BMW XDrive..any experience of issues and reliability?

[Anonymous]

I’m thinking of buying a used BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe, the 30D or 35D..

The 35D only comes with XDrive.

Googling around and talking to the guys at B for BMW alerted me to two issues..

There seems to be a pretty high failure rate on the transfer case, it’s not a diff in any form..as low as 15k miles but mostly around the 45k-65k with pretty horrendous replacement costs if not under warranty.

Also, BMW states that the max differential rolling circumference between front and rear wheels is just 2mm...

They further say that if you do want to rotate the tyres to equalise wear then that’s every 5000km..

So sounds like XDrive is a potentially money pit..

Any experience , comments pls?

 

[enuff_zed]

Well I am probably jinxing myself by saying this but i have run my 67-plate 335d touring for just over 36k now and have had no issues so far.
Apart from servicing I have had to replace all four tyres at 34k. the rears were down to 2mm and sod's law, the day after I booked it in to change them one of the fronts got a nail through it so I changed all four even though they had over 3mm left. I thought that was pretty good going considering the power going mostly through those back tyres.
So no, I have had no issues with the X-drive system. On two occasions I have felt it leap into action on icy roundabouts and it is pretty impressive at what it achieves.

Of course now it'll break on the way home!

Fronts are 225/40 x 19 and rears are 255/35 x 19. Not sure how that works with the 2mm difference? Especially as there was at least a 2mm wear discrepancy in diameter between front and rear just before I changed them.

 

[djstan]

I've got an X5 as my daily drive (X drive rather than S drive). Have had no issues with it so far in 27000 miles. I've had to replace all 4 tyres, which I staggered over a couple of weeks (fronts, then rears IIRC) without issue - as above I can't see how the 2mm thing could really apply in practice...

 

[Machpb]

My wife drives a X3 as her daily with X Drive and in 35000 miles we've had no issues. Apart from needing all 4 tyres at once, it's been great!

 

[pvr]

I am on my third X5 since 2005 and the transfer case issue is covered on warranty as long as you use star rated tyres.

Never had an issue, have a look at xdrivers.co.uk, the sister site, where in all the 100's of X drive cars the number of failures is minimal.

 

[z4pilot]

Recently picked up a 2016 X3 as the wife's daily and am currently going through the anxiety of reading the worst of the internet scare stories regarding the transfer case... To make matters worse, the tyres have all been recently replaced (so at least are all new, correct sizes with healthy tread) but are neither run-flats nor star marked. Considering swapping them off, but can't seem to find star marked non runflats in the correct sizes (20inch style 310s) and really don't want to put runflats back on the car and ruin the already marginal ride quality.

From what I read, the transfer case issues seem to be more prevelant with the first series X3 and as the car is now out of warranty, BMW wouldn't be interested should the transfer case fail at some point in any case. I believe regular transfer case fluid changes may also help with longevity.

I can't really get my head around the 2mm thing as surely with a predominantly rear driven set up, the rears will wear faster than the fronts and you will end up with a greater difference at some point as the tyres age?

 

[pvr]

Not heard the 2mm "rule" either and I have only heard about the transfer case going when the tyres are different size on the same axle (i.e. outside tolerance).

Having said that, I don't understand that either as if you have a flat tyre replaced with a new one, and the other is at 3mm, you would have a difference there as well.

 

[Darren Slone]

I’ve had an X3 from new in 2017 and covered 94K miles, it’s been faultless all the way

 

[Anonymous]

So..first of all thanks for all the responses so far

To address the observations and points..

Many of you haven't done that many miles yet, so the potential 'sweet spot' of failures is yet to arrive..and not all over the 65,000 have failed!

Although there were many horror stories on early X drive I'm referring to the almost new mark 2/3 versions on the F32/F36..where they still are failing..

The 2mm issue is from BMW ..https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f36-435d-xdrive-cou/repair-manuals/36-wheels-with-tyres/1VnYEE2taP

With dire warnings..as somebody pointed out what happens with a wonky size space saver god only knows..

