[bmw1010]

Not to open up a can of worms lol, but I’m planning on leasing an automatic m240 and was trying to decide which is a more comfortable ride? RWD or Xdrive?
I’ve read that they both have the same suspension?

Does one handle better than the other in dry conditions? Which is funner to drive? I live in southern ca so not expecting to drive under harsh weather conditions

Sorry I’m a newbie and just wanted some insight. Thanks!

[Ron Jeffries]

same suspension as far as i know. ride is always sporty, but comfortable enough in comfort mode. depends on roads and tires, of course. handling is probably sportier with rwd, but i rather like feeling the front wheels helping. i have xdrive mostly because of snow. i prefer it: ymmv of course.

[Shovelman]

Wheels and tires will matter more. Go with the 17" wheels and avoid the RFTs

[morphomeman]

I am not sure that you can order a 240 with 17" wheels with non-RFT tires. Check out the build site. The 18" should be fine in SC, where potholes are not a major issue.
Thousands of hours have been spent on the debate over X or no X. In SC, again, no X may be the better bet.
And unless you are an enthusiast, RFT is fine, probably better if you are not into changing flat tires on the freeway.
Either way, you can't go wrong.

[Ron Jeffries]

I nave non RFT performance tires for sumer. I think my snows are RFT, not sure.

What I'd like to have, but isn't easy to find, would be all-season performance RFT for summer, still full-on shows for winter. We get a lot of cold and wet, and I think the all-seasons would be better that full summer performance tires for my purposes. If anything, they'd probably be more fun at reasonable speeds.

RFTs do ride pretty hard, but I don't trust those little cans of air.

[4Hockey4]

I considerd both but decided to do some weekend events, and RWD was my call. I have RFT and going to Michelin soon, slime filler works great...just have cleaned out when replacing tire

Its a great car either way.

[240Newbie]

Depends on what you're looking for. I like traction so I got awd.

[jarhead3121]

xDrive was a requirement for us.. we got snow today, and it drove just fine for her. It's her daily, and would rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

[4Hockey4]

Originally Posted by 240Newbie

Depends on what you're looking for. I like traction so I got awd.

RWD with LSD and PS4 does ok.

All about driving habits, I'm not sitting in traffic or any snow, so MT and RWD, get what fits your lifestyle.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by bmw1010

Not to open up a can of worms lol, but I’m planning on leasing an automatic m240 and was trying to decide which is a more comfortable ride? RWD or Xdrive?
I’ve read that they both have the same suspension?

Does one handle better than the other in dry conditions? Which is funner to drive? I live in southern ca so not expecting to drive under harsh weather conditions

Sorry I’m a newbie and just wanted some insight. Thanks!

In your climate and for this car which does not have extremely high levels of torque you need to split to get to the ground with wide open throttle acceleration, there is no reason to take on the cost, weight, maintenance, etc. of an all wheel drive configuration. RWD is more entertaining to drive ("funner"?) and does not deteriorate steering feel as does the extra weight and mechanicals of an all wheel drive set-up

Originally Posted by Shovelman

Wheels and tires will matter more. Go with the 17" wheels and avoid the RFTs

Ultimately, this is the right advice for the driving experience, but I don't think you can do this unless you replace the original equipment. 18s should be ok, but as wheels get smaller and lighter, driving dynamics improve. In your environment, with temps consistently above 40 degrees F, the summer performance non-rft tires will be the best driving experience.

[mecodoug]

I personally like the balanced feel and lighter weight of RWD, and there is less to break. Even in a few inches of snow, RWD with snows even without LSD is fine (though I wish I had one), but OP is in SoCal so probably no need for snows. I've driven x-drive loaners and they do feel different to me, so I suggest test driving both.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by mecodoug

I personally like the balanced feel and lighter weight of RWD, and there is less to break. Even in a few inches of snow, RWD with snows even without LSD is fine (though I wish I had one), but OP is in SoCal so probably no need for snows. I've driven x-drive loaners and they do feel different to me, so I suggest test driving both.

Agreed. Also, I live in Kansas City and we see 18 to 30 inches of snow per winter and where I live is hilly. I've never had trouble piloting my RWD cars through the snow on all season tires. I have winter performance tires on my M235 6MT with the LSD and it's overkill and the wear WAY TOO fast. I'll be going with Conti DWS06 tires next winter. My 9 month warm weather setup are P4S and the level of grip is astounding for a street car.

