Dynamic Handling Package

[BMW X5]

Originally Posted by McDonaldD

An update regarding Dynamic Handling Package (ZDH) on the F15's. My October 2015 F15 with ZDH now has 20,000 miles on it... I one hundred percent stand behind my earlier post (if one ignores its (and this one's) many grammatical errors). The F15 with ZDH drives more like a sedan (or sport sedan if you're in Sport+) than any SUV I've had the privilege of driving (including the Porsche Cayenne Turbo (with porche's dynamic handling package variant)). It's just a joy to drive. While the normal F15 suspension is nice compared to its competitor's offerings, the Dynamic handling package is just superb. The chassis always feels (and is) composed. The added benefit of Sport+ just makes freeway on ramps all the more enjoyable. It is eerie how much of a difference the various driving modes impact the driver's (and especially passenger's) experience. I was driving some family through Calistoga to a winery, the roads there are...not the best. So, I wanted to see what Sport+would do and also see if anyone noticed a difference (I have the "driving mode" alerts disabled because I find them annoying). Not even 5 seconds after I put the car into sport+, my grandma turned to me and said: "whatever you just changed, put it back. I don't like the harsher ride. It makes me feel like a bobblehead."

Obviously ZDH is a lot of money and I'm not advocating for people to go further in debt...however, if you're not incurring further debt by adding it, it'd be a foolish option to pass up.

An aside: I just wish ZDH included 4-wheel steering, too (or even as an additional option). My aunt's 640i has the dynamic handling package AND 4-wheel steer, it's pretty impressive how tight of a turn it can make. It can U-turn in the middle of a tight, country two-lane road. Living in SF, that'd be an amazing feature for the F15 to have.

Thanks for your comprehensive review of ZDH I have to say it was the single most reason why I chose to "settle" with one I just picked up. Got a 2016 luxury package 50i with dhp and it was never even on my radar kept wanting the Msport as I had on my e70 but also had adaptive on it so in the sport button activated it was amazing the difference and I couldn't imagine giving it up. I don't have 20"s now which I wonder if it would change the experience even more but question: zdh is always on no matter which mode and just enhances each mode with it's already improved performance? I haven't tried a non dhp so how would you know if a model has it or not if any? No one seems to have any info on dhp differences or functionality which is frustrating.