Driving (spinning) in deep snow...

[Matteo88]

i've only owned the F80 since may so this is its first winter. took the car to an un-plowed hill to gain some understanding on what it can handle in terms of snow. running square setup of 255/35R19 michelin PA4.

while the traction control is so good i have been driving largely with traction completely off, mostly for fun but also to give the tires a chance to dig if they need to.

so the hill was a big challenge and i never made it up. in the process i was spinning off and on, trying different methods to conquer the snow but there was just too much in front of the front tires that slowed me down to a stop once i got going. needless to say i was spinning the back wheels considerably over the course of a few minutes, probably 2-4 mins but definitely less than 5.

all of a sudden i received a rear differential lock warning. (there is a related thread with photos here: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1130911) i had assumed this was due to heat. it may bear mentioning that it was very cold outside, probably about -18C (0F) and very windy. at the time, i thought this to be more of a "feature" than a warning. i think there was also a "drive with care" message. then i noticed both the DSC and DSC Off lights were illuminated and another message about collision warning malfunctioning. somewhat after this i stalled the car (shut up!) because it seemed as though traction control switched back on and throttle inputs weren't as predictably transferred to the drive wheels as they are when traction is off and the wheels are allowed to spin.

i restarted the car, sulked a bit, threw it into reverse and went back down the hill and onto the more lightly covered portion to climb back up.

all other instances of this warning seem to have come on randomly for others whereas mine was specifically after spinning the wheels off and on in snow for a couple minutes and it didn't come back after i had restarted the car.

any ideas peoples?

[sly1types]

i have 255s Blizzaks also and was not able to get out of the driveway 2 different times. I used to have a E90 with 225 widths and I could stop in the middle of a hill and still get up it.

Next winter i'm going with 225 or 235 widths...

[Matteo88]

that's so interesting because i ran 225 all around (50 aspect in the rear and 45 in the front) dunlop winter sport 3D on my previous car, genesis coupe 3.8GT which is only a bit lighter than the M3 and it was definitely worse in the snow. some of that was definitely due to throttle lag, drivetrain slack, and an uncommunicative chassis compared to the M but i think the wider tires are an improvement.

lots of discussion on this but ultimately it comes down to the fact that a wider tire had a wider contact patch and a narrowe tire has a longer contact patch. normally i followed the rule to always go narrower in winter until this winter.

[sly1types]

My 255s are almost shot at 6/32s, they are 3yrs old, but this is the first year we have had any snow over 2” in like 4 years.

[F82///M]

I'm on oem 18" 255 all around Continental set up. Great grip on dry pavement but not so much on snow covered roads. I'm assuming it's because of High performance winter tires which as I can see all of us have.

I had E39 540i and E92 335is, both rwd and winter driven but with dedicated snow tires, Dunlop Graspic ds3. Speed limit was only 160km/h and they were soft, and spongy with some traction control interventions on dry roads, especially during spirited take offs. It took some time getting used to it after using pilot sports. Tread depth was bigger, when I sold them after 4 seasons and around 15tkm they still had 6mm left while Continental brand new comes with only 7mm.
In snow conditions, both cars were plowing snow. Stopping and taking off uphill without hesitation, never needed to turn the traction control off.

Width is somewhat important but it's more about tire compound and age. Ideal would be to have two sets of winter tires, one with performance set for dry and the other one with snow dedicated tires.

[Tommy L Garage]

Never seen these messages and I drive my car in the snow quite a lot.
For more traction try to put a few salt bags in the trunk.
I’ve driven my car to Vermont during snow storms and never got stuck (knock on wood)

[evoix]

Originally Posted by Tommy L Garage

Never seen these messages and I drive my car in the snow quite a lot.
For more traction try to put a few salt bags in the trunk.
I’ve driven my car to Vermont during snow storms and never got stuck (knock on wood)

What size tires are you running ??

[Tommy L Garage]

Originally Posted by evoix

What size tires are you running ??