AWD adds weight in the worst possible place, there's more rotational mass (3 extra drivershafts/half-shafts) and the track record of the transfer cases isn't overly stellar. In you want a 0-60 car, the X drive is where it is at. If you want the true BMW sports car dynamics, RWD, especially with the LSD, is the only choice.

[zipstic]

No question I'd go with the RWD in a southern CA climate.

[ImStrokerAce]

All I can really tell you is I'm enjoying my xdrive.Im also in the great white north, so my bias should be quite clear.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by bmw1010

...trying to decide which is a more comfortable ride? RWD or Xdrive?

I’ve read that they both have the same suspension?

Does one handle better than the other in dry conditions?

Which is funner to drive? I live in southern ca so not expecting to drive under harsh weather conditions

1) Generally, I believe there's little difference between the two.

2) I'm not sure, but I suspect they're somewhat different in that the xDrive has a fair amount more weight up front. In the context of comfort, whether you'd notice or not is open to question. If you can drive/test both, you should gain a quick feel for any difference that you experience.

3) RWD will handle better.

4) RWD is funner to drive. I firmly believe this, and it's the general consensus, but as always, YMMV.

[Rocky58]

I wish I had a RWD. I have dedicated snow tires and wheels for the winter. I try to never take it out when it is snowing and the expense and weight and handling of AWD is something I wish I hadn't been saddled with. That said, I really believe I would have had a wreck on my way home from the dealer with RWD when I ran into a horrible snowstorm between CA and UT. As it was, I was shaking and stressed by the time I got home.

[jgalaxy]

Unless you have snow for several months of the year I would take RWD. You'll save a few thousand dollars, some weight, mantenance, and fuel and of course gain on the fun factor.

[ImStrokerAce]

I will also say that the backend on the Xdrive is pleasantly lively; moreso than I anticipated.

[B58togo]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

Agreed. Also, I live in Kansas City and we see 18 to 30 inches of snow per winter and where I live is hilly. I've never had trouble piloting my RWD cars through the snow on all season tires. I have winter performance tires on my M235 6MT with the LSD and it's overkill and the wear WAY TOO fast. I'll be going with Conti DWS06 tires next winter. My 9 month warm weather setup are P4S and the level of grip is astounding for a street car.

AWD adds weight in the worst possible place, there's more rotational mass (3 extra drivershafts/half-shafts) and the track record of the transfer cases isn't overly stellar. In you want a 0-60 car, the X drive is where it is at. If you want the true BMW sports car dynamics, RWD, especially with the LSD, is the only choice.

Performance winters do wear stupidly fast. I have around 4-5k on my Pilot Alpins and the rears will probably be trashed by 10k. Luckily, I have an Impreza for bad weather and only drive in the winter when the roads are clear and dry. I get a solid 15-16k out of the rears on Pilot Super Sports and P4S.

[ImStrokerAce]

The Hakka R3's seem to do better than the Alpins, but that comes with an increased cost and less dry pavement capability in my single experience comparing the two.

[Maynard]

Try both - I really like xdrive more, but others really like the rwd. It isn't a big enough difference in terms of cost or performance, so your preference is the key. I'd definitely get performance summer tires - they used to also have a rft version if you need that, but the non-rft's will be the best performance and feel. Either will be much better than the all seasons. I think perhaps the best option, if a bit more cost up front, is to get whatever generic rft's they have, and swap out immediately to aftermarket performance wheel/tire set (and stow the factory set). You can get a good set of performance wheels/tires at Tire Rack for less than you pay to replace the factory crap at turn in time.

[cooolone2]

There's no disadvantage with the Xdrive other than the inability to have a stick-shift on the 2 series. This is still only available on the 4 series.

Otherwise they are both the same. Weight distribution is almost 50/50 and offsets the added so called weight. Having Xdrive you can disable DSC and enjoy the same loss of traction the non X has. But you can't enjoy AWD if your don't have Xdrive.

As for acceleration, the Xdrive is slightly quicker, lol. Not that .2 sec is going to make a world of difference.

Is funny, I was so on the fence between to X or not X. Again, stick was the main point of difference. And as much as I love stick, I opted for Xdrive as I think it's an better option. Yeah, I've driven forever rear wheel drive with garbage non-wonter tires and done alright. Knowing how to drive is an important ingredient, lol. But the Xdrive is a major advantage with respect to traction, wet, dry or snow. As for comfort, it's a short wheelbase coup, the models won't have much of a difference with the adaptive suspension, braking, etc.

Regards