[james d]

Picking up 520d se Touring before xmas - Havana/Oyster/Black Dakota,Dark Ash, Sport Auto, Comfort seats,VDC,Prof Sat Nav,Prof Hifi,Vis Pack, powered mirrors/tail, DAB,USB, Sport Wheel, Sun Protection glass, Heated Front seats,Ambient Lighting,Extended Air Con-after selling E61 535d M sport( loved the power/looks,hated the ride). Wife has constant back probs and have assured her new car will be huge improvement for her. She is very sceptical and was keen to swap to E-Class/XF which she tried and found both comfortable. Went for most comfort oriented spec I could- 17in wheels/ vdc/comfort seats etc- but would be interested in others experiences of long distance comfort particularly if there are any other back sufferers amongst you.

[krell]

I have standard seats with 18" wheels and VDC. I find it no less comfortable than the S Class Mercedes I used to own in terms of comfort and ride quality.

In fact I find the seats more comfortable - and I have pretty bad back problems.

[nicolo2]

For 14 years I drove Volvo 850/V70/XC70, excellent seats they offered. But very happy with the standard seats in my 520dA. And VDC + 17" offer superb comfort. It's really limousine-like, you won't be disappointed. Refinement is the key.

[john24]

I have the sport seats in my F10, the are great, but in the first rides they gave me some back ackes, but now the are more than ok. In my opinion the comfort seats are much better, but they don't offer such a good latteral support if you like to drive a bit sporty, but if you want comfort, definitely go for the comfort seats...

[gorban]

I have an F11 520d with sports automatic, VDC and sports seats. I think the seats are excellent, but I came from E61 standard seats and lumbar support. I have no back problem.

I only drove on my 328 18" wheels for a week before I switched to 17" winter tyres. With these tyres and VDC the comfort is excellent.

I only use the comfort setting in town and at low speed. Driving to fast in comfort makes me motion sick.

[james d]

Many thanks for replies,pretty reassuring. Interested how others are using their VDC in terms of which setting for which road condition/type. Ordered it primarily for poor/speed humped London roads.

[ftorres]

I have an F11 525d SE with VDC on 18" 328 wheels and the on comfort mode the ride is pretty good. Although the RFTs do not offer the same smoothness as my E320 CDI estate standard (comfort) suspension on 16" wheels the overall driving experience is significantly superior and the car is much more refined and sporty.

I have the standard seats with lumbar and they seem really comforatble although I have not yet done a long journey. Superior to the standard seats in my old E320.

I use the comfort mode when I am pootling along in traffic, including the motorway up to about 70mph and then switch to normal or sport mode when pushing on or overtaking.

[F11Black]

I have the 520d SE Touring with the 17 inch standard wheels, standard suspension and sports seats. Like you, I was going for comfort over handling to avoid a hard ride.

Ride isn't too hard at all - quite comfortable over the bumps at town speeds. I think the run flats make it a little hard feeling over potholes at high speed, but I was previously driving a Mercedes ML which has massive 4 x 4 tyres and a soft ride.

Like john24 the sports seats seemed to aggravate my back ache when the car was very new, but it seems to have settled down now that they have been broken in a bit. Adjusting the angle of the seat base and back rest helped as well,.

I don't think you are going to have any problems given that you have VDC and comfort seats