New Job new Car... to X drive or not?

[duncancallum]

Hey been a while since i posted!

Hopefully everyone is well?

Ive a new job covering Scotland and N.I looking at a 5 series and I'm looking at XDrives.

As im potentially going to be up in the north all year round etc and doing a lot of A and B roads rather than Motorway is Xdrive worth it.

I know winter tyres help hugely etc but just wondered if thr xdrive is worth it. Dont want to be stranded and cursing i didnt do it!

[b14]

Not in my experience. Winter tyres on 2WD are better than summer tyres on 4WD, in snow. The roads here just don't get bad enough to justify XDrive and winter tyres - at that point you'd be stuck anyway behind all the stranded idiots on summer tyres in their Puntos and C1s.

My 340i in non XDrive is awesome in snow with winters on.

[A.J.M]

What area of Scotland will you be covering?
It’s rather large and different areas have very different snow fall potential.

I’m central belt area and have all seasons fitted to the OH’s Polo. They have been excellent for her over the last 4 years.

My Freelander 2 came from the highlands where snow fall is more common. It had a set of Pirelli all seasons fitted.
I’ve had a fresh set of them fitted last year.

Personally, X drive and all seasons will be enough for you.

[duncancallum]

All over potentially. New job.

[brillomaster]

if you have the option, i would go xdrive. better to have it and not need it than the other way around, and i cant immediately think of any downsides. but more importantly decent all season tyres/winter tyres.

[georgeyboy12345]

Sounds like an awful job that will sap all the fun out of driving

[nunpuncher]

Is X-drive on the 5 like Haldex where most of the time it's 2wd? What's the trade off? Bit more weight, slightly lower fuel economy which will probably be covered by the company.

It very rarely snows up here. I can't actually remember the last time I drove in snow so I wouldn't let that dictate car choice. I'd be thinking more about the fact that any time you are more than a few miles from a city you'll have the option of some of the best B roads not just in the UK but the world. So if you enjoy driving you'll want something that can make the most of that.

Another thing to consider is that in some areas of Scotland b roads are the only option. Getting stuck behind slow cars or worse, lorries is very frustrating. You want something that can give a quick burst for an overtake on short straights and you want it to be narrow enough to not be holding your breath getting past.

[SD_1]

brillomaster said:

if you have the option, i would go xdrive. better to have it and not need it than the other way around, and i cant immediately think of any downsides. but more importantly decent all season tyres/winter tyres.

I'd agree with this, the key point being to make absolutely sure it has all seasons at a minimum to get any advantage from it. I've got a 335d xdrive and its a great car, but piss poor in any sort of snow / ice without proper tyres on it. Also live in the North of Scotland and drive all over the place all year round, it does that job well.

[_Hoppers]

brillomaster said:

...... i cant immediately think of any downsides.....

I've heard that the 4WD system is sensitive to differing tread depth from front to rear, is this the case?

[Pica-Pica]

_Hoppers said:

brillomaster said:

...... i cant immediately think of any downsides.....

I've heard that the 4WD system is sensitive to differing tread depth from front to rear, is this the case?

Tread depths or rolling circumferences?

[Griffith4ever]

If Xdrive is anything like Haldex, then do it!

I've a skoda Yeti 4x4 (Haldex) and its pulled a laden Transit LWB and a LWB sprinter out of a wet muddy/grass field with ditch finders on (road tyres) where a 2wd with the same tyres would have been instantly stuck, and I still get 56mph on the motorway. Shows how good the 4x4 system is.

I also have a set of AT tyres and rims put aside for if it snows. Earlier posters are right in as much as AT / Snow tyres on a 2wd will trounce a 4x4 on road tyres in snow.

[Diderot]

Yes. Get the X drive.

[kambites]

_Hoppers said:

brillomaster said:

...... i cant immediately think of any downsides.....

I've heard that the 4WD system is sensitive to differing tread depth from front to rear, is this the case?

I think longitudinal engined XDrive BMWs use a clutch instead of a central differential; the rear axle is hard-wired to the transmission output with the front axle clutched in as required to give the desired torque split. So yes if the front and rear have different rolling radii, whenever the front axle is engaged that clutch will be slipping slightly which will ultimately wear it out.

I've no idea if we're talking about a clutch life of 10000 miles with some slip or 100000 miles though; it could easy be a complete non-issue in practice.

Edited by kambites on Friday 7th July 09:46

[_Hoppers]

Pica-Pica said:

_Hoppers said:

brillomaster said:

...... i cant immediately think of any downsides.....

I've heard that the 4WD system is sensitive to differing tread depth from front to rear, is this the case?

Tread depths or rolling circumferences?

Same thing innit?

[BrettMRC]

Does it have to be a BMW?

I'd be looking at an Outback I think...

[kambites]

_Hoppers said:

Same thing innit?

Not entirely. BMW ship a lot of cars with staggered wheel sizes which will have fractionally different rolling radii from the factory.

[_Hoppers]

kambites said:

_Hoppers said:

brillomaster said:

...... i cant immediately think of any downsides.....

I've heard that the 4WD system is sensitive to differing tread depth from front to rear, is this the case?

I think longitudinal engined XDrive BMWs use a clutch instead of a central differential; the rear axle is hard-wired to the transmission output with the front axle clutched in as required to give the desired torque split. So yes if the front and rear have different rolling radii, whenever the front axle is engaged that clutch will be slipping slightly which will ultimately wear it out.

I've no idea if we're talking about a clutch life of 10000 miles with some slip or 100000 miles though; it could easy be a complete non-issue in practice.

Edited by kambites on Friday 7th July 09:46

A quick Google....

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Bobupndown]

We have 2 haldex equipped cars, my Freelander 2 and my wife's Tiguan.
They are excellent. We live down a rural lane with big hills to ascend and at a height where we tend to get a fair amount of snow. With AT tyres the Freelander is unfazed. Thinking of putting all season or full winters on the tiguan this year. My son has a Polo and a set of winter tyres and it copes well too.
If we went for a BMW it would definitely be an Xdrive.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Another vote for the X-drive here. Yes you'll get people saying that since it won't be able to drive to the north pole it's therefore no better than 2wd, and that as soon as there's any snow the roads immediately become gridlocked with immobile vehicles. Ignore these people. From doing a lot of driving around the uplands of northern England and Scotland year-round, I know that 4wd is just that little bit better a lot of the time when it's cold and wet, and in some (thankfully rare) situations a lot better. If it doesn't cost much more and X-drive examples are readily available then I really don't see why you wouldn't.

[worsy]

kambites said:

_Hoppers said:

brillomaster said:

...... i cant immediately think of any downsides.....

I've heard that the 4WD system is sensitive to differing tread depth from front to rear, is this the case?

I think longitudinal engined XDrive BMWs use a clutch instead of a central differential; the rear axle is hard-wired to the transmission output with the front axle clutched in as required to give the desired torque split. So yes if the front and rear have different rolling radii, whenever the front axle is engaged that clutch will be slipping slightly which will ultimately wear it out.

I've no idea if we're talking about a clutch life of 10000 miles with some slip or 100000 miles though; it could easy be a complete non-issue in practice.

Edited by kambites on Friday 7th July 09:46

Not sure that argument holds water. The M3, for example has 19s on the front and 20s on the rear. Obviously the tyre wall size profiles are different making them almost similar but they won't be exactly the same size in terms of circumference.

Front 275/35 ZR19 100Y
Rear 285/30 ZR20 99Y

https://tiresize.com/tyre-size-calculator/ suggests they differ by 0.4% meaning the fronts travel 472 revolutions per km whereas the rears only 469.