[HighPlainsCruiser]

Now I see why there is so much conversation about snow tires. I backed out about 30 feet through this dry powder before I realized the car wasn't going anywhere, barely made it back into the garage. I have the stock 18" Goodyear Eagle LS2 All Seasons. Would good snow tires have made a difference or has this reached the max height for the X3?

[plymjack]

hard to tell height from pictures but given our limited experience of our winter tyres - yes we think would would get through that and have fun doing it too.

[Want the thrill]

Your tire tread just must be bad. We have a lot more snow than that here in Michigan and my X3 goes right through it. If your tread depth is 5/32 or less, traction is seriously diminished. I got rid of my LS2's when they were 4/32 because they would never have made it through winter. I have Continental Extreme DWS all seasons on right now and they have done great. We've gotten 110+" of snow so far.

[mge92]

Def get winter tires and the x3 will be boss in the snow.

[lawfarm]

Depending on snow consistency, I've gone through 20+ inches of snow. I've also been hampered by 9" of hardpack. But yes, I'd say tires + a little more speed would help you out.

[DonC]

tires make all the difference.

[richardew]

I'll bet Michael Jordan would still have been a heck of a good basketball player if he had played in dress shoes, however he didn't. He wore the best footwear he could get his hands on to optimize his performance. The same is true with tires. All season = all compromise. They suck in the snow, any amount of snow. The key issue driving in the snow is not if you can get moving but can you stop and can you steer. AWD is popular but although it can get you going on inappropriate tires, it doesn't help you stop or steer, and these are really important. I hate it when it snows, even small to moderate accumulations, and all the folks get out and drive with their all season tires and can't make it up hills, can't stop going down hills, and can't steer or stop safely. I work in a hospital and they don't close when it snows. I don't call in when it snows, I get to work. I live in the northeast and have winter tires on both of my vehicles. It makes a huge difference.

[perto]

I think it is a combination of not optimum tires and ground clarence. If you have a look under your X-3 it's cowered with plastic covers, those covers make it flat as a pancake underneath so if the snow is pacing up under your car you will loose traction. It is actually quite a large area under the car so if the snow is pacing up it's easly "lift" the car off the ground.

[RhoXS]

Originally Posted by richardew

... The key issue driving in the snow is not if you can get moving but can you stop and can you steer.

I am in a lake effects snow region in NY. I cannot emphasize more how true this statement is.

I have the stock Goodyear LS2 tires. No matter how much snow or how high the plow spoils mounds are, it will always go and give the appearance of good control while underway. This ability to go through anything with seemingly good control is dangerously misleading because eventually you have to stop and it does not stop worth a crap.

Also, I noticed, the car is not firmly attached to the ground when on even a recently plowed street. Even the thin remaining layer of snow/slush/ice/etc. creates significant stopping problems. It is also easily to spin out if taking a turn too fast. Other lateral forces, like strong gusts of wind directly from the side, give me the strong impression of able to cause a complete loss of control.

[lbjgh]

I didn't have any problem in the snow... 8" ground clearance and crappy Pirelli snow tires.

http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showpo...16&postcount=1

I was leaving snail tracks from the bottom of the car.

[Pitiful Old Man]

It appears from your picture (very nice, by the way), that you were contacting the underside of the vehicle, i.e., the snow was probably deeper than 8 inches or so. At that point, things get a little iffy. If the snow compacts easily, then the tires can still maintain enough traction to keep moving. On the other hand, if the snow is dense and does not compact easily, you can find yourself riding on top of the snow with little or no weight on the wheels and little or no wheel traction. All those nice smooth aerodynamic under-panels make a great surfboard! In those conditions, snow tires really don't contribute much.

Travel in really deep snow generally demands really large ground clearance. If you start pushing the snow with your spoiler or bumper, you're nearing immobility. The best I've seen was a high-riding Jeep with chains on all 4 wheels. With enough speed, it seemed able to plow through snow well above its bumper height. The only problem then was to avoid running into objects buried by the snow! Hitting a tree stump at any speed is not a good plan.

[snowboardjoe]

Yeah, that picture shows how your undercarriage cover (sled?) was dragging on the snow, so that was likely a big factor with your traction. BMW's were not meant to be snow plows either.

Don't forget to enable traction control if you're in deep snow too. Under normal DSC mode, the car will reduce/shutdown the acceleration when you start to slip. Enabling the traction control will bypass that and allow some power to remain on the wheels and rely more more on DSC to find the grip (more differential braking between left/read and front/rear, etc.).

[HighPlainsCruiser]

The tread is approx 8/32 but when the grooves are filled with snow they might as well be slicks. There was snow build up under the carriage, it was probably about 1 foot deep. Enabling traction control got me back into the garage but it wasn't a large improvement. Probably good that I wasn't able to get out on the roads, the entire Pacific Northwest was a mess.