[Bobby Pynes]

Currently my fiance and I live in San Francisco, we just bought a 2008 328i sulev 4 months ago, we currently owe 24000 on the car. Its appraising on edmunds for trade at 24000 and private party at 26700. What concerns me is the lease deals on the new 335i xdrives. At 429 a month with a 1500 option credit is hard to pass up.

Especially with the all wheel drive, and the snow in minneapolis.

out of curiosity, how do you guys with the 328i RWD work with the snow? Do they work well? Should i seriously consider the AWD? Im also worried about resale value down the road in a snowy place with RWD.

Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.

[GIXMAN]

With a good set of snow tires you will be fine with RWD.

[Kolyan2k]

look at nada prices for more accurate value. both awd and Rwd need snow tires in winter. Rwd is fine.....

[Clarence Watson]

No problems for me, and that's with all season tires. A lot depends on your comfort level and confidence. Experience is good.

[csav330]

Good winter tires and you should be ok. If you've never driven in snow take it slow. Even with snow tires it can still be dangerous.

[xjarhed]

Originally Posted by bpsf83

Currently my fiance and I live in San Francisco, we just bought a 2008 328i sulev 4 months ago, we currently owe 24000 on the car. Its appraising on edmunds for trade at 24000 and private party at 26700. What concerns me is the lease deals on the new 335i xdrives. At 429 a month with a 1500 option credit is hard to pass up.

Especially with the all wheel drive, and the snow in minneapolis.

out of curiosity, how do you guys with the 328i RWD work with the snow? Do they work well? Should i seriously consider the AWD? Im also worried about resale value down the road in a snowy place with RWD.

Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.

I lived in MPLS for 29 years, 13 of them I was driving. I owned a RWD 1976 Olds Cutlass and had all seasons on them during high school. I never once ended up in a ditch. Get a pair of "Winter" tires like Blizzaks and you will be fine. All you have to do is watch when coming up on stop signs... It's glare ice under the snow. It's funny. I LOVED driving in the snow. Now, I live in Portland Oregon and the whole city shuts down after 3 inches (granted, we have more black ice here in Portland). You will love MPLS.
That $429/mo HAS to have almost no options... I just turned in my 2009 335 X-Drive and it was loaded and I was paying $700/mo with no $$ down (last payment I think).
AWD might be a good idea, but not essential. Also, they use salt on the roads there, so leasing "might" be a better option for you.

Mark

[CirrusSR22]

Get winter tires and you'll be fine. I've driven my RWD E36 in MN for nearly a decade and still have never been close to being stuck. You can get away with it because #1, the area is very flat, and #2 Minneapolis has the best (and probably largest) road clearing system in the world. There will almost never be more than a few inches of snow anywhere for more than a couple hours in the metro.

[335BBS]

Originally Posted by CirrusSR22

Get winter tires and you'll be fine. I've driven my RWD E36 in MN for nearly a decade and still have never been close to being stuck. You can get away with it because #1, the area is very flat, and #2 Minneapolis has the best (and probably largest) road clearing system in the world. There will almost never be more than a few inches of snow anywhere for more than a couple hours in the metro.

Flat! Theres the key. Its not flat up here. On bad days I'm screwed because there are hills on my route home. Skidded backwards one day...that was fun. I will probably never have another rwd car. These guys claiming all seasons are fine are wrong. See Tirerack video comparing stopping distances between All season and winter tires. Not even close. Why would you drive a BMW on all seasons in the summer? Whats the point of having one of these things?

[Bobby Pynes]

Originally Posted by xjarhed

I lived in MPLS for 29 years, 13 of them I was driving. I owned a RWD 1976 Olds Cutlass and had all seasons on them during high school. I never once ended up in a ditch. Get a pair of "Winter" tires like Blizzaks and you will be fine. All you have to do is watch when coming up on stop signs... It's glare ice under the snow. It's funny. I LOVED driving in the snow. Now, I live in Portland Oregon and the whole city shuts down after 3 inches (granted, we have more black ice here in Portland). You will love MPLS.
That $429/mo HAS to have almost no options... I just turned in my 2009 335 X-Drive and it was loaded and I was paying $700/mo with no $$ down (last payment I think).
AWD might be a good idea, but not essential. Also, they use salt on the roads there, so leasing "might" be a better option for you.

Mark

That's a lease price. It gives you 1500$ in credit for options. I'm entertaining the idea. I'm using the snow and rwd as an excuse with the fiancé.

[dcat151]

As others have said, you should be okay so long as you get a good set of winter/snow tires.

[reprod]

OP was also thinking about resale value in a place like Minneapolis since there is a good chance alot of the population may be running AWD systems.

No one really touched on this topic but it may just have a long term effect. I can't comment since I have never lived in areas like Minneapolis.

