Ride quality 50i vs M

[///Armin]

Currently have a 50i and I'm considering a M, I do drive at least 15K a year with it, lots of highway driving with an hour or more on the road sometimes. For anyone that has made the switch, is the ride quality comparable? I only have the M suspension on mine but have heard M can be harsh on longer rides and too stiff even in normal mode.

[tastelid]

I haven't driven the 50i but have done multiple all-day drives in the X5M. It is a great road trip vehicle.

[Alan l.]

I didn't notice the X5M being noticeably firmer/harsher than my X5 35i honestly.

Alan

[lv42day]

I had a M550, the drive in Sports in the M550 is the is similar to Comfort mode in the X6M. The Comfort mode in the X6M is good for potholes on side streets, the wheel/tires are so big and the car so solid, the car just glides over the potholes, which I did not expect. I use the Sport setting for freeway and the transmission in D2. It is truly an exceptional car and you will enjoy the ride......

[onfireX5]

Traded a 2015 XSport X5 50i to a 2016 X5M. My daily driver and vacation driver. Would never go back.

[beammeupscottie]

Sold my '15 X5 5.0i about a month ago and purchased '17 X5M. I can say that the M is light years ahead of the 5.0i in handling and suspension. Corners with unnoticeable body roll...it's great for an everyday driver and remember the suspension can be adjusted to comfort. The seats are noticeably more supportive and the leather is butter smooth and with the ventilated seat option no back sweat! ; I'm finding on the exact same routes the bumps etc on the road are more unnoticeable. It's essentially smoother. More "sure footed", solid, taught. The 5.0i was pretty good but the M is amazing; period. only thing you'll notice negatively imo is gas mileage sucks but is expected lol

[///Armin]

Thanks guys, I'm sold!

[Epacy2]

X5M suspension is like butter compared to my E70 X5d w/SAV pack. That suspension was hard as F!

[mcvaughan]

Came from a 50i (standard suspension) to an F86 and I find the M very comfortable. In fact, it's probably more since there's less body roll.

[kimi_fan]

Went from a 50i MSport w/20's and run-flats to the X5M with 21's and non run-flats - in comfort mode I like the X5M ride better for relaxed cruising than the 50i, with the option to move to the other modes if I want a stiffer ride and better handling. Like others have said, I don't think I'll go back to the non-M version. The only concern I have now is what the "G" X5M model will look like when it is time to trade up to the latest model

We still have a 35i/F15 in the family as well and I will say that the ride is smooth, but it also has the standard/non-sport suspension and 19's with run-flats. I'd take the X5M over either the 35i or 50i any day of the week.

[yvnrg1981]

I feel a huge difference between my wife's 3.0 x5 and the x6m. Even in "comfort" the m is much stiffer than the 3.0. Driving her car now i feel like I'm floating on air, she does have the sport package with the 20" run flats. To each his own, I would test drive just in case. High way miles shouldn't be a problem but anything other than a really smooth road and you'll feel every pebble on the road.

[bbal]

I've only owned BMWs since 2004 (E53 X5 3.0 6spd manual) but I feel that each generation of each model gets softer and less sporty. It seems to me that getting an M is the only way to experience what used to come on the standard sport suspension of each line. I've had my X5M for 2 months and 3k miles. Nothing but rave reviews on the ride when I'm in comfort mode. In sport plus, the kids might gripe a bit during spirited driving.

[ChrisNich117]

Depends on the options. My 14 50i has the DPC and that makes all the difference. Feels very similar to my x6m minus the power.

[jettie1767]

I had the X5 and X6 3.5i before my X6M. Both had softer suspension than my X6M. But, my M4 with standard suspension rides harder than my X6M.

[BMWOO7]

Had multiple 35i's, some with M Sport and some stock X5's, those had wheels from 255/50/19 to the 20's and my X5M with 21" wheels rides much better.

The X5M was designed well and does a great job with highway driving. 95% of the driving I do is all on the expressway.

[lv42day]

Set my tire pressure to 36 (it was at 46-48 from the dealer) and the ride has changed dramatically. Its supple on side streets and amazing on freeway (Sports or Sports+). In Comfort due to the tire pressure change the car feels like my old 2012 M550xi. All I have to say is, if the ride is harsh in Comfort, check your tire pressure...

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by beammeupscottie

I can say that the M is light years ahead of the 5.0i in handling and suspension.

What about an 50i M-Sport with all the suspension upgrades? Isn't it then dialed in the same way? I did not see different part numbers between the 50i and X5M when equipped with DHP and Adaptive M Suspension w/ Rear Axle Air.

