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      11-11-2019, 02:31 PM   #21
mstevens
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Drives: 2020 Z4 M4Misano Blue
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: New Hampshire & Cozumel, Mexico

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BMW's are cars. They're not made out of sugar and don't dissolve if left out in the rain. They can handle snow, ice, gravel, and whatever just fine. They are, for the most part, designed in Bavaria and their design takes into account the existence of winter. A Z4 is no more susceptible to road salt than is a Ford F250. It has no more difficulty on low-traction surfaces than other rear-wheel drive cars with comparable tires. It does have obvious issues with ground clearance for things such as plow berms.

Z4's have been my year-round daily drivers for most of the past 15 years apart from the past 3 years during which I've driven an M4 Cabrio. I live in a mountainous region of NH where we nearly always have more cold and snow than Montreal. I need winter tires for 6 months of the year. I put them on by Halloween (and have been caught in snow earlier than then) and take them off after Tax Day (and have been stuck in my own driveway later than that). The only time I'll take my wife's X3 is if the state plow has left a berm higher than my front bodywork.

Our local high school has a large parking lot with no obstructions at all. I've taken each of my cars out there during late-night snows that are especially slick and nasty to throw them around. With all the traction and stability controls off, I usually end up immobile. With them on, it's nearly impossible to do donuts even on surfaces I wouldn't risk walking on. These cars are perfectly fine on winter roads.

I've always figured if I can't afford to drive a car whenever I please, to park it at Walmart without panic, to keep it maintained and serviced, and to feed it all the tires it devours, then I can't afford that car. I prefer that my cars at all times look and work like new, but I don't achieve that by wrapping them up and stuffing them in the barn.

I prefer driving small performance cars. The M4 certainly performs, but I don't need its (vestigial) back seat and even after nearly 3 years it still feels huge to me. I hate driving most other cars (though my wife's G01 M40i has been a surprising exception). Since I can afford to drive a Z4 and since it's a perfectly reasonable winter car under most circumstances, one has been and will be my daily driver.

If you enjoy storing your Z4 over the winter, don't deny yourself that pleasure. If, however, you got your car to drive, put some good winter tires on it and don't deny yourself the pleasure of driving it over the winter.
__________________
2004 E85 Z4 3.0 Sport - Sold to brother | 2004 E83 X3 xDrive3.0i - Gone | 2011 E89 Z4 35is - Gone | 2011 F25 X3 xDrive35i - Gone | 2014 E89 Z4 E89 35is - Gone | 2014 F25 X3 xDrive 30i X3 - Gone | 2017 F83 M4 Cabriolet - Gone | 2017 F25 X3 xDrive30i - Gone
2020 G29 Z4 M40i Misanoblau | 2020 G01 M40i Phytonicblau
Casa Suzana, vacation rental villa in Cozumel, Mexico
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