I love BMWs enough to ponder things such as this...seriously:

On the E70 X5 prior to the LCI refresh, the sport package on the V8 and on the 6 included ARS, active roll stabilization (instead of a thick metal bar preventing body roll in corners like most cars including non sport E70 X5s, there is a hydraulic motor that cranks out enough torque to keep the car straight up in a bend essentially). As a car guy, this technology (which has been standard on the 7 since 2003, standard on all 6s and X6s and optional on E60 5s and E70 X5s with sport pack) is the SOLE reason why heavier modern BMWs are still described as light and nimble.

Now, fast forward to the LCI X5s, where they have spilt the sport pack in 3!!
Option 1 - Msport. Very cool, very expensive and for those who'd get it, invaluable; 2) Sport package costing 1/2 what the previous sport pack did but offering essentially appearance-only changes; then there is 3) the stand alone adaptive drive option at $3,000+ which, unlike the sport pack, offers the ARS described above (the M sport pack includes this).

So here's the question posed by my thread....Since its a given that most US buyers will not opt for the adaptive drive, do you think the image of the X5 will suffer? There's nothing wrong with the standard suspension, but it makes the car feel heavier (which it is) and less responsive. Car magazines may often get X5 5.0 sports without adaptive drive to test, and dealerships will put potential buyers on test drives in a "sport" car then risk them driving a Cayenne etc... Think of this: BMW has never equipped an X drive 3 or 5 with sport suspension...why? My guess is they wish to indicate to the buyer that this is not the optimal max performance version of the car...So is the message with the LCI X5s: Buy the M sport if you're at all an aggressive, sport minded driver??

Interesting, no??

DRP