X5 vs. ML350 Ride Quality and Tire Selection

[scchang]

I have an X35d in production. It will mainly be driven by my wife who is coming from a '01 E53 with ZSP. We ordered the new X with ZSP and deleted the sport suspension because she wanted a softer ride but liked the other package components.

Well, at her suggestion, we drove the ML350 BlueTec. As expected, she liked the ride and the steering feel better than the X. On the other hand, I found nothing compelling about the vehicle.

We purchase our vehicles and tend to keep them for a long time (see above), and I don't see the ML350 as a long-term solution.

What I'm wondering is if anyone has driven the ML350 with stock RFTs and an E70 with non-RFTs (preferably 19s)? If so, I would be very interested in how the rides compared. My thought is that switching to non-RFTs might solve the ride issue. If not, I'd like any opinions.

Now, if only active steering was offered on the diesel!