Traction in snow

Help, my wife is looking at a 2002, 325i or 330i convertible, she's driving a C, Mercedes today which is terrible in the snow and rain.

What can I expect for traction with the 325 or 330.

Thanks
mack

i expect the same or worse ! A collegue bought the Mercedes SLK 2 years ago, and another collegue bought the 330 CI-C last year, and we have had some snow here in Germany especially in february/march. They sometimes shifted their cars to make exactly the experience you described (Allthough the mercedes has an automatic shift and the BMW has an "ordinary" manual shift). The BMW has even less weight on the backwheels which often activates the stabilisation-program....that´s what i have heard. Becourse of that i´m planning to by another car for the winter (Some old/cheap Golf-III or Golf-II, or something in the same class like that. Most important thing: Frontwheel-drive :-)).

It´s simply more expensive to make the 330 CI ready for the winter than buying an old car: Winter-tires & wheels, maybe a hardtop.....you´ll very quickly reach 3.500 Euro according to 3.400 US-$, and for that amount i´ll easily get a cheap old car i think. And i think the BMW will love it NOT to be driven in the snow & ice, also the hood will appreciate it i think :-)

with 325/30 cis dont expect any traction (that is, the COUPE)

but the xi (sedan) comes with all wheel drive and a very advanced traction control system
definitely something to look at rather then a coupe if ur looking for performance in weathered conditions

bmws just blow in the snow, unless you intentionally don't want traction :)