BMW drop price of xdrive to same as 2WD

Greebo · 1 Oct 2013 at 18:46

Just got off the phone from my BMW dealer who informs me they have had an email from BMW stating that in order to encourage the UK to buy AWD cars, xdrive models are been sold at the same price as the 2wd models for the next couple of months!

That on the back of I beleive they have added 6 models this month which have xdrive as an option (32 cars and 487 models of which xdrive is now available on 10 cars and 81 models) and quite a few of their high performance diesel cars are now xdrive only, does this mean soon that you might not be able to buy rear wheel drive only BMW's unless they are low performance?

ANyway, great news for me as my lease quote on my 330d xdrive has just dropped £30 a month

[TW]Fox · 1 Oct 2013 at 18:58

Still don't see the point in these for our market. The 2wd version will go through tyres less often, be quicker, look better (XDrive models have increased ride height) and use less fuel.

Plus with a set of winter tyres on if you must, they'll still handle the winter just as well, given we live in England not Canada.

quite a few of their high performance diesel cars are now xdrive only

I count 1 (2 if you count the 4 series as a seperate car). How many others are there? Since when is 2 cars 'quite a few'?

Greebo · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:00

All true Fox but BMW really really pushing xdrive now. I think there are several more models being added later this year with xdrive available.

Also not true about the 2 wheel drive been quicker. 2wd 2 litre diesels are indeed 0.1 sec quicker than the xdrive but with the 3 litres, the xdrive are 0.3 sec quicker.

panthro · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:07

Greebo said:
All true Fox but BMW really really pushing xdrive now. I think there are several more models being added later this year with xdrive available.

Also not true about the 2 wheel drive been quicker. 2wd 2 litre diesels are indeed 0.1 sec quicker than the xdrive but with the 3 litres, the xdrive are 0.3 sec quicker.

Quicker in what way? From 0-60mph?

Greebo · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:08

panthro said:
Quicker in what way? From 0-60mph?

Yeah. I guess all that power going through 4 wheels instead of two explains the quicker 0-60 time. Top speed of both is limited to 155.

Quicker round a track? Who knows, anybody ever done a test?

viper_2003 · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:22

Might be quicker from 0-60 but rolling I doubt there would be anything in it, the xDrive is 75kg heavier iirc so it might actually be slower.

I am taking a deep breath before looking for Q4 offers on PCP's and lease because I have a 330d on order but there is no dealer contribution showing on the BMW website at the moment.

[Edit] Quick scan suggests that they are pushing xDrives through the leasing brokers but they are circa £25 p/m more than I have paid so about £1000 more over the term. I'm happy that I placed a Q3 order on that basis.

[TW]Fox · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:24

It'll be quicker off the line because of the initial grip advantage of 4wd but once moving it has more drivetrain losses and more weight.

pepsilol · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:26

What transmission are they using for these X models?

[TW]Fox · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:27

pepsilol said:
What transmission are they using for these X models?

ZF8HP I'd imagine.

Clarkey · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:28

Hope this doesn't catch on, what are we going to use for drift missiles in 15 years time

Greebo · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:30

viper_2003 said:
Might be quicker from 0-60 but rolling I doubt there would be anything in it, the xDrive is 75kg heavier iirc so it might actually be slower.

I am taking a deep breath before looking for Q4 offers on PCP's and lease because I have a 330d on order but there is no dealer contribution showing on the BMW website at the moment.

My dealer said price drop would go up on the xdrives on Thursday

Minstadave · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:30

I guess it's an image thing, the general public know "BMWs get stuck in the snow" and winter tyres are too much hassle.

RedvGreenOLD · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:31

[TW]Fox;25038255 said:
It'll be quicker off the line because of the initial grip advantage of 4wd but once moving it has more drivetrain losses and more weight.

If you check the specs, the 4WD drive variants are quicker 0-60MPH by 0.3secs. Fuel Eco is reduced by approx 3MPG less.

I've had my 330D xDrive for about 2 weeks now, and i'm managing 46MPG driving it fairly hard.

Conscript · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:31

[TW]Fox;25038078 said:
Still don't see the point in these for our market. The 2wd version will go through tyres less often, be quicker, look better (XDrive models have increased ride height) and use less fuel.

Plus with a set of winter tyres on if you must, they'll still handle the winter just as well, given we live in England not Canada.

It doesn't matter though - the UK is a market full of people who think they need a spare set of wheels with winter tyres, or to trade in their perfectly capable car for a 4wd equivalent to deal with one week a year when we might get 2 inches of snow. Makes sense for BMW to capitalise on that, and its decent timing too...today was the first day I walked out of my front door and actually felt a little cold in months.

Dangerous Dave · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:32

No point in X drive for the 2L diesels but the 330d with the short ratios in the 8 speed auto box make the traction control light a regular occurrence.

I suspect this is why the 335d is X drive only, it is a good system as it gives you the balance of a RWD car and the traction of AWD when needed, better than Audi's FWD then AWD when needed.

[TW]Fox · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:35

RedvGreen said:
If you check the specs, the 4WD drive variants are quicker 0-60MPH by 0.3secs.

Yes, 0-60. Ie a standing start.

Dangerous Dave · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:38

[TW]Fox;25038330 said:
Yes, 0-60. Ie a standing start.

Can't remember where I saw the post but the 330d xDrive was quicker than the sDrive to 100 but past 100 sDrive was quicker so not a great issue in the UK at least.

Participant · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:41

A lot of people will like the extra confidence in wintry weather without the extra bother and expense of having to fit winter tyres.

Greebo · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:45

Participant said:
A lot of people will like the extra confidence in wintry weather without the extra bother and expense of having to fit winter tyres.

Me i'm going both. xdrive plus winter tyres. Helps that we have our own tyre outlet so all company cars get a set of winter tyres put on and they store the summer ones.

A 330d xdrive on winter tyres shouldn't hit any problems unless we get lots of snow.

RedvGreenOLD · 1 Oct 2013 at 19:46

Conscript said:
It doesn't matter though - the UK is a market full of people who think they need a spare set of wheels with winter tyres, or to trade in their perfectly capable car for a 4wd equivalent to deal with one week a year when we might get 2 inches of snow. Makes sense for BMW to capitalise on that, and its decent timing too...today was the first day I walked out of my front door and actually felt a little cold in months.

Some folk can call in a 'bad weather' day at work, however there are those who cannot. Healthcare, Law enforcement etc. You need a reliable and capable all-weather vehicle.

No point having a vehicle where it 'may be ok depending on how deep the snow is', you need a bit more certainty than that!