I have a BMW 320d with an open diff when it snows it don’t move no matter what tires are on lol so what I am saying is it also depends upon car choice as well
Hi al-P.I can’t say what the problem is but we have a lot of BMWs up here,especially diesels,they are popular with young people and they don’t seem to have any more problems than other 2wheel drive cars.Maybe we have different tyres,ones that are designed for ‘long duration’ sub zero temps [from October to April]. 
Mike
My first car was not a BMW (sadly 
) but it was also RWD with simple diff and I never had any problems driving it in winter… Yes, sometimes it was harder to start, as there was not much weight on a drive axle, but it was never that I got stuck or something (and I was using all season tires). And that you had to operate it more smoothly when starting was returned to you in great fun that RWD cars are to drive in winter.
As hutpik observed, even in Sweden people don’t have problems - I think Scandinavia is the ultimate region for winter driving and most of old volvos are RWD as well…
So I would rather tend to think that it’s up to the driver much more than up to the car… Ever tried to pull of from third gear for example? That helps a lot…
the false sense of security comment i agree with, its similar to 4x4 owners, as i live in the sticks many folk have gone out and bought 4x4s, in my experience you get 3 types of 4x4 driver, 1)the ones that know what the vehicle will do, will take it off road at times,ect… 2) folk who think cos its 4x4 it will basically get them anywhere and give them the extra ability of driving the same way in all weathers including ice and are surprised that they end up in a ditch… 3) the ones that wont even drive on lane verge to let you get past…
I have AT,s on my disco and off road are a great tyre, but little bit of ice the other morning and i was sliding all over…
orys:
My first car was not a BMW (sadlyAs hutpik observed, even in Sweden people don’t have problems - I think Scandinavia is the ultimate region for winter driving and most of old volvos are RWD as well…
So I would rather tend to think that it’s up to the driver much more than up to the car… Ever tried to pull of from third gear for example? That helps a lot…
I have a e46 320 as a regular and just love it in the winter. The only time it’s enough hp from the little six pot to have fun. But never ever had a problem of getting stuck. On top of all it has some crappy Hankook Icepike that are worthless compare to say Nokian Hakkapleitta… but it came with the car so might as well ware them down.
Or one time, was on my way to work and had a ferry to catch in the morning (4,5h drive) and a heavy snowstorm so thought might be good to be out in good time so at midnight I went out to take the car to find out it was at least 50cm of snow on the drive way. Well thankfully I have a couple of houses around to get some speed up before the snow got real thick. Sadly I lit of the gas to early and was stuck half a meter from the road with the car laying on the snow with the wheels 20cm from the ground. Probably had it up to around 70km/h so you can imagine how hard packed the snow was under it and the snow went up to the hood in the front of it… 45min of digging later I was out on the road.
The trip down wen fine, only complaining was the ASR crap on the company MB Vito that you can’t turn of, 100km/h and the ■■■■■■ light flashed at me all the way down and abs working hard to control a car for no ■■■■■■■ reason…
The best thing with bmw’s in the winter is the numberplate always get covered in snow 
Yesterday
One more, over 150 trucks stopped and mandated to put on chains. Many never done it before and for some it took 6h on one wheel (it takes around 5min for me) Many had chains but wrong size…
Normally they would hand out tickets but since there was so many they just wanted the traffic to keep going…
aftenbladet.no/nyheter/lokal … 87685.html
Snowmobiles are mainly used to check other people out with snowmobiles having fun. Even has a radar to check so you are not speeding. 60km/h in the forest, 80km/h on ice and none follows it
Normally it’s the policemen that runs a motorcycle in the summer the switch to snowmobile when it’s winter.
Hi all.Icee i just read that news item.It still amazes me that the international drivers are so poorly educated for winter.When i worked for Pilkington i showed different drivers how to put chains on,but we usually done the fitting when we were parked up for a weekend in the summer or even in the yard.Its got to be easier to have the knowledge before you get into a situation like the E39[thats a crap road in the winter,as are most of the roads in Norway]
As i am an ‘‘old sod’’ i have Hakkapeliitta 7 SUV studded tyres,and boy am i glad.
