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Please volunteer opinion Re: X6 sport vs. appearance packs

4K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  550isport 
#1 ·
Hello fellow board members,

We're getting a 12' X6. Our current X5 (09' 4.8 sport) has 20 inch wheels, sport pack (w/adaptive drive) and active steering.

My wife (whose car it is) is insisting on active drive [rightfully so - I drove an X5 5.0 without it and was missing it dearly within a minute behind the wheel].

You can only get AS on the X6 with the sport pack. My only reservation there is that our X5 is a bit harsh riding with active drive (not to say its the actual active drive, perhaps its the spings shocks etc.. that BMW offers with active drive sport pack cars?). The X5 5.0 I mention earlier is a friend's and the ride is peeerfect!! He has the sport activity pack (no sport suspension). Sooooo.....

Can anyone confirm or comment on whether an X6 (35 or 50) with sport pack (thus adaptive drive) rides better - or less form/harsh than a pre-LCI X5 with sport pack?

The thing that complicates this question is the "4000" new parts they put on the LCI X5. I imagine many of them improved ride quality. Not sure if the same was done to the X6??

Any help is appreciated.

Regards,
DRP
 
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#3 ·
self bump

Thanks for the link to the other thread.

But the core question remains. Sport activity vs. sport package.

There have to be some people who have test driven both since they started offering the activity package back in 10'

Anyone? Bueller...Bueller

Thanks,
DRP

Happy Veteran's Day
 
#4 · (Edited)
I had a '11 X5 35d with adaptive drive and currently have a '12 X6 35i with sport package. I personally wouldn't get an X5/6 without it (and I'm a girl...). I really think that the cars feel 'squishy' and a without it (I just can't think of another word). When I was test driving the X6s when I was considering trading in my x5, I Really wanted to forgo the sport package as I was just making an already expensive car a lot more expensive, but I could tell that the car didn't have sport as soon as the car hit the pavement and I didn't like it.

I drive/drove both of my Xs in sport mode almost exclusively as I feel that I have more control over the car when it isn't so 'bouncy'. When you switch into 'not-sport' mode, the car is more forgiving; so if you don't like a 'harsh' ride (what I'd call precise perhaps), you could just use not-sport mode.

You already know that you REALLY want active steering, so what I suggest is that you drive an X6 with adaptive drive (ie sport package) to determine if it is acceptable. Don't worry about comparing it to a non-sport package version.

I don't know if you'd get 'as-harsh' a feeling from an X6 sport as you do from an X5 sport. What you feel in your a** is probably the same, but what you hear is different because of the volume of the car. It is more muffled because of the reduced air-space and windows. Feels more sports car-ish. Because of this, what you perceive may be different. I definitely suggest comfort seats with sport package... Well, with any package.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Question is still unanswered - mostly due to the difficulty of locating an X6 for a test drive.

Travelled 35 miles to an out of state dealer bc they had a 35i with sport activity and 20s. Car sold that week. No test drives...

I am not sold on the school of thought that a 5000 lb. truck needs adaptive drive. In theory it makes sense until you drive a sport activity equipped BMW (w/out adaptive drive) and realize that its a BMW so it has stout anti-roll bars in the first place. IMHO adaptive drive makes a difference at 7/10ths and beyond. Which I can say constitutes about 2% of my time behind the wheel of our X5 (w sport and adaptive drive) since I usually have the baby in the car anyway.

Its the active steering that is the real issue. X5/X6 without it has nice feel once you get to over 30 mph, but parking and very low speed manouvers with 2500+ lbs. over a front end brandishing 275mm wide tires! The 2010 X5 5.0 I drove without the AS was a bit of a handful at parking lot speeds - and my wife is 5' 3"...

Since nobody has chimed in with any comparison feedback, I'll presume the X6 35i's low speed steering without AS is as compromised as the X5 5.0 is without AS (presuming the same size tires).

I'll post a response if I can locate some sheet metal for a test drive.

Happy Thanksgiving
 
#7 · (Edited)
Found one!

located a 12' X6 35i with sport activity and 19s

The test drive saved me about $7k :)

Sport activity trumps sport pack and active steering is no longer a must have. Also, the regular sport seats have power headrests and 7/10th of an inch add. headroom, so comfort seats are also no longer must have items. Also the turbo 6 is very nice. It had very good torque. An unexpected surprise was the dedicated + and - shifter levers. Gone are the up/down symmetrical buttons on each side. Now they're proper paddles like an M (but in black). Very cool.

The X6 rode noticeably better than our X5 sport pack. Not wallowy or soft at all - just good old fashion BMW: stiff without being harsh without any computers or hydraulics at work. The steering without A/S was manageable. Better feel at speed, but definitely missed the quick & easy ratio of A/S at low speeds. I would still order it if it were a standalone.

Lots of questions answered after that test drive.

With all that money not used on options...the little devil on my shoulder is whispering V8...:yikes: I'll pull out old gas card bills to bring me back down to earth.

Regards,
DRP
 
#8 · (Edited)
X6 AS and Adaptive drive

I faced the same questions and came to the same conclusion so I ordered the 5.0 (never really considered the 3.5 as I thought it was just too heavy and felt unresponsive) with the sport activity package/20's and dropped the active steering and adaptive drive. I did stick with the multi contour though because most agree that they are better than the sports seats.

I drive mostly highway 80%+ and decided I didn't like/need it. I should be picking it up Dec 1st.:)
 
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