will studded tires cause a transmission fault on an X5 3.0i

kenro

recently got a trans failsafe prog message and trans acts funny when driving clunks when downshifting after brakes are applied

Mr_Shiftright

Excellent question. Let me do some research on this for you. Stay tuned.

Mr_Shiftright

So far the general consensus seems to be that on an AWD system, studded snows should only be used on all 4 wheels, the idea being that studded tires grip differently on dry pavement than regular tires. This slippage differential may activate the TC and/or confuse the ECM.

Whether all this relates to your symptoms is hard to say. I suppose one way to find out is to remove the studded snows and see how the car behaves after that.

kyfdx

I would guess that the lack of traction is causing your wheels to attempt to lock-up, and that is activating your ABS and your traction control.

Don't know what sort of road you drive on, but studded tires might be overkill.

Mr_Shiftright

I would think on anything but the most unusual road conditions, that regular snow tires on all 4 wheels would be more than adequate for 99% of all driving situations in snow.

kenro

thanks all studded on all 4 tires may be overkill. we are on dry roads

kyfdx

kenro said:

thanks all studded on all 4 tires may be overkill. we are on dry roads

Sounds like a bad combination. But, you certainly can't run two studded tires, that would make the problems worse.

Better to switch to a more "normal" winter tire.

Mr_Shiftright

kenro said:

thanks all studded on all 4 tires may be overkill. we are on dry roads

I meant by "regular" snow tires, non-studded ones. My point, not well-worded obviously, was that chances are you never need studded snow tires of any kind on an AWD vehicle.