Quote:
Originally Posted by Friedo225
I drove both passive and adaptive back-to-back before I ordered my M340, and made sure both cars were running the same wheel/tire option - staggered set up (which I knew I was getting) on performance runflats (I wanted to drive, and ordered, non-runflats, but the dealer had to bring in the adaptive suspension car from their sister dealership, and I made sure it had staggered, but all their cars had runflats, so I selected the passive car to test drive to match). The tires weren't the same - Bridgestone on the adaptive and Goodyear on the passive - but I don't think that could have made too much of a difference. Even with the adaptive in Comfort, I found the passive suspension to be the more comfortable of the two. I don't like to agree with Motor Trend about much, but I found the adaptive to be a more jiggly/brittle ride, that never seemed to relax. The difference was noticeable immediately, even on the pretty smooth roads by the dealer. I drove the same 20 minute route at the same speeds, and ultimately decided on the passive suspension with the cooling and high performance tire package, even though I believed going in I was going to get the adaptive. I consider myself a fairly aggressive driver, and would never buy a BMW without the sport suspension, but I admit I am coming from a 2010 e60 550 with the MSport package, on which I have Michelin Pilot Sport 4s tires, which has the type of ride that BMW built its reputation on - amazingly agile and tenacious when pushed, but also comfortable. Regardless of passive or adaptive, the M340 has a more sporting oriented ride than my 550, but given that most of the time I am tooling around town at relatively low speeds, and I also take multiple highway trips of a few hours every month or so, I decided I wanted what I felt was the more comfortable suspension (and I know my wife and other passengers will appreciate it, too). I really think anyone who is thinking about it owes it to themselves to go to the trouble of driving both back-to-back. That's my $0.02 (or perhaps $0.05).
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Yes, I figured the test drives would involve run flats. They seem to be a special order only item.