Will an x-drive get me out of the mud?

[Peldrigal]

Context: after the divorce my only car is a 350z convertible, which is not very practical for an occasional 60 mile commute, regular life, and hobbies.

I was thinking of using the car allowance to supplement it or switch, potentially with a BMW 4 series, an F32/F33 or maybe even a F36.

Besides a boring commute, the other thing that I do is 4 times a year go camping. I was thinking of potentially getting a tow hook so I can hitch a trailer, instead of renting a van as me and my friends do.
However, once last year after three days of constant rain we were so miserably stuck that we had to wait until a tractor could tow us to leave the muddy field used as a parking lot.

Would a 4 series with x-drive on 4 season tyres be able to disentangle itself from a situation like that, or it's mostly for the wet/snow/icy situations?

[oddman]

I work my dogs on shoots through the winter. We see lots of guns with BMWs RRs etc getting into trouble on grass even when not especially wet or sloping <10%

The only tyres that will reliably grip on turf and other soft surfaces are specialist off road tyres

All Season/Winter tyres are about establishing grip on road

[smokey mow]

Not X-drive and not a very scientific test but my cars are regularly parked on grass. In the winter the RWD car gets stuck first, then the FWD. the only one that doesn’t is my Impreza which I then use to tow the other two off.

So yes 4WD is better on wet grass than a 2WD car.

[Peldrigal]

[url]

That is not what I asked. Never had any problem with my RWD on Hankook Kinergy 4S 2

[E-bmw]

Peldrigal][url said:

That is not what I asked. Never had any problem with my RWD on Hankook Kinergy 4S 2

You will have to excuse some people on here, they instinctively prefer w!lly waving to answering the question asked.

[Earthdweller]

Tyres, its all about the tyres

[cerb4.5lee]

Earthdweller said:

Tyres, its all about the tyres

This. I remember taking my old X5 4.8iS off road once(still only on grass though), and that had xDrive and wide summer tyres on it. I just slid all over the place, and I nearly took a fence out with me!

I never did it again after that.

[danb79]

Earthdweller said:

Tyres, its all about the tyres

^^^ This

My Dad's X3M on summer tyres spun around in circles on the Cairngorm car park a few years back (was entertaining to watch) in a bit of snow and ice...

My lowly E39 530i Sport on 16" Michelin Alpin tyres drove back down to collect them to take them to the top of the car park

Dad now runs all seasons and has zero issues; he fishes on the Tay a lot and gets up/down dirt tracks/lots of standing water and very muddy patches with zero issues, inc in the snow!

[Pica-Pica]

Earthdweller said:

Tyres, its all about the tyres

In some off road situations you may need tractor tyres if hilly, or turf tyres if flat (think golf cart). These would be no good/fun on the road though, so all-seasons would be best.
AWD is best when you encounter mixed surfaces in each wheel corner, such as gravel track going onto tarmac road, you can floor it with no consequence.
Having said all that, I have driven away on wet and muddy-ish grass with RWD and summer tyres.
Sometimes it’s all about the driver.

[SAS Tom]

I think X drive with all season tyres will be fine.

I drove my previous 4wd Lexus with all season tyres and it never got stuck. I drove it on sheet ice, muddy fields (I’m a co driver in a bowler so drive in lots of muddy fields) and snow on and off road. Never did I get stuck.

Just put it in drive, steady throttle and let the traction control sort it all out.

[VeeTenM]

It'll be fine, even in an older E90

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu0F0dFkquA

[Projectblue51]

Snow is not wet grass, wet grass is worse.

To answer the OP question, no. I don't think it will. But tyres make a massive difference and not a compromise you probably want to make for the two or three days a year you need it.

If you want to buy a coupe that goes ok but also has all a form of four wheel drive, buy an Audi Quattro.

i've owned multiple quattro's, multiple BMW's and so many Land Rovers I have lost count. I've also bought and run a fleet of BMW X5 Xdrive's. Most recently I have been teaching people to drive off road in an 18ton 4x4 truck and I own a nissan patrol 3.0 with 4" lift on 35's. I mention this purely so people can judge if I know what I'm talking about.

[mcdjl]

Projectblue51 said:

Snow is not wet grass, wet grass is worse.

To answer the OP question, no. I don't think it will. But tyres make a massive difference and not a compromise you probably want to make for the two or three days a year you need it.

If you want to buy a coupe that goes ok but also has all a form of four wheel drive, buy an Audi Quattro.

i've owned multiple quattro's, multiple BMW's and so many Land Rovers I have lost count. I've also bought and run a fleet of BMW X5 Xdrive's. Most recently I have been teaching people to drive off road in an 18ton 4x4 truck and I own a nissan patrol 3.0 with 4" lift on 35's. I mention this purely so people can judge if I know what I'm talking about.

Why is the quattro better than the xdrive on wet grass? Having only driven 2wd Audi and bmw, the later was the better drive.

[abzmike]

Having decent tread is important. Also driving so that you don’t get stuck is important. Don’t end up pointing into the downhill corner of a muddy field, position the car so you have an easy slope to exit etc.