I don’tknow what it’s like in Finland but here they do a lot of alcohol tests on scooter drivers.Mike
Icee:
The trip down wen fine, only complaining was the ASR crap on the company MB Vito that you can’t turn of, 100km/h and the [zb] light flashed at me all the way down and abs working hard to control a car for no [zb] reason…
Tell me about it. The worst is that you can switch it out, and it is not interfering as long, as you drive smoothly, so when I was in Norway in winter for the first time, I was thinking that it’s switched out, and was enjoying a slight drift here and there… Then when I put the van too sharp, the computer decided it has to intervene and switched the thing on. The computer decided FOR MY SAFETY, that it will bring me back to driving straight. The only problem was that the road was turning right. Result:
Good job Mercedes!
(off course, it’s my fault, for thinking that if I switch something off, it’s switched off. Stupid me 
)
The best thing with bmw’s in the winter is the numberplate always get covered in snow
Works for Sprinters as well:
I want some scandinavian run this Christmas!
orys:
Icee:
The trip down wen fine, only complaining was the ASR crap on the company MB Vito that you can’t turn of, 100km/h and the [zb] light flashed at me all the way down and abs working hard to control a car for no [zb] reason…Tell me about it. The worst is that you can switch it out, and it is not interfering as long, as you drive smoothly, so when I was in Norway in winter for the first time, I was thinking that it’s switched out, and was enjoying a slight drift here and there… Then when I put the van too sharp, the computer decided it has to intervene and switched the thing on. The computer decided FOR MY SAFETY, that it will bring me back to driving straight. The only problem was that the road was turning right. Result:
Actually found out that you can you through the board computer and disable it all later on. But that disables the ABS as well witch I prefer to have.
youtube.com/watch?v=iui1pIPtQJ0
Saw an MB test driver a few weeks later in Arvidsjaur and was still so ■■■■■■■ angry at the Vito that I went and asked him how anyone can design a so dangerous safety system. He sadly just mumbled something and looked away.
The Vito switches the ASR back on when you are going over was it 40km/h?
hutpik:
Hi all.Icee i just read that news item.It still amazes me that the international drivers are so poorly educated for winter.When i worked for Pilkington i showed different drivers how to put chains on,but we usually done the fitting when we were parked up for a weekend in the summer or even in the yard.Its got to be easier to have the knowledge before you get into a situation like the E39[thats a crap road in the winter,as are most of the roads in Norway]
As i am an ‘‘old sod’’ i have Hakkapeliitta 7 SUV studded tyres,and boy am i glad.
I don’tknow what it’s like in Finland but here they do a lot of alcohol tests on scooter drivers.Mike
I spent 4h (of my own time) at the tire machine this year making sure every chain fits perfectly. No it’s wonderfully easy to chain up
orys:
My first car was not a BMW (sadlyAs hutpik observed, even in Sweden people don’t have problems - I think Scandinavia is the ultimate region for winter driving and most of old volvos are RWD as well…
The problem is that there aren’t many affordable rear wheel drive cars left here now so a lot of Brits don’t know any better concerning the main advantage of rear wheel drive in that loss of traction doesn’t mean total loss of steering and the resulting understeer as it does with front wheel drive cars.As for weight distribution the fact is there’s often more weight on the rear wheels of an old heavy rear wheel drive car than a small modern front wheel drive hatchback and most modern BMW’s are close enough to an ideal 50/50 weight distribution.The front wheel drive fans often forget just how much weight is put on the rear wheels in a typical rear wheel drive suspension and driveline set up.
Icee:
Saw an MB test driver a few weeks later in Arvidsjaur and was still so [zb] angry at the Vito that I went and asked him how anyone can design a so dangerous safety system. He sadly just mumbled something and looked away.
The Vito switches the ASR back on when you are going over was it 40km/h?
That’s how it works in Transit, but it’s 40 mph I think. This is OK, I can live with that.
But Mercedes just switches it off “when it thinks it should be switched”. In my view something like that is unacceptable. Because I can control my speed and do not exceed set speed, but I am unable to guess when computer “thinks its time to switch it on”. And for that reason, it’s very dangerous.
Carryfast:
The problem is that there aren’t many affordable rear wheel drive cars left here now so a lot of Brits don’t know any better concerning the main advantage of rear wheel drive in that loss of traction doesn’t mean total loss of steering and the resulting understeer as it does with front wheel drive cars.
That’s true.
My first car was RWD, because it was still from communist times and it was outdated But still I loved to drive it in winter:
youtu.be/s740C8MA834?t=25s it was one of these, 1.5 engine, 1988 year… There were some roads near my friends house, that I was able to go faster on snow than on tarmac (as I was too afraid to drift on tarmac, as it was really bad handling that one).
