[phoenixbmwlife]

Looks sharp!

[10511555]

good to hearing.. cheers

[pemz]

Nice! Can't wait to get mine! 30 days to go! Also 520D M sport with same 19" alloys and WITHOUT VDC! Glad to read that the car doesn't feel hard on the road without VDC. This was also confirmed to me by my dealer.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by AP

interesting about the suspension
I had at least vdc in my head for my purchase this time but perhaps it is not necessary. only a test drive will tell.
funnily enough the dealership rang me today left a voicemail asking if I wanted to look at the new 5 so I will take them up on that offer.
see if they have a 540i msport going spare.....

We have to remember that even with the standard suspensions being more refined, VDC and Adaptive Drive have also moved on. VDC is still being viewed as the option to get, (by most test reviews), if we want the best refinement possible from the G30.

Depends if we are simple after an acceptable ride/handing balance, (standard G30 better than the F10), or are after the widest working envelope and still retain the best balance possible.

Test drives are the only way to judge our personal requirements, as choice of suspension is a subjective based decision.

[morellomax]

I think what I struggle with is whether VDC is an adequate solution on the G30.

Impact harshness is definitely reduced on the new car, whether that's due to a new generation of RFTs or revised suspension design and bushing or multiple factors, so a passive MSport rides quite nicely.

If you spec VDC, you get more choice over damping behaviour, but you lose the MSport springs and roll bar stiffness and the 10mm drop, and the car definitely feels less planted and less nimble in corners. I think half the reviewers don't even realise that their MSport demo cars don't have MSport springs because they do have VDC.

You can solve that with adaptive drive, which I'm sure will be even better on the new car than the old one, but you can only get that on 6 cylinder cars and it still costs mega £.

I would like to see the option of MSport springs and anti-roll bars with adaptive damping on all G30s. Is that what the M550i will have, or does that have active anti-roll as well ?

Pete - have you found a review of a car with full adaptive drive yet ? I don't think I have. Would love to hear more about it.

[ZigmundUK]

Originally Posted by morellomax

I would like to see the option of MSport springs and anti-roll bars with adaptive damping on all G30s. Is that what the M550i will have, or does that have active anti-roll as well ?

Pete - have you found a review of a car with full adaptive drive yet ? I don't think I have. Would love to hear more about it.

The tech docs showed the 550i having the 10mm lowered suspension and active steering as well as all the adaptive offers. So I suspect that's where the springs will be nicer than normal adaptive.

I also didn't find any review on adaptive and moreover none that was objective in their analysis or recommendation. How can they recommend getting VDC without driving a non VDC? It's only on this forum where we seem to get some objective feedback.

I went for the adaptive coz I do like a spirited drive sometimes over the A686 or other nice A road and this will be our chief family car for motorways and my daily drive too...

[morellomax]

I don't really keep up with 3 series stuff, but I vaguely remember that everyone raves about "MSport adaptive" as the setup to have on an F30, which also is presumably lowered springs and adaptive dampers ?

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by morellomax

I think what I struggle with is whether VDC is an adequate solution on the G30.

Impact harshness is definitely reduced on the new car, whether that's due to a new generation of RFTs or revised suspension design and bushing or multiple factors, so a passive MSport rides quite nicely.

If you spec VDC, you get more choice over damping behaviour, but you lose the MSport springs and roll bar stiffness and the 10mm drop, and the car definitely feels less planted and less nimble in corners. I think half the reviewers don't even realise that their MSport demo cars don't have MSport springs because they do have VDC.

You can solve that with adaptive drive, which I'm sure will be even better on the new car than the old one, but you can only get that on 6 cylinder cars and it still costs mega £.

I would like to see the option of MSport springs and anti-roll bars with adaptive damping on all G30s. Is that what the M550i will have, or does that have active anti-roll as well ?

Pete - have you found a review of a car with full adaptive drive yet ? I don't think I have. Would love to hear more about it.

We've been here before, haven't we, with the F10.

Plus some mistakes in some of the reviews, when running through the specification.

Haven't read any serious 'driven' reviews of the latest version of Adaptive Drive. EARS is technically more advanced, along with the Bilstein DampTronic Sky dampers fitted to VDC, we should be getting a better system.

VDC is pretty much accepted as improving the comfort range, wheel size is also mentioned often, as adding, or subtracting to the ultimate refinement.

Same as it has been in the F10. As I see it, we really do need Adaptive Drive if we want to have both decent body control and a wide comfort envelope.

With M-sport suspension offering improvements, over the F10 version, I'm guessing even less examples of AD will get to market in the UK.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by morellomax

I don't really keep up with 3 series stuff, but I vaguely remember that everyone raves about "MSport adaptive" as the setup to have on an F30, which also is presumably lowered springs and adaptive dampers ?

Yes, RWD gets the lower ride height and sport springs. xDrive version is like the 5-series, with a softer spring set up and standard ride height.

[morellomax]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

along with the Bilstein DampTronic Sky dampers fitted to VDC

Right, that's the next hour on Google planned out Where did you hear about these ?

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by morellomax

Right, that's the next hour on Google planned out Where did you hear about these ?

BMW claim all G30 models have Bilstein dampers... looked to Bilstein for suitable dampers.... Bilstein marketing say the DampTronic are used in the G11/12 7-series. BMW technical illustrations for both G12 and G30 (chassis documents) show the same damper. RealOEM clearly shows the same damper configurations.