My friends father is out on the hunt to buy a new car. He's norrowed it down to the S5 and the Bmw m3. We live in snowy new york and he's worried about the M3 being rear wheel drive and not to good in the snow. I reassured him and told him that the M3 has an LSD which helps keep the back-end planted. What is the general opinion on these cars. Does a S5 really outshine the m3 that much on the snow or is it a slight advantage. Does the m3 hold its own in snowy climates? Many people that i know have M3's in new york but i never really asked them if there satisfied driving it in the snow. I believe it will be ok but i just want to make sure because i don't want him being stuck in a lease that he might regret. Thank you!

 

I have had a few Audi's prior to my current M3. Living in MN it is certainly nice to have an all wheel drive car. I miss Quattro during the large snow storms but it is not an issue 95% of the time. Snow tires are an absolute must with an M3 in a snowy climate.

 

I'll be honest. On the stock tires, the M3 is terrible in the Snow. I was stuck in flurries with them on my car once and it felt like i was driving on an ice rink.

After that, I got snow tires for my M3. What an improvement. The grip is great. I don't take the car out when there is accumulation but I can go anywhere when there is a covering.

 

I live in the mountains just outside of Boulder Colorado and I drive my M3 year round. I've even taken it snowboarding a couple of times. You can tell it's rear wheel drive when you're starting out in real slippery conditions but with the blizzaks I have on it, it's really not an issue once you get going. The traction control on the M3 is really good and helps a lot.

 

Here's the deal. They both come with High Perf Summer Tires.

Drive an M3 in the snow on anything but SNOW tires is just plain dumb. You and/or your car will die.

Drive an S5 in the snow on anything but SNOW tires is just plain dumb too. You may not die but you will be in the ICU for 3 weeks having plenty of time wishing you'd bought snows and thinking what to replace your S5 with.

SNOW TIRES FOR SNOW..... SUMMER TIRES FOR SUMMER.... REGARDLESS OF ALL-WHEEL-DRIVE.

Quattro in winter on summer tires will cover everything but actual frozen precip on the ground.

Both cars on snow tires S5 clear favorite simply for better mechanical grip.

 

Had E46 M3 and E93 M3 as daily drivers. Must have snow tires, drove both of them through 6 inches of snow with snow tires without issues, got to plow the road since both of them were lowered. On the other hand, the quattro of the audis is unbeatable with snow tires or even with all season. Forget about summer HP tires.

 

THIS...I had a 06 m5 and it was fantastic in the snow with my blizzaks on it...as is my r8 etc etc. Its all about the tires.

 

I had an E46 M3 with PilotSport PS2's and if it snowed a half an inch, it would definitely not make it up my driveway which was sloped. I put on Dunlop Wintersport 3D's and holy hell, it could go anywhere! Traction and RWD is an afterthought! No experience with Quattro in the winter however.