Adaptive drive or not

[Alan Smithee]

Originally Posted by EuroTra$H

For a 2 ton SAV to drive like this is amazing...AD is a must have!

The X5 is a lot more than 2 tons...more like 2.5 tons...and handles amazingly without AD as well (at least with the fat 20s; I have not driven one without them).

[JCL]

Originally Posted by ard

Ive driven both. I've also driven a q45 with their AD back in the 1990s.

The BMW AD is brilliantly engineered to be minimally intrusive. IMO it simply makes the car 'feel smaller' no dramatic interventions, just a very well balanced alteration to the driving dynamics.

Salesmen never get to drive them so they canot be a source of advice

a

I haven't driven an X5 with AD, but I have no doubt in my mind that it works brilliantly.

My counterpoint would be that my biggest concern with new BMW vehicles is complexity, and this is another add-on system. More cost, but more importantly, more to break. My current mantra of buy simple, run longer, is in conflict with my appreciation of what AD can bring to the party.

If I was buying an X5 and planning to sell it after 3 years, I would likely get it. If I was planning on keeping the vehicle longer than that, it would move down from the must have list, to the nice to have list, to the not this time list. Along with a lot of other options that BMW engineers have dreamed up without sufficient regard for life cycle costing. IMO.