[listerone]

Different people can have different opinions on your question but one thing's for sure...if,by chance,driving in snow/ice/slush/frost is new to you be aware that *regardless* of what you're driving it will take a long,long time to learn the ropes.This coming winter will be my 41st driving in snow and I'm *still* learning and I *still* get a bit scared at times...and I'm about as conservative a driver as you'll find.

[JamesM3M5]

Originally Posted by Leaker

Flat! Theres the key. Its not flat up here. On bad days I'm screwed because there are hills on my route home. Skidded backwards one day...that was fun. I will probably never have another rwd car. These guys claiming all seasons are fine are wrong. See Tirerack video comparing stopping distances between All season and winter tires. Not even close. Why would you drive a BMW on all seasons in the summer? Whats the point of having one of these things?

That's the truth! I always recommend performance tires for spring, summer and fall, but once the late fall comes, swap on a dedicated set of 4 snow tires. It is cheap insurance. I only drive RWD cars, track setup M3, M5, and now a 335 with Procede, and snow tires guarantee that you can go anywhere, even up unplowed hills. Buy 2 50# bags of sand and drop them in the trunk. AWD and SUV drivers look at you like you're crazy, but once you out accelerate, brake and corner them, they can't believe it! For areas with ice and very hard packed snow, get a snow tire rated for ice traction. Tirerack.com has all the info you'll need.

[CirrusSR22]

I'd say roughly half of the E46, E90, and E60 cars in Minneapolis I see are AWD. That's probably more than most other US cities, but there are still plenty of RWD cars, so I wouldn't be worried about resale.

[mlermin]

I live in Edmonton, we get a TON of snow and it sticks around from mid-November to April.. The city doesn't blade to the asphalt in the residential areas.. so there is a snow pack on some roads.. last winter we had more snow than usual, had no problems with RWD, but as everyone has said.. make sure you have a good set of winter tires...

[EastCoastE90]

My dad is looking to get into a 08 E60 550 and has the same question, will he be ok in the snow? We live in Mass so we know all about winter. He's been an AWD owner for the past 15 years but misses the RWD fun. I tell him with a good set of blizzaks and a couple 50lb sand bags in the trunk he'll be fine. I'd say for you with a 328 you will be fine doing the same

[One128i]

Just in case no one has mentioned it...you'll be fine with winter tires. We have a RWD E90 330i with Blizzaks and we have no issues with Southern Ontario winters. The weight balance helps alot - it won't be as bad as a RWD pickup.

[vpfreedude]

Much like the others have posted, the RWD is fine with winters. I live in Canada and we get a fair amount of snow here in Calgary.

I ran my 335 RWD with the stock run flats for 2 seasons and let's just say it was the most "extreme" driving going. I got stuck in very little snow & ice and my traction control light was flickering on/off almost constantly. It was ok for me because I grew up driving in rural very snowy roads but my wife wouldn't drive the car.

Put winters on it for a season and it was a lot better! Still not an AWD (which I have now with winters and it's pretty amazing really) but good enough that you shouldn't need to buy a new car for the winters.

If you are moving from SF, i'd seriously considering taking a winter driving school - they are a ton of fun and they help get you used to icey/snowy conditions.

[williewonkerz]

Originally Posted by vpfreedude

Much like the others have posted, the RWD is fine with winters. I live in Canada and we get a fair amount of snow here in Calgary.

I ran my 335 RWD with the stock run flats for 2 seasons and let's just say it was the most "extreme" driving going. I got stuck in very little snow & ice and my traction control light was flickering on/off almost constantly. It was ok for me because I grew up driving in rural very snowy roads but my wife wouldn't drive the car.

Put winters on it for a season and it was a lot better! Still not an AWD (which I have now with winters and it's pretty amazing really) but good enough that you shouldn't need to buy a new car for the winters.

If you are moving from SF, i'd seriously considering taking a winter driving school - they are a ton of fun and they help get you used to icey/snowy conditions.

+1, what he said

[JamesM3M5]

Originally Posted by vpfreedude

If you are moving from SF, i'd seriously considering taking a winter driving school - they are a ton of fun and they help get you used to icey/snowy conditions.

Also excellent advice. It's cheaper to buy snow tires and wheels, pay a shop to put them on, and go to a winter driving school than to get into a single accident, pay the deductible, be out of a car for who knows how long, and have your insurance rates go up.

I always have a ton of fun driving around in snow with proper tires, too.

[hockeyfox]

Having 2 accidents driving RWD vehicles I will say AWD is the way to go. Now a good set of snow tires will definitely help. Fishtailing is inevitable, and spinning the rear wheels is as well. That is what sand tubes are for. Not trying to scare you away, but there is a significant difference. Drive sanely and respect the snow and you should be okay.

[be1ieve1111]

dedicated winter tires and you'll do fine even in Canada. Just don't get cheap and go the all season route.