Adaptive suspension , yes or no ? ( new 3 series )

[curley]

I am in the process of specifying a replacement 3 series touring for my wife .

Car will be a 320D x drive touring , M sport derivative .

I was wondering what the benefits were of the active suspension .

She currently has a 10 plate version of the last model , M sport on run flats so any comparisons to that would be useful .

[curley]

Well I currently have a brand new 320d M Sport on the drive .( loan car )
it doesn't have adaptive suspension but ( at my request ) it does have the larger optional wheels .

I have to say having driven it on a mixture of roads all day today I think it's fine . slightly more refined than the current 10 plate car we have , doesn't bang and crash over bad surfaces and rides speed humps much better than my Porsche with adaptive suspension . yes I know that's not really a valid comparison .....

The auto box shows a distinct difference in character between comfort and sport , not sure I would want to drive it in sport all the time which means if I had adaptive dampers I would be driving round in comfort most of the time .

I note what's been said about it being adaptive all the time but on balance I think I am going to go with the standard passive system .

Reading most of the road tests they seem to favour the adaptive but I haven't seen a test on an M Sport yet , maybe the standard suspension benefits more from the slightly firmer ( at times ) adaptive set up whereas if applied to the M sport it takes it the other way ,


Now what shall I spend that £500 on ?!!

[curley]

SrMoreno said:

This is something I'm puzzling over at the moment. The dealer I spoke to suggested that the x-drive system had some of the characteristics of the adaptive suspension, so ticking that box wasn't necessary. Is that right?

I doubt it .

I posted above that I found the standard MSport suspension acceptable .

I then ordered my x drive and found that the m sport x drive does not have the option 407 m sport suspension included in the price . In fact it's not available because the x drive transmission and lowered springs are not compatible .

As a result of this I ticked the adaptive suspension box on the basis that this was the only way I might introduce a more sporty set up .

I suggest you drive a standard one ( there are a few in dealers now ) and see what you think . On balance I thought I was better off with rather than without . At worst I have thrown £500 away .