Quote:
Originally Posted by mstevens
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.
|
Do you really want to subject your prized Z4 to the same winter abuse as a Ford F250? I surely do not.
In theory, cold and snow by themselves or together absolutely will not hurt your car, and winter driving would be a blast in such a perfect world. If that describes your situation, then maybe its okay. But add frequent use of road salt to the equation, and the result is very different. In my part of Canada, they use A LOT of road salt in the winter, and take it from me, the stuff EATS cars alive. I will never subject my car to that. If you must drive your Z4 in winter in areas where road salt is frequently used, at least get the thing properly rust protected.
Reminds me of the time about 5 years ago when my buddy was having problems with his GMC pick up truck. Eventually, a GM factory rep flew up from the US to look at the issues. When the dealer put the truck up on the ramp for an underside inspection, the factory rep was amazed at the widespread general corrosion after only two years here. "Jesus, this is where cars are sent to die" he reportedly remarked while my buddy observed.
Its not just the body and chassis of the car that is affected. Its all the fittings, seals, boots, brake lines, calipers, bleed valves, tpms components and sensors, fuel lines, exhaust components, pitted and eaten rims - a myriad of bits and bobs of the car that are exposed to a highly corrosive environment for an extended period and deteriorate at an accelerated rate as a result. So in addition to the car looking like shit sooner, owing to all that lovely galvanic corrosion, general maintenance becomes much harder (nuts and bolts won't loosen or just snap off) and stuff is likely going to fail at a higher rate when the warranty is up. The life of the car may very well be limited. For example, back in 97, I had a nice Honda Accord EX. By 2007 or 2008, sightings of that vintage Honda here were practically unheard of - they had all worn out due to the local winter environment. But 4 years later, in 2011, while getting a cab to our hotel in Vegas, I was amazed to see one just like mine alongside our cab, looking basically brand new. Clearly salt isn't used much in Las Vegas. Well, at least not on the roads.
With respect to general maintenance issues, My Z4 is stored every winter and never has been winter driven - I just put mine away yesterday in fact. The techs at the local dealer here are accustomed to working on cars that are winter driven, like my X5, and the accompanying effort that comes with trying to loosen corroded bolts or brake parts. But when I bring in my 13 year old E85, they are in awe that a car of that age can be almost as clean on the underside and as easy to work on as if it came out of the showroom a few weeks ago.
But hey - anyway you slice it or dice it, its your car and your decision.