slew around because the tread grips not only longitudinally
> but laterally (which all-season's aren't very good at.)
>
>> How will the BMW 38/62 AWD system with manual transmission compare to
>> FWD in real world use? The 325xi I'm looking at comes with Pirelli
>> P6's, will I need to replace them with "winter" tires for snow & ice?
>
> See above. Although all-season tires are ok in snow (mine came with
> Continental Contact all-seasons), the snows are far better. The BMW
> system is designed to make the car drive more like a RWD than FWD.
> You can kick out the rear end with DSC defeated, and it will kick a
> little before the DSC catches it. The combination of snow tires, ADB
> and DSC give astonishing acceleration in snow/ice conditions.
>
> The difference in traction (on snow) between all-seasons and full-on
> snows like the Pilot Alpine's is at least the difference between
> (performance) all-seasons and "summer" performance tires. I have a
> separate set of rims and tires for summer (325i sport package 7.5"
> rims with 225/45 Pilot MXM currently.) They add substantial handling
> improvements on dry roads, at the cost of a little ride harshness and
> noise.
>
>> (BTW, isn't the DSC system "defeatable" via a dash switch which would
>> allow full power to any wheel?)
>
> Yes, and you should do so if you're climbing steep hills and need full
> power.
> Evidently, pushing and holding the button for 3-5 seconds defeats the
> ADB, too, although I haven't done that.
>
> Floyd
>