why is Adaptive Drive so rare?

[chiefneil]

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

To answer the question: average Americans aren't informed about their car purchases. This especially applies to options and features. To make an in-stock car $3500 more expensive for a feature that is hard to appreciate on a test drive is a tough sell. Sat

During a test drive:

Me: Does this have adaptive drive?
Salesguy: What's that?
Me: It's the adaptive suspension.
Salesguy: I don't know what that is, I'll check the sticker when we stop

[ard]

OP asks "why is this rare?"

1. It takes a discerning and motivated owner to ORDER the adaptive drive. This type of owner is not selling a 1,2 year old car....

2. The cars being sold are short term buyers, lease cars- maybe casual buyers...NO DEALER EVER ORDERS ADAPTIVE DRIVE TO SELL OF THE LOT...EVER. Salesmen look at $3500 and say "the wife cannot see this.... I cannot keep the key in the pocket and say 'how cool is that' like I can with Comfort Access".

My 2 cents...without commenting on the obvious value of AD.



A

[AzNMpower32]

Originally Posted by Alan Smithee

The OP is in Chicago, so it is safe to say he/she is referring to US market vehicles. When an X5 here has the "sport suspension delete" option, it is referring to a vehicle with Sport Activity Package, but without Adaptive Drive. There was a time that this is how it had to be ordered. It does seem that BMW has made an effort to make this more simple by makng Adaptive Drive as a stand-alone option on all models, however this was not always the case.

Is the "sport suspension" on the M Sport Package without Adaptive Drive truly different than other current X5s? I doubt it, but if you have an indication otherwise, would like to know for sure.

Because the sport suspension is a new 2012 introduction to the X5 in the US, I haven't sampled it. However, it has been in other markets since 2007. It probably behaves like other BMW sport suspensions in the 3er- firmer ride with more aggressive spring rates (but no ride height lowering on the X-series). It is not an electronic-heavy, fancy sway bar item like Adaptive Drive.

I explained the reasons for the nomenclature in the US in this post awhile back. Basically, the Sport Activity Package is a sport package without sport suspension. The 35i Sport Activity model is essentially a 35i with the Sport package but with the firmer suspension deleted. It's all tied to factory logistics and marketing decisions.

It's worth noting that if one orders the Adaptive Drive in conjunction with M sportpaket, the cost of AD is lower.

For those who want to "learn by doing", go to BMW UK | Homepage and build an X5. Select "Dynamic Package" for the SE model: the default is Sport Suspension, but there is a deletion option as well. The M sport model is identical: Sport suspension is included as default, the deletion option is N/C.

[phillymb75]

I've actually been looking for adaptive drive ("AD") on a used 2010/2011 also... experience has shown that it's almost never listed in the options, but you'll see that sport button next to the shifter when you look at the pictures online. Amazing that a dealer has a car with a $3,500 option and they don't even bother to list it. Sun Motors in central PA is a prime example, they have several 2011's in their used section with AD and it's not even listed in the options.

[MOD220]

Originally Posted by phillymb75

I've actually been looking for adaptive drive ("AD") on a used 2010/2011 also... experience has shown that it's almost never listed in the options, but you'll see that sport button next to the shifter when you look at the pictures online. Amazing that a dealer has a car with a $3,500 option and they don't even bother to list it. Sun Motors in central PA is a prime example, they have several 2011's in their used section with AD and it's not even listed in the options.

I didn't think AD had a button? Hence the term adaptive? If the button thing is inaccurate, how can you tell which cars have AD? I found one car with literally every possible option, but dealer says no AD. Why someone would order leather dash, lane change warning, etc but no AD makes no sense. But a dealer not knowing the option was there makes even less sense.

[phillymb75]

If you build a new one on bmwusa, you can see the sport button appear in the picture when you select the Adaptive Drive option...

[rh71]

sport button is for suspension stiffness, not adaptive drive, which is always on. In recent years it has gotten a bit more complex as far as choosing options so I'm a bit lost myself. But if you go build a 35i sport activity, you'll see sport suspension is checked while adaptive drive remains an option. I believe you'd still get the sport button there. There's also a way to do the sport suspension delete... like I said, way too complicated these days.

[COrth]

Originally Posted by rh71

sport button is for suspension stiffness, not adaptive drive, which is always on. In recent years it has gotten a bit more complex as far as choosing options so I'm a bit lost myself. But if you go build a 35i sport activity, you'll see sport suspension is checked while adaptive drive remains an option. I believe you'd still get the sport button there. There's also a way to do the sport suspension delete... like I said, way too complicated these days.

To add to the confusion, if you look at the ordering and pricing guide for the 2012 X5, even the XDrive35i sport activity vehicle (model 12XH) has the sport suspension deleted as standard. Adding package ZMP (M sport package) gives option 226 sport suspension, but this is the only way that I know of to get the 226 sport suspension. For a while I thought BMW considered the adaptive drive to be the sport suspension, but now I don't know. I do know that choosing the adaptive drive on the BMW "build your X5" web configurator unchecks the sport suspension option.

[Spanky Deluxe]

Can anyone post a picture of what the adaptive drive button looks like? Is it actually only present with models that have adaptive drive? I'm looking at used cars at the moment and I get the feeling it's not always listed by indy dealers (or even BMW ones, they often miss out things in the specs) so it'd be great if there's something I could spot. Having never driven a car with adaptive drive, I'm not too worried but if I see one with it then I'll feel like the car is worth a little extra if you see what I mean.

[MOD220]

so if all you need to do is press a button to turn off sport suspension, why do people choose "sport suspension delete?"