[SeaSkiAndMe]

Had anyone with an X1 with Xdrive noticed when cornering that sometimes the back wheels feel like they are skidding and the back end is swinging too far?

A neighbor's friend is a "car person" (works at a competing German mfg dealership) and noted to me yesterday that the X1 Xdrive AWD isn't truly AWD, that it's biased 60/40 toward the back wheels. Is this correct?

I really notice this skidding sensation (and feel very uncomfortable) on wet road conditions, like when the pavement is newly wet from rain. Though it happened to me when making a sharp turn on bone dry pavement last week.

It came up because I was blaming the tires and asked the neighbor's friend for tire advice. Her advice to me was to go test drive an Audi Q3 with the larger engine (228HP) to compare.

[Fish Fingers]

I would suggest having a read of this very recent thread and the links in it.

https://u11.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=2095115

[Petroleum]

Originally Posted by SeaSkiAndMe

A neighbor's friend is a "car person" (works at a competing German mfg dealership) and noted to me yesterday that the X1 Xdrive AWD isn't truly AWD, that it's biased 60/40 toward the back wheels. Is this correct?

the 2023 X1 xDrive28i is FWD 100% of the time. However, when the xDrive system detects slippage in the rear wheels, it sends whatever extra power it deems necessary to the rear or front wheels in order to reduce the slippage. In other words, it's basically a 100/0 AWD.

That was how it was explained to me by the salesman and the BMW technician) They both recommended that if I wanted more than, I needed to select the X3 instead. The X3 is a more capable version of xDrive because it splits power 40/60(40 front, 60 rear) when you're driving normally. When condition requires, it will send as much as 100% to the rear or the front.

I live in a warm state where it never snows, so it doesn't really bother me that the X1 has a lesser xDriver AWD system.

[SeaSkiAndMe]

Fish Fingers thank you for the link. I was searching for a thread but only searched the terms "back wheel skid / skidding."

That said, after reading the thread, it still doesn't fully explain the persistent skidding feeling I have on wet roads or roads w loose gravel. Or rather, I didn't feel that anyone else has experienced the sensation I'm describing.

I live in a cold climate with snow and the dreaded "wintry mix" and didn't feel great driving my X1 in either of those conditions this year (luckily, we got little snow in Chicagoland this winter.)

I travel extensively during ski season and have rented a host of different vehicles, all of which I'd dub "true" SUVs and great snow-driving vehicles. I never get that feeling in the X1. For me, it's strength are highway driving and running errands because it's easy to park and has good cargo space.

Anyone have snow driving X1 anecdotes to share?

[FZI89]

Originally Posted by SeaSkiAndMe

Fish Fingers thank you for the link. I was searching for a thread but only searched the terms "back wheel skid / skidding."

That said, after reading the thread, it still doesn't fully explain the persistent skidding feeling I have on wet roads or roads w loose gravel. Or rather, I didn't feel that anyone else has experienced the sensation I'm describing.

I live in a cold climate with snow and the dreaded "wintry mix" and didn't feel great driving my X1 in either of those conditions this year (luckily, we got little snow in Chicagoland this winter.)

I travel extensively during ski season and have rented a host of different vehicles, all of which I'd dub "true" SUVs and great snow-driving vehicles. I never get that feeling in the X1. For me, it's strength are highway driving and running errands because it's easy to park and has good cargo space.

Anyone have snow driving X1 anecdotes to share?

What tires are you using, and what’s their size? For winter I used the Pirelli P Zero 245/40/20 and never experienced any skidding.

Also, are you driving in sport plus mode? If so, you might have DSC turned off.

[FlashMonkey929]

Driving my X1 for over a year now and I have never had any persistent wheel slippage during cornering. The only time I've ever had noticeable grip loss was during hard launches from a stop for a split second. This was with the both the factory Continental A/W tires, and the Hankook Ventus V2's I'm currently running.

[DestinationMoon!]

