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4Matic Off Road - How good is it?

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Old 01-14-2017, 02:52 AM
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2022 GLS 450 SUV / 2020 BMW X5 X40I
4Matic Off Road - How good is it?

How good does your 4Matic handle off road in mud, snow, dirt, wadding through water, etc.....? I have a 4Matic on order but have been driving BMW Xdrive for the past 6 years. How does it compare? Is 4maric better or worse?
Old 01-14-2017, 06:20 AM
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X350d GLE500e 2017, ML350 BlueTec 2012(sold), A200 2013, ML350CDI 2009(sold), Aston Martin DB7 2003
In standard trim, the 4Matic is probably similar to the BMW. However you will probably have the "Off-Road button" which trims the ABS etc. to improve the traction substantially.
I have the full Off-Road Pack with centre diff lock and low range, which combined with the Airmatic suspension, gives near Range Rover ability.
Old 01-14-2017, 08:55 AM
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GLE450 Coupe and C300w4
They're as good as your tires.
Old 01-14-2017, 10:15 PM
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Soon: 2020 G63 Currently: 2016 GLE63 SUV + 97 F250HD, Before: 2013 G550, Range Rover Sport, 1984 CJ7
It's good. I am in Vermont with dirt roads and ice (ice more than snow). I have a gle63 and it has handled it. Like Heron25 smartly said - it is all in the tires. I put on Blizzaks in the winter. With them, I beat out the local Ford Raptor up my hill.
Old 01-15-2017, 08:34 AM
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GLE450 Coupe and C300w4
I live in NJ, we had some snow a couple of weeks ago. I'm running the stock all-season performance tires and on slippery mode, I felt confident but not 100% while driving through snow. Having said that, I didn't get stuck or slip much.

All of the AWD systems are fairly similar and solid. They're not as good as Jeep's 4wd system with M&S tires.
Old 01-16-2017, 09:31 AM
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I've usually had a true 4wd truck and now have the 4 matic. I was a bit skeptical too but recently we had snow and ice (packed and refrozen roads) and I was really suprised at how well mine did with stock tires. I actually had a hard time making it spin in the snow. But one thing I did notice more was that when driving normally on a road covered in snow and ice was that the car seemed to jump around more. What I mean is that when I hit a large ice or snow patch in the road the car got moved from side to side a lot. I attribute this to the car being smaller and lighter than other things I drove in the snow. But still over all the car felt secure and went wherever I wanted it to go.
But I also kept a set of chains, small shovel, and other traction needs in the back too!
Old 01-18-2017, 04:28 PM
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2017 GLE 350 4matic
The day I bought my GLE from the dealership, I drove it home and a chunk of the ride was through a snow storm, about 125 miles in mostly snow covered highways. I thought it performed very nicely, I never felt like the traction had an issue, never felt like the wheels weren't confidently underneath me and never felt any slippage.

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