the problem , as i see it is that lowering an air suspension vehicle is done by lowering the air pressure in the suspension bags, much like lowering the air pressure in your tyres, the handling becomes woeful

if you have an air suspension vehicle and want to lower it you would be better of reverting back to springs all round as has been previously posted

my personal opinion is that the Op gave a balanced and detailed description of his experience and as such added value to this site, doing stuff, experiencing the pitfalls and thereby saving the rest of us the time and money .

as for style im also of the opinion that slightly lowered with 20,s is about perfect.

i also agree that the x5 is NOT and off road vehicle, and is more a high performance ALL road vehicle

thats why i keep my old XJ Cherokee with 4 inch lift and big tyres for my OFF road adventures

ok i,m done