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It's funny, this topic comes up in all the forums for these types of vehicles. I've seen it on the X3, Q5 and Evoque. I finally "got it" when I came upon a video of a presentation by an engineer on the Evoque who showed the attached graphic.
Here's how I net it out:
1) If the car does not have the MagneRide technology (each MFG has their own name. BMW calls it Adaptive Drive) on all 4 corners, then the car's springs/shocks/stabilizers etc based suspension is tuned at the factory. If there's a sport package/model, it may have a sportier tuning of that stuff.
2) Some cars such as the GT are offered with the MagneRide (Adaptive Drive) technology alone and comes with a preprogrammed performance envelope
3) The DHP (in BMW parlance) package adds Dynamic Damper Control to the Adaptive Drive (it also adds ARS but I understand that is independent) to provide the ability for the driver to configure the MagneRide performance envelop using a couple presets that correspond to the mode switch that also reprograms the steering and tranny. I've found the big confusion is that cars can come with the switch that reprograms steering and tranny but unless the car is built with MagneRide dampers, there's no retuning of the suspension's performance envelope.
The graphic shows a plot of 6 performance characteristics of suspension with one plot being normal suspension and the other MagneRide equipped suspension. The net is that the MagneRide has a broader range of performance. That is, as it samples the driving conditions, it has more range to respond with than a standard suspension. So, when softening a bump, it can be softer or when stiffening a body roll, it can be stiffer. How it actually responds (aka the shape of the plot) is programmed at the factory. When Dynamic Damper Control is added, the actual shape of the plot (performance envelope) is programmed by the position of the user control (Sport+, Sport, Normal, Comfort).
Hope that helps.
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