BMW Crew: Adaptive Drive

Quick question about adaptive drive for those that have driven it. We test drove an x5 before we ordered our vehicle and was advised by the sales manager that our vehicle would have it. We go to pick up the vehicle yesterday and it does not. It does have the M suspension, but no adaptive drive. (I actually called it the "sport" button and didn't know that it only comes with adaptive drive at the time. I didn't look at the sales order for it because I thought it came with the sports activity package).

If we were to order one, it would be an additional 4 week plus another ~$50/month on the lease.

The M suspension is nice, but from what I recall, the adaptive drive was quite a bit better.

I am also seeing that most people on this forum do appreciate the adaptive drive as well. my question would be, with the M suspension, would the adaptive drive system make things "that" much better?

Thanks!

Very quickly, wait the additional 4 weeks and pay the extra $50 per month!

I have a 2011 50i Sports Package with Adaptive Drive and I am loving every minute in the car. I drove quite a few different versions of the X5 including 2012 50i M Sport without Adaptive Drive. If you have driven the Adaptive Drive, it is very very hard not to miss it when you drive an X5 without it.

If you search on this forum or on Xoutpost or Xbimmers for "Adaptive Drive" you are going to find continual accolades and testimonies similar to mine. In all of my reading I think I found one person who preferred an X5 without AD to one with it.

Best of luck!

Good things come to those who wait!

Originally Posted by specialist23

Quick question about adaptive drive for those that have driven it. We test drove an x5 before we ordered our vehicle and was advised by the sales manager that our vehicle would have it. We go to pick up the vehicle yesterday and it does not. It does have the M suspension, but no adaptive drive. (I actually called it the "sport" button and didn't know that it only comes with adaptive drive at the time. I didn't look at the sales order for it because I thought it came with the sports activity package).

If we were to order one, it would be an additional 4 week plus another ~$50/month on the lease.

The M suspension is nice, but from what I recall, the adaptive drive was quite a bit better.

I am also seeing that most people on this forum do appreciate the adaptive drive as well. my question would be, with the M suspension, would the adaptive drive system make things "that" much better?

Thanks!

Wait and get AD.

That being said, the mistake I made was in getting the sport seats. I'm 6 2 245lbs and they are tighter in the upper back and side thigh support than I find comfortable. Understanding that they should be as they're sport seats, however in hindsight I should have ordered multi contour seats.

Seems like something you have to make the call on yourself, its your 4 weeks and your $50/month.

What you will get from others is purely subjective comments. Unfortunately it'll be hard to find a car with AD on the lot (only hope is used). See if you can find one to drive and then you can make the call.

Jay

Thanks for all the input guys. I think that at this point I want to get AD, but is it worth the hassle of ordering it and the extra $50/month. If it was just the $50, then I would probably just get it but another month of waiting might be a bit of a hassle.

Thanks again!

What did you order, a diesel?

Originally Posted by specialist23

Thanks for all the input guys. I think that at this point I want to get AD, but is it worth the hassle of ordering it and the extra $50/month. If it was just the $50, then I would probably just get it but another month of waiting might be a bit of a hassle.

Thanks again!

hassle just equals time and money. if you have the time and money, it's not a hassle

1. There was a post yesterday from someone RAVING about how much better AD is compared to his 2010 M sport suspension...do a search. IMO, it is significant.

Tell the puke dealer it was THEIR FAULT...you will pay them $0 per month, but will graciously wait for the AD. (The negotiated a deal and you signed it based on the sales MANAGER saying it was on the car...why is his mistake entirely your problem?!?!?(

Or find a new dealer, plenty of deals to be made.

GL

A

Originally Posted by Kar Don

What did you order, a diesel?

no, we got the 3.5 M package.

Originally Posted by gresch

hassle just equals time and money. if you have the time and money, it's not a hassle

that is very true, but I'm getting a little sick of debating about it and so we're just going to be keeping the one that we got.

Originally Posted by ard

1. There was a post yesterday from someone RAVING about how much better AD is compared to his 2010 M sport suspension...do a search. IMO, it is significant.

Tell the puke dealer it was THEIR FAULT...you will pay them $0 per month, but will graciously wait for the AD. (The negotiated a deal and you signed it based on the sales MANAGER saying it was on the car...why is his mistake entirely your problem?!?!?(

Or find a new dealer, plenty of deals to be made.

