upgrading '06 cayenne - wheels, paint rotors, any ideas?
 

Heya folks- I just bought a 2006 Cayenne, Titanium Edition. It is gorgeous and I absolutely love it. The Titanium Ed is actually a bit less flashy than normal models, because it has no "shiny" chrome/silver. I like this, it is why I chose the car - but I am wondering if anyone has ideas for inexpensive upgrades.1

1. My first thoughts were from the wheels I have to 21 or 22 inch. Best buy via eBay? Anyone have advice on what looks best - and what is most economical? Current 19 turbos seem worth 500 max on ebay. Any 21 or 22 for 1500 or less?

2. Another thought is painting calipers Porsche red. Local guy will do for $300. Totally worth it I feel, red brakes are what people know Porsche for...

3. Forward windows need tint same as rest, agreed? Should darken whole thing?

4. LED strips on front headlights? I ache for them when I see an AUDI, but do the aftermarket $50 strips look like crap?

5. Local deal offered to replaced back Cayenne S emblem with the new PORSCHE Cayenne S emblem for $200. Not sure how I feel. ??

Any other ideas/thoughts/input? Attached few pics of car as is now.

Congrats! The Titanium Edition is a classic. The gunmetal trim is what makes your ride very unique as compared to other Cayennes therefore replacing the OEM rims will definitely take away some of this charisma.

May I suggest you replace the front side markers with the clear Euro version units?
http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...de=955S_Lights

I painted my own calipers for around $20. (Edit: plus another $20 or so for the Porsche decals)

+1 on the clear side markers.

Great idea - easy and cheap - thanks!

I love your rims btw. Wish mine were bigger....

Guy at Porsche shop here pulled me aside and asked if I needed any mods. I mentioned painting calipers. What is reasonable and fair price, including everything? $150-$200?? What do you all think? This is TN, not NYC....

Any special precautions to note?

Dorian,

As the owner of a Ti edition - my thoughts (feel free to ignore them..)

1. KEEP the rims. These rims have gotten unsolicited thumbs up from people when I was just driving around.. they pointed to them, and gave a big thumbs up (in Los Angeles where people seem to notice things like that.) If you decide to go with larger pretend turbo rims, can I have yours?

2. KEEP the calipers. Red is pretending you own something you don't. A lot like sticking a ///M sticker on a BMW 325i.. Silver is just fine IMHO. Clean is good.

3. The clear sidemarker lights? My jury is out on those. I've done it on other cars - and aside from it looking "different" - it never really enhanced the appearance much. So I haven't bothered. Certainly a harmless and low cost modification, easy to reverse when the Cayanne becomes a rare collectable and people only want ones that are "stock from factory".. (HA! don't we wish?)

4. LED strips - IMHO if they weren't there when the car was built - tacky. Again seems like a "wannabe" sort of thing.

5. Adding "Porsche" to the rear? I've given that some thought. It would help distinguish us from the Hundai. Problem with the Ti edition is the emblems/lettering on the back is painted Titanium. Anything else would look out of place. I think Bumperplugs.com can provide painted (to whatever color) PORSCHE lettering, so that's an option. Might look rather nice, especially on black.

And these prices you're getting - zowie! I suspose the guy offering to paint the calipers is going to R&R the wheels, clean everything, mask everything then paint them. So - mebbe there is that much labor involved (plus paint cost and Porsche lettering cost) - but still.. this is a fairly common DIY for about $10.

IMHO - you may want to live with the P!G for a while before dumping appearance mod money into it. Has it had the cooling pipes done yet? If not - that's a GOOD place to spend $2,000 on, despite it never being visible to anyone..

I think the car looks great. Def do the clear side markers ... It does clean up the look of the car. Wheels, I would probably keep what you have. The TI colored 19"s are pretty rare .. and look nice.

I, too, have a black Ti Edition and I agree with Dielenberger. However, I do think the clear markers are a must on a black Ti. Mine has the stainless skid plates front & rear and I think it makes the car. A very nice addition. Good luck and enjoy it.

Interesting you say this.. my winter rims/tires are the exact same 19" rim, but without the titanium painted centers. It really DOES look different without the darker centers. Enough so I'm giving thought that this summer when they're off the truck I might try to paint the centers so the rims match the regular (summer) ones..

Here is my Cayenne Tit, with some mods (Clear marker, 22 inch wheels, Red S emblem) which you are thinking. It will give some idea. I have 22 inch wheels for summer and OEM (Titanium) 19 inch wheels for winter.

My opinion.

Agree with what Dielenberger says mostly. But, go w/ clear markers and on a black car, it will look very nice.

Might I also suggest trying "yellow" for caliper color? Red is too common and I think yellow will look real nice on a black. (My opinion only and you are welcome to ignore). I painted yellow on my black boxster and it looks real nice. I completely removed the caliper from the car, cleaned it up well and painted it. Then put it back on the car, flushed brake fluids, etc etc.. Took me a whole weekend since I painted few coats of yellow and clearcoated it.

Here is a pic of yellow calipers on my car. I got a lot of thumbs up on this from fellow Porsche enthusiasts. I didn't go clear side markers on my car since the headlights has some amber in it... but on my Cayenne, that's the first thing i replaced within 48 hrs after bringing her home. :)

http://i55.tinypic.com/wijx5e.jpg

Stupid question: How do you do the red "S"?

deilenberger = 100% right, all around.

Love the LED tail lights. I just got the same ones without the smoke. They update the look of the car ... and work very well. Very bright!!! I think the quality is as good as the original OEM ones.
https://rennlist.com/forums/members/...il-lights1.jpg
https://rennlist.com/forums/members/...s-led-0042.jpg

Nothing to add other than nice Cayenne. Looks like the same exact car I almost pulled the trigger on 5 years ago except the car I was looking at had the 20" 5 spoke blade looking wheels. I was going to have the dealer swap them out for the wheels you have as I think they look better. Bought a T'reg V10 TDI instead but your car makes me rethink what I did 5 years ago. Guess I'll take solice in my 553 lb/ft of torque instead. I wouldn't change a thing. It look great!