The fundamental design seems to be an issue as the centre 'diff' is not a diff but actually a permanent connection that is locked up, it uses a clutch to 'slip' the front wheels relatively to the permanently driven rear wheels as demanded by the electronics.

So it seems, amongst onther things, that if the tyre rolling radius vary they then put strain on the correctly named transfer case..ie not a diff!

This explains why Volvos and Audis never seem to have any issues in this area compared to BMW!!

 

[SiJar]

Had a 335d for two years and 30k miles and had no problems, however the 2 mill tyre rules is well documented and you need to remember that replacement of tyres is always in pairs or all 4 at once due to the transfer box. Fantastic car extremely quick but DULL l to drive !

 

[Nictrix]

As others have said here there is a chance of problems with the transfer box if using non star marked tyres and if the tyres rolling diameter has too much of a difference.
I learned of this before we bought our X6 so knew that a big bill for tyres would always come around every few years.
As it is on 20 " staggered wheels the wheels cannot be swapped front to back.
Car is on just over 80,000 miles with myself covering half of these. Others say that the transfer box breaking is a matter of when and not if and should be treated almost like a consumable.
Just replaced all 4 tyres with star marked RFT Bridgestone Duellers this week at a cost of £840

 

[z4pilot]

Does make you wonder why they've stuck with the transfer box if it's so fragile...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone, especially the 'star' rating..more googling revealed that some 'star' rated versions of popular sizes are altered so that there RCs will match especially across assymetric tyre sets!

Seems to avoid /reduce pain then its buy a used car still on its OEM tyres, not too worn and keep them on 'star' rated runflats in perpertuity..

 

[99ron]

F31 330d with xdrive has done 84k. No issues.
Running Goodyear Eagle F1 rfts. Best runflat I have ever experienced. They seem to wear all 4 evenly, getting over 30k from the last set whereas then X5 we ran previously wore the rears much quicker... In about 15k.
Car is M sport+ spec but xdrive comes with sport suspension delete so the ride is much better suited to our roads even on 19s whilst handling still reasonably firm.
Absolutely cracking daily. Can hit 60 in 5.4s or driven at legal speeds I've seen 53mpg on a 120 mile motorway run. Was also very good in the heavy snow we had last year.

 

[Anonymous]

F31 330d with xdrive has done 84k. No issues.
Running Goodyear Eagle F1 rfts. Best runflat I have ever experienced. They seem to wear all 4 evenly, getting over 30k from the last set whereas then X5 we ran previously wore the rears much quicker... In about 15k.
Car is M sport+ spec but xdrive comes with sport suspension delete so the ride is much better suited to our roads even on 19s whilst handling still reasonably firm.
Absolutely cracking daily. Can hit 60 in 5.4s or driven at legal speeds I've seen 53mpg on a 120 mile motorway run. Was also very good in the heavy snow we had last year.

Thank you, drifting towards a 4 Series Gran Coupe 435D with XDrive in Snapper Rocks Blue..a nicely understated colour..

seen one in Peter Vardy Edinburgh..ex demo car with 9k..I think if I’m a good boy and stick to OE recommendations tyre wise (star rated, sizes etc) I’ll take a punt on this

 

[Nictrix]

The star rated tyres really only matter with staggered wheel/tyre sizes where the rolling diameter of the tyres is matched.
If the tyres are the same type and size on all 4 corners the only problem that could possibly arise is between tyres with different tread depth.
They dont really need to be star marked if they are the same tyre with the same tread depth if you know what I mean.

 

[Anonymous]

The star rated tyres really only matter with staggered wheel/tyre sizes where the rolling diameter of the tyres is matched.
If the tyres are the same type and size on all 4 corners the only problem that could possibly arise is between tyres with different tread depth.
They dont really need to be star marked if they are the same tyre with the same tread depth if you know what I mean.

Hi there, yes that seems logical...the cars I’m looking at seem all to have the 225 / 255 tyre set up so no rotation and I assume a star approval to ensure rolling radius comparability ..