GL

A

Yeah I agree with you 100%, but at the same time it wasn't the sales person who told me this and so I didn't want him to deal with it. Furthermore, they did cut about $1500 off our "final" negotiated price for "not" having the adaptive drive as a gesture.

That being said, I did just get back from driving the vehicle that does have it and yes it does make a difference, but I don't know about ~$5k difference. AD and adaptive steering. In another words, even if I wasn't told what I was and if I had the two options of the exact car but one had AD & AS, I don't know if I would pay for the additional amount. The M suspension is very nice as is and for the extra amount, perhaps just going to the V8 is a better option.

Originally Posted by ard

1. There was a post yesterday from someone RAVING about how much better AD is compared to his 2010 M sport suspension...do a search. IMO, it is significant.A

That was me.. I think.

To the OP - If it helps you make your decision, I stepped down from the ///M to the 50i with Adaptive Drive (both on 20" wheels) because of the ///M ride quality.

I couldn't be happier.

Originally Posted by specialist23

Yeah I agree with you 100%, but at the same time it wasn't the sales person who told me this and so I didn't want him to deal with it. Furthermore, they did cut about $1500 off our "final" negotiated price for "not" having the adaptive drive as a gesture.

That being said, I did just get back from driving the vehicle that does have it and yes it does make a difference, but I don't know about ~$5k difference. AD and adaptive steering. In another words, even if I wasn't told what I was and if I had the two options of the exact car but one had AD & AS, I don't know if I would pay for the additional amount. The M suspension is very nice as is and for the extra amount, perhaps just going to the V8 is a better option.

So tell them to take the $1500 off the final negotiated price of the car WITH the AD as a gesture of goodwill!!!

It was HIRISC...


GL

A

Originally Posted by ard

1. There was a post yesterday from someone RAVING about how much better AD is compared to his 2010 M sport suspension...do a search. IMO, it is significant.

I think the complaint was about the suspension on the X5M (which has AD) vs. the "M Sport suspension" package on the 50i (which has AD as he ordered).

Originally Posted by HIRISC

That was me.. I think.

To the OP - If it helps you make your decision, I stepped down from the ///M to the 50i with Adaptive Drive (both on 20" wheels) because of the ///M ride quality.

I couldn't be happier.

M Sport suspension package must have different suspension calibration than the M.

Ok so where are the pics!....ur keeping it , we've helped u now help us and show us this beauty
ASAP

Originally Posted by specialist23

Yeah I agree with you 100%, but at the same time it wasn't the sales person who told me this and so I didn't want him to deal with it. Furthermore, they did cut about $1500 off our "final" negotiated price for "not" having the adaptive drive as a gesture.

That being said, I did just get back from driving the vehicle that does have it and yes it does make a difference, but I don't know about ~$5k difference. AD and adaptive steering. In another words, even if I wasn't told what I was and if I had the two options of the exact car but one had AD & AS, I don't know if I would pay for the additional amount. The M suspension is very nice as is and for the extra amount, perhaps just going to the V8 is a better option.

AD is about $3150 invoice I think.

Not a big fan of AS myself but some love it.

Originally Posted by specialist23

Quick question about adaptive drive for those that have driven it. We test drove an x5 before we ordered our vehicle and was advised by the sales manager that our vehicle would have it. We go to pick up the vehicle yesterday and it does not. It does have the M suspension, but no adaptive drive. (I actually called it the "sport" button and didn't know that it only comes with adaptive drive at the time. I didn't look at the sales order for it because I thought it came with the sports activity package).

If we were to order one, it would be an additional 4 week plus another ~$50/month on the lease.

The M suspension is nice, but from what I recall, the adaptive drive was quite a bit better.

I am also seeing that most people on this forum do appreciate the adaptive drive as well. my question would be, with the M suspension, would the adaptive drive system make things "that" much better?

Thanks!

I believe you got the standard X5 suspension. You can only get the M-suspension on a REAL M-5.

But, you have the option to order a 226 sports suspension - which was originally so hard and uncomfortable that it lead to the 227 sports suspension delete. Which is the default setting, when ordering the X5 with M cosmetics;-)..

Got some updates.

1. gjohnsen is somewhat correct in that it is NOT the M suspension as I was told. It's the M package but has the sports suspension. This is going off the window sticker. The ride is a bit stiff with the 20's and RFT's, but we plan on getting toyo proxes.
2. dnadrifter is correct in that AD is $3150 but AS is another $1550, I believe. Total obviously being $4700. For that kind of $, I would rather get the v8.