[onfireX5]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

What about an 50i M-Sport with all the suspension upgrades? Isn't it then dialed in the same way? I did not see different part numbers between the 50i and X5M when equipped with DHP and Adaptive M Suspension w/ Rear Axle Air.

I owned a 2015 50i MSport with DHP. Ordered it. Drove it 3 months and traded it to 2016 X5M. X5M in comfort mode handles better than DHP in Sport plus. Totally different vehicles. X5M = Corvette. MSport DHP = Impala

[iconoclast]

when i purchased my 50i with those options i briefly looked to see if there differences and the part numbers appeared to be the same for both models. now that i am in the market for an x5m i am trying to get familiar with all aspects of the vehicle and options. what exactly is different?

secondly i would say a better comparison would be corvette/camaro. IMO.

[onfireX5]

http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1171644

Have you read through the suspension changes in this Doc ?

[iconoclast]

I have not... but I will now. Thank you.

5.1.1.￿Front￿axle
The￿double-wishbone￿front￿axle￿known￿from￿the￿F15/F16￿is￿used￿as￿the￿front￿axle.￿The￿front￿axle￿h as
been￿lowered￿by￿10 mm￿in￿comparison￿with￿the￿standard￿suspension￿on￿t he￿F85/F86.￿The￿upper
A-arm￿has￿been￿adapted￿by￿a￿repair￿wishbone￿from￿the ￿F15/F16￿spare￿parts￿range￿in￿order￿to￿achieve
the￿M-specific￿greater￿camber￿values￿for￿a￿sportier￿susp ension￿setting.￿The￿rubber￿mounts￿for
connecting￿to￿the￿front￿axle￿support￿of￿the￿lower￿ wishbone￿and￿the￿tension￿strut￿have￿been￿matched
for￿the￿F85/F86.￿The￿spring￿strut￿has￿been￿adapted￿by￿a￿separa te￿damper￿variant￿together￿with￿the￿coil
spring￿to￿the￿F85/F86￿and￿bolted￿at￿the￿top￿by￿a￿newly￿dimensioned￿s upport￿bearing￿in￿the￿dome;￿in
addition,￿the￿auxiliary￿damper,￿installed￿between￿ the￿shock￿absorber￿and￿the￿support￿bearing￿on￿t he
piston￿rod,￿has￿been￿adapted.￿For￿further￿informat ion￿on￿the￿double-wishbone￿front￿axle,￿please￿refer
to￿the￿Technical￿Training￿Manual￿“F15￿Complete￿Veh icle”.

5.1.3.￿Rear￿axle
The￿Integral￿IV￿rear￿axle￿known￿from￿the￿F15/F16￿is￿used￿as￿the￿rear￿axle.￿The￿rear￿axle￿has￿be en
lowered￿by￿10 mm￿in￿comparison￿with￿the￿standard￿suspension￿on￿t he￿F85/F86.￿The￿rear￿axle￿support
of￿the￿F85/F86￿is￿however￿supported￿by￿the￿incorporation￿of￿C ellasto￿discs￿at￿the￿top￿and￿bottom
of￿the￿bolting￿points￿of￿the￿rear￿axle￿bearings.￿T he￿incorporation￿of￿Cellasto￿discs￿prevents￿the￿re ar
axle￿support￿from￿tilting￿at￿the￿rear￿axle￿support ￿bearings￿in￿the￿event￿of￿a￿marked￿load￿reversal.￿ The
rear￿axle￿support￿bearings￿have￿been￿adapted￿in￿te rms￿of￿a￿harder￿design￿to￿the￿F85/F86.￿The￿shock
absorbers￿have￿been￿adapted￿by￿a￿separate￿damper￿v ariant￿to￿the￿F85/F86￿and￿are￿bolted￿at￿the￿top
with￿a￿newly￿dimensioned￿support￿bearing;￿in￿addit ion,￿the￿auxiliary￿damper,￿installed￿between￿the
shock￿absorber￿and￿the￿support￿bearing￿on￿the￿pist on￿rod,￿has￿been￿adapted.￿The￿U-type￿bellows￿on
the￿rear￿axle￿have￿been￿adapted￿by￿modified￿roll￿p istons￿to￿the￿F85/F86.￿For￿further￿information￿on￿the
Integral￿IV￿rear￿axle,￿please￿refer￿to￿the￿Technic al￿Training￿Manual￿“F15￿Complete￿Vehicle”.

[Kzang]

This thread is dumb... Of course the X5M with the M is going to outclass any X5 with standard suspension. Try comparing a X5 with DHP ( Dynamic Handling Package ) and I am sure the X5M isn't "light years ahead".