255 40 18 square on oem 513M wheels

[Matteo88]

hahaha tommy L garage that's too funny. i have seen a bunch of your videos on youtube and i'm a subscriber to your channel.

so i purposely tried to get stuck :P with the knowledge that i'd be able to reverse back down the hill to the plowed part and have no issue getting back up (which i eventually did)

have you ever spun off and on, continuously, for a few minutes like i did?

and not to turn this into another winter tire thread--agree that the sportier tires will not perform as well in deep snow. i am extremely happy with the PA4s though. i'm impressed at how much stiffness and dry/wet grip they retain given that they are a winter tire. all i want is to not die/get horribly stuck and they'll accomplish that for me with the typical roads i'll drive on in winter. 98% of driving is on wet and dry roads so i am happy to sacrifice the deep snow performance. that's what the wife's cx-9 is for.

i'm running mine on 19" Ruffino Teknik Graphite. kinda pissed that i had a few people tell me they like these better than my 666M!!

see attached right after i installed them.

[Prossx]

Originally Posted by sly1types

My 255s are almost shot at 6/32s, they are 3yrs old, but this is the first year we have had any snow over 2” in like 4 years.

For real; car stays garaged the day after our blizzards. Usually good the day after that.

[Tommy L Garage]

Originally Posted by Matteo88

hahaha tommy L garage that's too funny. i have seen a bunch of your videos on youtube and i'm a subscriber to your channel.

so i purposely tried to get stuck :P with the knowledge that i'd be able to reverse back down the hill to the plowed part and have no issue getting back up (which i eventually did)

have you ever spun off and on, continuously, for a few minutes like i did?

and not to turn this into another winter tire thread--agree that the sportier tires will not perform as well in deep snow. i am extremely happy with the PA4s though. i'm impressed at how much stiffness and dry/wet grip they retain given that they are a winter tire. all i want is to not die/get horribly stuck and they'll accomplish that for me with the typical roads i'll drive on in winter. 98% of driving is on wet and dry roads so i am happy to sacrifice the deep snow performance. that's what the wife's cx-9 is for.

i'm running mine on 19" Ruffino Teknik Graphite. kinda pissed that i had a few people tell me they like these better than my 666M!!

see attached right after i installed them.

I hope you enjoy the content!!!
Not sure if you have instagram - I posted a video there - I had some "fun" with the car on a snowy parking this weekend. It was fun but not as fun as with an AWD vehicle...
...come to think of it - I'll upload the video to YouTube just now

[CanAutM3]

This has happened to me on some occasions with my different ///M cars, where after doodling in deep snow the dash would light up as a christmas tree: ABS malfunction, DSC malfunction, TPMS malfunction, etc. I've always attributed this to the snow jamming up the wheel speed sensors.

[Slow///1]

Love my F80 in the deep stuff! Getting stopped on an incline is always a little hairy, but it makes me look forward to driving once the snow hits.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Slow///1

Love my F80 in the deep stuff! Getting stopped on an incline is always a little hairy, but it makes me look forward to driving once the snow hits.

driving M cars in the snow is really wonderful. I've been through a massive amount of blizzards and they never let me down

Without a doubt I'd take the M3 with snow tires vs my X5 if it had all seasons

[4everkidd]

I'm driving on 255 Nokian Hakka 8 studded and the car has been pretty much unstoppable.

I live in Calgary and have tried damn near every brand of winter tire on every type of vehicle in horrible winter conditions. (It's -40 this week and I've had to park outside due to my project car being in pieces strewn across my garage floor)

The M is very capable, and confidence inspiring, and seems to be limited only by ground clearance. (Although I'd take an RS5 on winters in a heart beat)

[FSociety]

255/35-19 front & 285/35-19 rear PA4's
Need all the traction I can get in the 20-30F even 2nd gear Wide Open Throttle works

[Matteo88]

Originally Posted by 4everkidd

I'm driving on 255 Nokian Hakka 8 studded and the car has been pretty much unstoppable.

I live in Calgary and have tried damn near every brand of winter tire on every type of vehicle in horrible winter conditions. (It's -40 this week and I've had to park outside due to my project car being in pieces strewn across my garage floor)

The M is very capable, and confidence inspiring, and seems to be limited only by ground clearance. (Although I'd take an RS5 on winters in a heart beat)

yeah my front splitter has munched up some snow of a few occasions in the past week or two.

[minn19]

For the first time in three years of snow driving M3/4s, I nearly got stuck. About a half a foot of unplowed snow on top of ice and a slight incline. I finally got moving by shutting off the nannies and flooring it in 2nd gear. I got most of the warnings all of you have described here. But, they went away immediately when I went back to normal driving. I'm on a square set of PA4 255/35/19s if curious.