Also outside my paper’s office there was a little parking around 6-7 metres wide and I was annoying my editor by swinging my car round in that space and splattering snow on his windows ah, good old times
If I could afford, I would buy myself RWD car - even some old banger like this Polish Fiat, just to have fun in Winter (if I lived in country with proper winters, that is )
orys:
Icee:
Saw an MB test driver a few weeks later in Arvidsjaur and was still so [zb] angry at the Vito that I went and asked him how anyone can design a so dangerous safety system. He sadly just mumbled something and looked away.
The Vito switches the ASR back on when you are going over was it 40km/h?That’s how it works in Transit, but it’s 40 mph I think. This is OK, I can live with that.
But Mercedes just switches it off “when it thinks it should be switched”. In my view something like that is unacceptable. Because I can control my speed and do not exceed set speed, but I am unable to guess when computer “thinks its time to switch it on”. And for that reason, it’s very dangerous.
Carryfast:
The problem is that there aren’t many affordable rear wheel drive cars left here now so a lot of Brits don’t know any better concerning the main advantage of rear wheel drive in that loss of traction doesn’t mean total loss of steering and the resulting understeer as it does with front wheel drive cars.That’s true.
My first car was RWD, because it was still from communist times and it was outdated
youtu.be/s740C8MA834?t=25s it was one of these, 1.5 engine, 1988 year…Also outside my paper’s office there was a little parking around 6-7 metres wide and I was annoying my editor by swinging my car round in that space and splattering snow on his windows
If I could afford, I would buy myself RWD car - even some old banger like this Polish Fiat, just to have fun in Winter (if I lived in country with proper winters, that is
Just look for an old Triumph 2.5 PI or one of those old Volvos. 
Carryfast:
Just look for an old Triumph 2.5 PI or one of those old Volvos.
At the moment words “If I could afford” outline the major issue, not the choice of the car itself
orys:
That’s how it works in Transit, but it’s 40 mph I think. This is OK, I can live with that.My first car was RWD, because it was still from communist times and it was outdated
youtu.be/s740C8MA834?t=25s it was one of these, 1.5 engine, 1988 year…Also outside my paper’s office there was a little parking around 6-7 metres wide and I was annoying my editor by swinging my car round in that space and splattering snow on his windows
If I could afford, I would buy myself RWD car - even some old banger like this Polish Fiat, just to have fun in Winter (if I lived in country with proper winters, that is
We have a Transit also and it amazes me how big difference it’s compared to the MB. The Vito is an -07 I think and the Transit is an -04 RWD so it’s also a lot bigger than the MB but it still 100times better to drive in every aspect, feels more like a small hatch on the road and the handling is just wonderful.
Well an old bmw or mb doesn’t cost much, just the winter thing then
Think I have had 10-15 different RWD cars, bought a FWD and a week later sold it again cause it’s just plain boring. Went to check the summerhouse yesterday and there was 10km of unplowed road with 20cm of snow. Found my self smiling half way through just because the fun of throwing the back around
Icee:
orys:
That’s how it works in Transit, but it’s 40 mph I think. This is OK, I can live with that.My first car was RWD, because it was still from communist times and it was outdated
youtu.be/s740C8MA834?t=25s it was one of these, 1.5 engine, 1988 year…Also outside my paper’s office there was a little parking around 6-7 metres wide and I was annoying my editor by swinging my car round in that space and splattering snow on his windows
If I could afford, I would buy myself RWD car - even some old banger like this Polish Fiat, just to have fun in Winter (if I lived in country with proper winters, that is
We have a Transit also and it amazes me how big difference it’s compared to the MB. The Vito is an -07 I think and the Transit is an -04 RWD so it’s also a lot bigger than the MB but it still 100times better to drive in every aspect, feels more like a small hatch on the road and the handling is just wonderful.
Well an old bmw or mb doesn’t cost much, just the winter thing then
Think I have had 10-15 different RWD cars, bought a FWD and a week later sold it again cause it’s just plain boring
That’s why SAAB and Rover went under but BMW is still around and it’s why a Vauxhall VXR8 depreciates a lot less than a Vectra.
Icee:
We have a Transit also and it amazes me how big difference it’s compared to the MB. The Vito is an -07 I think and the Transit is an -04 RWD so it’s also a lot bigger than the MB but it still 100times better to drive in every aspect, feels more like a small hatch on the road and the handling is just wonderful.
Sometimes I have pleasure to drive MWB RWD transit with the stronges engine… It’s soo fun to drive…
and seems I am not the only one who thinks that:
