BMW Adaptive Drive

Adaptive Drive.

On every curve, on every road surface: Adaptive Drive counteracts the forces that cause body roll. Your BMW handles with outstanding sporting agility, while also ensuring a very comfortable journey for you and your passengers. Body roll is practically eliminated, and winding roads can be enjoyed with a maximum of stability and safety.

The proven effectiveness of BMW's innovative chassis control systems, Dynamic Drive and Variable Damper Control (VDC) work closely together to deliver an outstandingly smooth ride and enhanced agility. Sensors in your BMW permanently monitor vehicle speed, steering-wheel position and the pitch and yaw forces acting on the chassis. Using this data, the system precisely adjusts the stabilisers and the dampers, changing their settings quickly and accurately. This coordinated interaction of dampers and stabilisers counteracts the forces that cause the body to roll or sway. Your BMW hugs the road, delivers neutral self-steering behaviour, outstanding agility and shorter braking distances.

Furthermore, Adaptive Drive adjusts the suspension settings to suit the character of the road surface. Each axle has its own independent motor that can adjust the dampers on each individual wheel. When the road surface under one side of the vehicle differs in character from that on the other side - such as when driving on roads with gravel shoulders - Adaptive Drive instantly adjusts the suspension settings of the wheels on one side to practically eliminate any perceptible unevenness in the road. In addition, you can choose between a more comfortable default setting for the suspension, or a more sporting setting.

Such high-speed calculations and responses demand a high-performance electronics system. Adaptive Drive utilises FlexRay, a high-speed data transfer system that networks sensors, control units and stabilisers.