All-Wheel Drive BMW Recommendations

As the proud owner of an E46 323i I have encouraged a member of the family to purchasing a member of the 3 series family. We live in the North and member of family is current owner of Audi Quattro and is looking for an all wheel drive replacment. If anyone out there can tell me a good reason to stay away from AWD BMW cars I would like to hear. Mine is of course rear wheel only and although I put four huge snows on it every winter it can't get up a hill and has me walking on occasion. Mainly have concerns over reliability of AWD system on BMW since they are a rather recent development.

BMW has had an all wheel drive car for 18 years. The 325ix came out in '88, and some will say it outperformed (traction wise)the quattros of the time.

I actually just bought an '89 ix that I am doing a bit of restoration on for a daily driver. After reading posts from other ixers with cars of this era, I can't wait to have it on the road!

I know very little about late model BMW's, but I would only have to assume that they've made improvements in their technology over the years. Most of the e30 ('88-'91) 325ix's are in the 150K+ mileage range, and some boast 300K+! There is obviously quite a bit of maintenance involved with achieving such mileage, but that's the case with any car. The only other issue that I have seen with the old cars is that they didn't make very many, so certain parts are becoming scarce.

good luck!

I have an '02 325 Xi (bought new). I'm very satisfied with it. Best car I've ever had for driving in the snow (and that includes a 4WD Ford Explorer, Chevy Blazer, and Dodge Durango).
Good luck.
Dave
Westminster, MD USA

Thanks Dave and Reggie for the info. I hope member of family comes to senses it seems she is now hung up on IS250 AWD, by Toyota. I'll get her to come around though. Hey Dave, does your secondary air pump whine at cold start? Mine sounds like &*#$ (just at cold start, great warmed up, but no C.E. light), spoke with local Euro Tech and tech there said they go bad, without check engine light I don't want to replace, car has stored soft codes for EVAP leak, not sure if that could possibly be related.