I will be moving to New Mexico in a year or so, and am researching vehicles in preparation for the move. I currently own a RWD BMW 335i that ain't gonna make it on the dirt roads in the new neighborhood. Our new driveway is about 1/4 mile long with a couple of not insignificant dips and a bit of an incline at the approach to the house (that hasn't been built yet), which is also a dirt road with occasional flora in between the tire ruts.

Will a Countryman handle this? Would it need a lift in order to clear the flora and navigate the dips? Would I have to do more research on the ground to determine the dip and incline angles to know for sure?

Your expert thoughts and opinions on this subject are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
skeeny

 

where would your closest dealer service be located ? my 2012 has been to the dealer approximately 8 - 10 times for warranty work since i purchased it. my vote would be for a KTM 500 exc

 

Where in NM? First-be prepared to do most of your own maintenance. Work over your driveway with some gravel and grading. My '08 Clubman does just fine and I'm 1 1/2 mi. off the pavement at 8000 ft elevation.

 

It can handle Dakar (with a few mods) it can handle NM.

 

Thanks for the replies thus far, folks! I do get that reliability should be higher up on my priority list in this decision, but I don't think I'm quite ready to leave the BMW world and enter the Toyota world yet.

Closest dealership is Sandia in ABQ, about 70 miles away from intended destination of Mountainair, NM. How's the service there, anyone know?

Thanks!
skeeny

 

Sandia is great!

 

Well, driving the Countryman is not the most carefree driving experience you can have when driving rutted roads with dips. It all depends what you compare it to though. It is certainly better than your average sedan, but obviously worse than a 4x4 truck.

I do find the Countryman is very noisy on gravel roads though. With winter tires on anyway, a lot of stones get kicked up into the wheel wells, and the car does not isolate the noise very well.