Quote:
Originally Posted by SonicEndeavor
....Quality coilovers are a great option for the F10, and preferred by many including myself over a computer controlled active suspension, but each driver has their personal preferences.
|
I fully appreciate many users will prefer a passive system, for a bunch of reasons, predictability (known suspension responses) being the key reason I rate a good passive system.
Where I see the adaptive systems being superior, for daily road use, is the wider working envelope as you drive. Besides the adaptive 'on the fly' function, we have the different suspension modes, adjustable from the seat.
The continuously adaptive ability gives greater comfort over varied surfaces, even in a given mode, let alone the choice of how you want to feel the road (or not) as you drive. Setting up a good coil system still leaves you with that setting from the seat, whatever the surfaces you have to drive over on a given trip. That for me is still a big compromise.
In my E91 wagon I fitted Koni FSD (Frequency Selective Dampers), which appealed to my desire for a wider working envelope with a passive system. Convinced me, after driving over 30k miles on them, that for my next car I'd be looking at the adaptive suspension systems.
VDC copes with the damping variables, but it is ARS which (IMO) is the star of Adaptive Drive. Roll bars which can be tuned as you drive in response to demand does so much more for a large car than any damper system on its own can do. The ability to decouple for single wheel bumps, but at the same time to tune front to rear bars to keep a neutral handling balance and only tune in a bit of understeer as you drive harder. Works for me to have a 5-series wagon, driving much like a 3-series, helps lose the bulk of the car and at the same time improving the dynamics and comfort where it matters.
OK, so we can upgrade the roll (sway) bars in a passive system, but then we just move the compromises, even start tightening the working envelope. As we know stiff bars are not all gains, there are negatives.
I suppose it depends on whether we want to spend the money on aftermarket parts, experiment with setups, and accept the new compromises we have added. Or take the BMW developed system, and accept the inherent compromises, if we se them as such.
I have chosen the latter, the fact I can toggle to a different suspension mode when my mood changes, or the road surface quality dictates, is my best of all worlds.
HighlandPete