At the end of the day I feel as thought I got a very good deal, especially for our region. A lot of credit to this board and members, the numbers I asked our dealership to get was far lower than anything anyone else in our region was willing to come close too. Couple that with getting an additional ~$1500 off, plus the "one" lease payment returned on our current vehicle, I feel that they've really helped us out.

Originally Posted by specialist23

Got some updates.

1. gjohnsen is somewhat correct in that it is NOT the M suspension as I was told. It's the M package but has the sports suspension. This is going off the window sticker. The ride is a bit stiff with the 20's and RFT's, but we plan on getting toyo proxes.
2. dnadrifter is correct in that AD is $3150 but AS is another $1550, I believe. Total obviously being $4700. For that kind of $, I would rather get the v8.

The V8 M-Sport has a different suspension. It is not as stiff as the Sport in the 35i M-Sport and also comes with self leveling rear air suspension. I drove both and the 50 M-Sport is very comfortable. More so than M-Sport with AD and 19s

Originally Posted by z51vette

The V8 M-Sport has a different suspension. It is not as stiff as the Sport in the 35i M-Sport and also comes with self leveling rear air suspension. I drove both and the 50 M-Sport is very comfortable. More so than M-Sport with AD and 19s

Did you feel that the 35i M-Sport was "too stiff"? Having had it for our first weekend, I do like the overall handling. We did go over a speed bump that was a bit rough but wasn't too bad.

Originally Posted by specialist23

Did you feel that the 35i M-Sport was "too stiff"? Having had it for our first weekend, I do like the overall handling. We did go over a speed bump that was a bit rough but wasn't too bad.

It was definitely more stiff than my 50i M-Sport. You can feel the road a lot more but it dealt with impacts very quickly without unnecessary body motions. The ride in my 50i is just about perfect. Sometimes it feels downright cushy, at the same time the ride is sporty enough and the car feels light on its feet. One thing I'm not sure about, if any of the AD cars I drove had Self Leveling Air suspensions with AD. I tend to think not on the two cars 09 and the 13, had pronounced rear axle hop over road irregularities and front end dive with brake application. The 11 AD 50 M-Sport behaved pretty well. So that car may have had Self Leveling in addition to AD. At that point I thought that AD cars were just that. One variation. I wasn't on the lookout for Self leveling. Now, through this forum, my understanding is, Self leveling can be had in addition to AD.

I'll just point out that, again, some people here confuse Adaptive Drive with the Sport button being lit up. Adaptive Drive is ALWAYS on. When the Sport light is off, that just means it's in Comfort mode, not Sport. If you drive a car with AD, leave the light off, and you compare the quality of that ride with any other X5, you can't tell me with a straight face that the ride is better in the non-AD car. When you do turn Sport on, it's definitely sportier, but never harsh like the Sport or M suspension. The reality is that AD controls vertical motions - that busyness you feel on highways when bumpy" and because it includes Active Roll Stabilization, it just corners flat.

Sales people will tell you "why do you need to take corners flat in your SUV? Are you racing your SUV" and they are idiots for saying that. Adaptive Drive changed my perspective on the X5, I could never buy another BMW without Adaptive Drive again. It's optional all the way up to the 7-series, it's that good, and it's worth every penny. Especially in the X5. Get it.

Originally Posted by grilodan

I'll just point out that, again, some people here confuse Adaptive Drive with the Sport button being lit up. Adaptive Drive is ALWAYS on. When the Sport light is off, that just means it's in Comfort mode, not Sport. If you drive a car with AD, leave the light off, and you compare the quality of that ride with any other X5, you can't tell me with a straight face that the ride is better in the non-AD car. When you do turn Sport on, it's definitely sportier, but never harsh like the Sport or M suspension. The reality is that AD controls vertical motions - that busyness you feel on highways when bumpy" and because it includes Active Roll Stabilization, it just corners flat.

Sales people will tell you "why do you need to take corners flat in your SUV? Are you racing your SUV" and they are idiots for saying that. Adaptive Drive changed my perspective on the X5, I could never buy another BMW without Adaptive Drive again. It's optional all the way up to the 7-series, it's that good, and it's worth every penny. Especially in the X5. Get it.

I think after reading ur last post I would be very surprised if when I purchase an X5
I did not have AD
That explanation is On the money
Thanks
So happy that ur njoying ur X5

Best
Ron

I created a thread on Adaptive Drive a while ago when I was buying my ride. My conclusion? Read here: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...8&postcount=20