Xdrive- Needed or not?

[Thehossdog]

Does x drive on the saloons ruin the car or make it feel sluggish?

Have you found it useful?

Waste of money?

Thoughts please

[Thehossdog]

335d said:

I guess quite a few of us were 'forced' into xDrive because we wanted the great 35d engine. It is true that xDrive means SE suspension or adaptive M Sport and both of those feel a bit too compromised for such a quick car. I expect they would be fine with a lower performance model. However there is a £600 solution to the suspension problem of ACS springs which transforms the car to handle far better than the sDrive M Sport suspension.

There is certainly a fuel economy penalty for xDrive over sDrive, although the more powerful the engine, the lower the penalty. In the winter, with winter tyres, xDrive is superb, as you might expect. My previous sDrive F10 with winters was much less able to deal with steep icy hills which I drive over frequently. If you live in a flat area, or somewhere where they grit the roads properly, sDrive is probably fine.

If you are considering a 20i or 20d engine, I would probably only take xDrive if you really need it. If I was buying again today, I would probably buy exactly the same 335d, although I would take a look at the 340i and see if I could manage with sDrive. On either car I would change the springs as BMW seem to have forgotten how to make a non-M car handle well from the factory.

So an xDrive M sport model doesn't have M sport suspension unless it's the optional adaptive?
But putting the A C springs on it is a much better option anyway?

[Thehossdog]

So on 20" alloys would the springs make much of a difference or are the alloys just too big for the springs to compensate

[Thehossdog]

smashy said:

Id ring up lorcan ,he will give it to you straight a good guy or email? http://rossiters.co.uk/team.htm

Thanks.
The m performance alloys are only supplied in 20inch alloys on the 3 series but now I'm wondering if the ride will be too harsh.