The x1 is great in snow. I've driven mine in snow all winter. Initially with the OEM Bridgestones that are nicely sipped, and then with blizzacks most of the winter. As someone that drives thousands of miles a year in snow for the past 40 years and lives above 6000 feet the X1 is as good as anything else out there. Not talking about off roading.
The old X1 - 1st gen had better steering as it was rear wheel biased. It was more capable at the limits for sure. But the new one gets 10% better gas mileage. Which is a worthwhile trade off in my book. Don't drive like Mario Andrette and you'll be fine

The fact that bmw recommends higher pressure in the fronts means that the car tends to over steer. That's an attempt to let the front wheels release before the back ones. Over steer is much harder to recover from if your not crazy into driving. Manufacturers try to dial in some amount of under steer as that's easier to understand and recover from in emergencies.
Do you have your tire pressure set correctly? Higher in fronts by about 3psi

[SeaSkiAndMe]

Originally Posted by FZI89

What tires are you using, and what’s their size? For winter I used the Pirelli P Zero 245/40/20 and never experienced any skidding.

Also, are you driving in sport plus mode? If so, you might have DSC turned off.

I'm on the all season tires the car came with for a few reasons, the main one being we desperately need to clean out our garage - I have no room to store snow tires!

I almost always use the car in personal mode (essenitally "efficient mode" with different color scheme on the dashboard.) I only use sport mode occassionally on highways with low traffic.

[SeaSkiAndMe]

DestinationMoon! I will have to look at the tire pressure, but I'm fairly certain they are all set to 32 PSI.

It sounds like the feedback I'm getting from a few of you is that snow tires greatly enhance your on-snow handling. I didn't want to have to switch back and forth bc it's a PITA and I don't have the storage, but maybe I need to start thinking about doing that.

How about rain? My most recent "slippage" was taking a right turn on dry ashphalt.

[DestinationMoon!]

Originally Posted by SeaSkiAndMe

I'm on the all season tires the car came with for a few reasons, the main one being we desperately need to clean out our garage - I have no room to store snow tires!

I almost always use the car in personal mode (essenitally "efficient mode" with different color scheme on the dashboard.) I only use sport mode occassionally on highways with low traffic.

Efficient mode isn't the same as personal mode. Besides throttle mapping that is gentler on accelerating, it also lets the car freewheel down hills. In personal mode it's still in gear.
Try it!

Depending on what tires came with your car you may be ok. The Bridgestone Tuanza
that are on ours look decent for light snow. The pirrellis that were on our last one were like skis.

Set your front to 36 psi and leave the rear at 32. See if you feel a difference. That said, if your drifting turns it's wise to remember this is an SUV, higher and bigger than the previous models. It's not built for that style driving. Especially since it has significant torque steer. Unlike bmws rear biased vehicles that you can push through a turn

[SeaSkiAndMe]

DestinationMoon!
I guess the "modes" weren't well-explained to me. All I thought the "genius" changed for me for my personal mode was the lighting options and to color scheme of the dashboard (I'm very sensitive to reds in a dashboard and avoid when possible.)

I guess I need to look into this more. So you're saying there are differences with the drivetrain operations in the different modes? All I know about was the transmission/gear holds in Sport mode, and the auto start/stop being off in that mode.

[DestinationMoon!]

Gear shift points, throttle mapping, and free wheeling, steering weight are controlled with the mode settings

[SeaSkiAndMe]

DestinationMoon! I'm going to try finding some "official" videos going through this and then I also need to see what is programmed into my "personal mode."
Side note: taking my car into a BMW Collision shop tomorrow bc I was rear-ended by a drunk driver a few weeks ago. Thankfully just scrapes & chipped paint. But I wont' have the car for a week or so.

[agentorange]

Definitely check your tire pressures, especially if the dealer has had the car recently. For reasons they can never explain, my stealership likes to put 40 PSI in everything they see.

I experienced the skidding sensation on a Land Rover Evoque I had as a loaner. Buddy pointed out that the tires were so pumped up the rears looked more like stiletto heels.