[3lusive]

So I'm moving to Mequon in a few months and my dad wants to sell our e90 but I am fiercely against it. the reasons my dad gives - its a RWD so no good in the snow. -winter lasts for approx 3 months with lots of snow so it will be tough driving to and from school in RWD car.

any pros of having the e90 in mequon? for those who dont know its north of milwaukee i think. i really want to keep it since its such a nice car. if we dont keep it then i'll be getting a honda civic coupe

[UdubBadger]

well dude got some good news and bad news for ya.


Bad news: Winter up here lasts about 4 1/2 months... not your standard 3.

Good news: There are SHIT loads of RWD E90's in Wisconsin and the good majority of smart owners will just get a set of winter tires on some 16 or 17's. I drove my AWD with the stock tires and never had a problem this last winter. People with non XI's I know say that the E90's handle themselves very well in the snow with RWD and snow tires on, the traction control really does its job and most have never had a problem at all.

I would tell your dad that there's no need to sell the car, just maybe grab a winter setup around Oct 1st or so.

On a side note... tell your dad I actually traded in a FWD Acura TSX for my BMW because the FWD didn't get it done in the snow out here... I kept getting stuck so a Civic isn't the answer, Maybe a Jeep or something 4x4 but not a Civic.

[3lusive]

thanks Udub, that is really helpful information. I didnt think of winter tires as an option. my dad was actually looking at getting me a civic instead of the bmw but i'll try and convince him to stay with the bmw. are the blizzak lm22 rft's any good? the reviews say its a good winter tire

[UdubBadger]

yeah those would be fine for winter... however, most people on here agree that the rft's are just a big waste of $$. You can spend a lot less money and still get a quality tire... winter or not, in buying something non rft.

if you go to the wheel/tires technical forum and do a search for "Winter tires" you'll end up with quite a few threads mostly with recommendations on which tires have worked the best and which to stay away from.

But I do hear the Blizzaks are the most popular for winters.

[Back in a Subie]

Also, AWD only helps you get going, it doesn’t make driving the car much easier. If you are going to live in a extremely hilly area then AWD may be the better option, but if you are going to be doing mostly city/highway driving, a good pair of snow shoes and some common sense is all you really need.

Also, coming from a previous Jeep owner, don’t do it. They are not great in the snow, they will not last past 100K miles, you will spend as much money repairing it as you would just trading in for a AWD BMW.

[3lusive]

is it true that you have to pay someone to switch sets of tires, eg winter to summer?
i thought you could do it yourself.

[UdubBadger]

u can but just make sure your tires are balanced and that you have some good jacks/stands to do it cuz i always have a hard time lifting mine up for some reason.

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by Mi330xi

Also, AWD only helps you get going, it doesn’t make driving the car much easier. If you are going to live in a extremely hilly area then AWD may be the better option, but if you are going to be doing mostly city/highway driving, a good pair of snow shoes and some common sense is all you really need.

Also, coming from a previous Jeep owner, don’t do it. They are not great in the snow, they will not last past 100K miles, you will spend as much money repairing it as you would just trading in for a AWD BMW.

what jeeps did you have cuz i've had 4 and they were ALL amazing in the snow and never had many problems.

98 GC 5.9 limi 98k
00 Wrangler Sahara 42k
01 Chero sport 88k
04 Liberty Columbia Edt 65k

[Back in a Subie]

97 Wrangler SE 12k (totaled)
97 Grand Cheorkee Limited ~90k (broke, traded)
98 Wrangler Sport ~88k (broke, traded)
01 Grand Cheorkee Limited 75k (mom drives now, something breaks every few months)

not one of your Jeeps made it past 100k either, and My 2000 Subaru Impreza was twice as good in the snow as any of my Jeeps, even at 128k miles. The Jeep my mom is driving has had 4 replaced drivers seats at $500 a pop cause the heating element keeps breaking (not under warranty) rear defrost replaced at $600, U joints replaced at $750, I could go on and on about that Jeep or any of the others... not worth the headache honestly. The Wranglers I off roaded, so repairs were to be expected, but not on a $50,000 Grand Cherokee that is treated gently.

[UdubBadger]

well i guess you've just had some bad luck with the Jeeps.
I never expected mine to run for more than 100k miles or so, they're american cars, they just don't last as long as imports. But in their primes, they all served me well.

oh and if you paid $50k for a Grand Cherokee then you should probably go call the cops cuz you got robbed. My moms FULLY loaded Commander wasn't even $50k!

[3lusive]

what about a used audi s4 quattro?

[Back in a Subie]

Commanders and Grand Cherokees are two different things, base price was $35k and loaded it came to $49,XXX something, back in 2000... I only drove it a year before I was sick of it. Was going to try and sell it when my parents decided they would just pick up the payments and drive it, but my dad likes his X3 so it’s now my mom’s daily driver.

I am a fan of Audis and would totally sport a used S4, especially over a Honda. Or check out a used WRX, those things can really put out some power and they are not too expensive to maintain and they are standard AWD.

[UdubBadger]

ok thats makes sense charlie... i thought we were talking more recent GC's... they've dropped quite a bit in price because of the additions to the jeep lineup.


anyhow... audi would be nice but why not just get an XI? they'll out handle an audi any day of the week and twice on sunday.

i'm not hate'n on audi... they are nice but i also wouldn't mess with a used S4 cuz the previous owner probably drove the shit out of it and i don't trust used turboed engines that have been driven hard any more than i can throw them... and my arms are tiny so that should say something.

[3lusive]

as of now i don't know my price range but i'm guessing its in the 0-25k range
in addition i'm pretty sure it needs to have good gas mileage, probably 30mpg highway or around there

[UdubBadger]

my 328xi isn't under $25 but its a hell of a lot of fun to drive in the summer AND winter... and I get 27-30mpg on the hwy.

maybe look for a used 330xi or even 325xi around $25k, maybe even from someone on here who's close to the end of their lease and you can just buy it out from them.

if you go audi... you won't be getting any S4 unless it was made before 03 and has over 60,000 miles... i don't think thats a safe bet.

you could do like an 05 2.0t A4 quattro... not a bad deal. plus i hear their reflash is like 400 bucks and bumps you up like 80 hp or something (don't quote me on those numbers though, the point is that its kinda cheap and gets a really good power gain).

[3lusive]

maybe my dad will keep the e90 after all and go with your winter tire idea! thanks udub and all others that contributed

[UdubBadger]

id try to do that... its better than looking for a new car. if you find the tirerack link on here i think you get a pretty darn good deal with them.

you could try to convince your dad to get a tire/wheel package and you'll get some new rims out of it

[Back in a Subie]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

you could try to convince your dad to get a tire/wheel package and you'll get some new rims out of it

+1

[3lusive]

jw what winter tires are you using? udub/mi330xi?
i like the lm22 but its kinda expensive

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by 3lusive

jw what winter tires are you using? udub/mi330xi?
i like the lm22 but its kinda expensive

id go for blizzaks but I'm actually thinking about just putting on some A/S contiprocantacts since I've got the AWD and do a lot of driving on the highways. Not sure if I wanna sink $800 into a set of rubber than will only last me 1 winter cuz they wear down so fast.

[3lusive]

the blizzaks wear down very quickly? that might be trouble...at least i'm only staying a year or so.

[UdubBadger]

most people get like 2-3 seasons on the blizzaks from what i hear, but thats probably based on driving like 5000 miles on them per season.

I've had my ride for 8 months as of Thursday and I'm just under 11.5k miles so as you can tell... I drive quite a bit