Is Xdrive any fun? 

"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo) 01/20/2018 at 20:10 • Filed to: None

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One thing that has come up a lot on my next car search is the E90 328i, and 90% of them are Xdrive.

I’ve been driving a full time AWD car with a 50/50 split for awhile now and I enjoy the control it brings. Now BMW’s Xdrive system is a 40/60 split which sounds great. However I can also electronically shift up at All The Power front or rear with the use of clutch packs. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Sounds a lot like it would make holding a AWD “drift” near impossible because when the rear slips out it’ll make the car FWD pull you back straight.

Has anyone had hands on hoon experience with one? Can it been fun. Also marvel at the CP on this E90 Wagon. Yeah it’s awesome, but over 14 grand for a car with 117,000 miles! Nah I’ll pass. If it was 9-10,000 I’d be all over it.

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Textured Soy Protein > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 20:34

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I have a 335i xDrive.

The awd system is pretty good. The steering ratio is very slow. The stock suspension is soft as there’s no sport suspension available on the E9x xDrive cars.

My suspension is thoroughly modded which doesn’t quicken the steering ratio but overall the handling is responsive.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Textured Soy Protein 01/20/2018 at 20:38

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Any experience with aggressive driving in snow/dirt

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 20:39

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I MUST HAVE IT!!!!

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 01/20/2018 at 20:41

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I feel the same. Can I put out an OPPO APB on any Manual E90 Wagons in the US

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 20:43

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My next car would be an E91 or a GS F-SPERT. Expect an announcement post sometime in 2035.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 01/20/2018 at 20:44

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My wife a cleared me for spending up to 15 grand IF I can promise to keep the car for 6 years. A manual, inline 6 powered RWD Wagon is something I can see myself driving till it dies

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 20:47

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I would strongly recommend factoring cost of ownership into that figure. For example: my last budget was 10k, but I bought a 7k car and have put nearly 3k into it.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 01/20/2018 at 20:48

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That’s very very very true

Textured Soy Protein > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 20:58

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Honestly I’ve just putzed around town in snow and the only exposure to dirt is when the city of Madison dumps sand on my street instead of salting it or plowing it. I haven’t really had it in deep snow but combined with Michelin PA4 snow tires it’s been fine in the limited amount of snow we’ve gotten the past couple mild winters here. The last time we had a big snowy winter was before I got the car.

As far as your worries about it being too fwd-ish, it’s not, at least in my experience driving like an ass on non-snowy roads. If you give it gas in a turn it sends power to the rear wheels. The front and rear diffs are open so they’re not going to do anything fancy but if you put the traction/stability control in dynamic mode it’ll do brake vectoring on the rear wheels.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 20:59

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I almost went to see a 328xd today. Then i looked at my bank account and was like “nope, I like it the way it is”

syaieya > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 21:17

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Im fairly certain most of these cars were given AWD and then leased out because thats what Mercedes did too.

You do a search for a C300 and just trip over 4matic options.

functionoverfashion > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 21:23

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I’d like to learn more about the specific differences between the E46 version of x-drive and the E9x. Because I can tell you, the E46 version is fun. Every time it snows, I hit the little DSC button (to turn it off) and off we go. It’s rear-biased, so it’s super easy to get it sideways, but the front will pull it into shape at your command. It’s SO easy to get sideways butso easy to control in a slide and also confidence-inspiring when you’re not trying to goof off.

I’ve taken my car to an open practice session at Team O’Neil Rally School and had an absolute blast. I pulled fuse 53 which fully disables DSC and also ABS, so I could left foot brake to my heart’s content. The car was an absolute blast on their course.

My wife has an X3 (2007) so it may have a different system. But it’s still rear-biased and easy as anything to throttle oversteer in the slippery stuff. I know the system is a little different, but I don’t know the details. I’ve been much nicer to her car, never pulled any fuses to rallyX it or anything, like mine.

Recently, when the snow was packed on my road for weeks on end, I got pretty good at steering my car around our cul-de-sac using only the throttle - get it going around, hold the wheel in slight countersteer, and don’t move it - steering only with my feet. My kids got a real kick out of that.

Note: this is all loose gravel / snow / ice conditions. Dry pavement? I can’t speak to that.

HammerheadFistpunch > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 21:30

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Just remember that any time a 4wd system claims to be able to send 100% of the power to either axle just means that it can lock the front and rear axles together and allow them to divy up torque as needed. There is no fwd mode on x drive, but if their claim is true and it can lock then if the rear axle was hanging over a cliff the front would get 100% power because the rear would be able to apply no power minus the tiny amount required to turn them at the same rate as the front. The effect is the same as a locking differential where both wheels are always spinning in unison but torque infinitely biases from one side to the other based on load.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > functionoverfashion 01/20/2018 at 21:31

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AWD is never fun on dry pavement. At lest not until you get into the 500ho range

functionoverfashion > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 21:34

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So there you go. I have an absolute blast in my E46 in the winter. I drive it like a rally car on back dirt roads, winter and summer. I’ve driven it on courses at O’Neil’s and it was a ton of fun. I throttle oversteer constantly in the snow, seeing if I can get around corners without turning the wheel past 90. I’m sure the E9x is different, but how different?

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HammerheadFistpunch 01/20/2018 at 21:35

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AM3R, lost another burner > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/20/2018 at 22:12

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Look for a RWD model. The X-drive cars didn’t get the sport/m-sport suspension, and are noticeable less confidence inspiring than the RWD models. I love my RWD E9x’s.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 01/20/2018 at 22:46

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Alway a star for bubbles

xsnowpig > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/21/2018 at 09:27

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2007 335xi here- not quite xDrive and a little older. did a couple of track days at a 1.1 mile road course a couple years ago. left the auto tragic trans in DriveSport and left the DSC nanny on with regular street tires and the word of the day was understeer in the turns. it started to click a little more as i felt more comfortable swinging 3800 pounds around the bends after many laps. Hoonage? limited by driver inexperience and i can be a fraidy-cat.