anyone drive around without the front axle connected?

[E55AMG2]

E53 (pre-facelift) is 38:62 F:R, with up to 50% front IIRC. Xdrive (post facelift) is more variable, but still retains the 38:62 split in normal driving.

[swissfrank]

Originally Posted by flekz

has anyone tried this on an x5 because i know of a lot of people who do this to there jeep Cherokee's for summer...

I should point out that the main difference between the X5 and a JC is that (at least my JGC and LR) the transfer case is lockable, vs the open Transfer Case on pre x-Drive X5's.

This particular transfer case is not designed to have a single output, as it will spin the open side twice as fast, if you somehow block off the FWD portion of the Transfer Case the Rear will spin twice as fast as normal, for example. That was my experience with mine anyway.

I'm not discouraging you because it will be interesting to see your results, have fun and let me know! It'll be neat to see you nailing some sweet ass drifts and smoke shows if you get it done! LOL.

[WolfX5]

I'm highly opposed to this bad, bad idea. All wheel drive cars are designed AS SYSTEMS, and as such will not function as the manufacturer intended when critical subsystems and/or components are removed or disabled.

At a minimum one would need to figure out how to disable the X-Drive software (if you have it) and/or the DSC software. Both are active technologies that will automatically intervene in direct wheel control when slippage or an understeer/oversteer situation exists. If the software cannot actively connect to the wheel because you've PHYSICALLY DISCONNECTED THE HARDWARE, then you're asking for all sorts of trouble. I guarantee you that disconnecting the front axle was NOT one of the test-case scenarios that the BMW engineers had considered during their development/testing phase and without X-Drive and DSC working for you whatever minor advantages you were hoping to gain by disconnecting the front axles would be FAR overshadowed by the dramatic reduction in handling (and safety).

Additionally, if you're hoping to put all of the torque to the rear wheels understand that you cannot even physically do this in an X5 prior to the introduction of X-Drive (2003/2004), as NON X-Drive systems can only send a maximum of 50% of the torque to the rear wheels due to the purely mechanical nature of the transfer case (whereas the X-Drive systems can send 100% to the rears due to it's more efficient hydro-electromechanical design).

Don't f*ck with it...

[Big "J"]

I thought X5's were 35% front to 65% rear on power? And aren't cherokee's a 4X4 where you can disengage the front drive, where you can't with the X?

[E5M1R]

If you turn off DSC, then the X drive on post facelift X is off to.
Isn't the car pushing on rear wheels only then?
I think that i have seen it somwhere in X3 instructions and also when driving faster then 180KMh

[Tomaz]

I see many people driving around with their brains disconnected.

[Pipes]

I beleive that's true about the DSC. I can only do donuts in the snow with DSC off :p. Come to think of it now, can we leave the DSC off, if we wanted to, long term? Wouldn't that be 100% rear drive?

[Krunk Man]

I'm pretty sure turning off the dsc is just turning off the traction control. Its still all time 4 wheel drive.

[flekz]

well if i have the time i will try it soon... i dont see the harm in it.. if it prevents the car from driving then i will reconnect them. its not rocket science. the words trial and error keep playing in my head so why not... you can think im crazy, stupid, ignorant or anything u want. i've been building cars for the past few years and i know that there might be a part where the computer says hey i dont notice something happening with the front wheels and it disables it or whatever but from experience i've noticed the computer turn off every bit of the 4wd system when i put a 17'' wheel as a spare and the rest 19"s, it jerked a few times and then disabled itself... soooooooo time will tell laddies... but believe me i will post a video for u guys for sure when its said and done

[m5james]

Originally Posted by Tomaz

I see many people driving around with their brains disconnected.

Try riding a motorcycle....every woman in an SUV/truck or we've all seen that chick driving her little bastard children to soccer practice, completely clueless she made a lane change while beating her little shits in the backseat...makes me watch them even closer.