X3 3.0d M Sport

M Sport has unbearably harsh ride

My previous car was a "Hot Hatch", with 19" wheels and ultra low profile tyres 225/40. However, the ride in that car was sublime compared to the X3 M Sport on 19" wheels. So harsh it gives you a headache and makes the passengers feel sick on anything but the smoothest tar. Although one odd anomaly is that on (unpotholed) gravel tracks, the ride oddly improves. Perhaps on standard dampers and 17" wheels it would be fine.

Front seat comfort is good, ignoring the ride issues, although the seats are quite snug in the back width, compared to my husbands 5 Series - larger people could find this an issue and would call the seat back narrow.

Rear seat comfort is poor because the seat swab is short and the seat height above the floor is low - so anyone tall will sit with bottom only on the seat and thighs not supported. In the showroom it looks good for rear seat space, but in practice it's nowhere near as comfy as it looks.

Handling is very good for such a relatively tall and heavy car - almost nimble; but the price in ride is too much to pay by a long way for my liking at least.

Advice - try the suspension set up you are buying before ordering to avoid costly mistakes.

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