2009 35d with sports package and AD here. Just spent the weekend in Santa Cruz and for those who know the highway-17 is pretty windy. I've driven that road with several cars, including an 03 MDX, an 06 z4 3.0si with sports suspension, my x35d.

Mdx was really unconfident and hesitant. Comfortable and muted but really unsafe at speeds above the speed limit.
Z4 was a dream. Felt like i couldnt go fast enough because other cars couldnt speed up with their suspensions. (I would get stuck behind two cars blocking the lanes at same speed)
X35d .. I definitely missed my z4 but honestly not by so much as I had expected. Probably mainly due to missing stick shift and the more rev-happy linear power curve and the better braking. But the x35d was really flat around corners and very confident all around.