broadway12

As it is my wife thinks we should just get the bmw since it’s cheaper. She doesn’t get it lol

mattsrs

I had the opposite problem. Wife wanted Cayenne but I wanted X7 or Q8

broadway12

if it was really up to my wife, we would be In a Subaru Forester. She doesn’t understand buying a nicer car and is very frugal. I enjoy driving a nicer car and usually am the one driving us around so I gave her a options and x5 and Cayenne are where we landed. She hates Mercedes in general and everything else seems unreliable.
The justification for BMW X5 was the tax credit of $7500 and ev range, esp with it at $70k and under it’s a good deal….until it breaks lol

kayjh

I don’t think you can build a base for $85,000, but here is what I would adjust. Delete puddle lights, smartphone compartment, ACC, deliver experience and add air suspension with PASM and 21” Spyder wheels (included body coloured wheel arches). Your build will be $88,500.

The truth is, in this price range it’s hard to get much from Porsche in a Cayenne. BMW might be a better package for you. There is no question the inline 6 in the X5 will be more responsive off the line, even if it doesn’t handle as well. Without air suspension in the Cayenne you need to be sure you are happy with the ride on broken pavement. With 20” wheels and air, you’ll have some “float” in the ride, which is taken care of with the 21” wheels.

Those are my suggestions.

toma nova

If you want comfort over bad roads, 19s and Air / PASM is the best choice. 21s with painted arches look great, but since you mention a Forester, Base with 19s will be more utilitarian (in a good way). That was our choice when replacing our XC70.

I recommend PEC Delivery - for $500, you get treated like royalty for a day. You will be the only delivery group either morning or afternoon and all the employees know what your unique lanyard color means - everyone we interacted with asked about our new car! The driving experience is fun to push one of their Cayennes, personal tour of some of the behind the scenes cars, and a delicious lunch. Out of pocket, it would have been a grand for the three of us and we would have just been one of the other hundred people there that day.

As said in your earlier thread, find a way to include the towing package and roof rails - looks great and you can't add after delivery.

kayjh

Have you driven that combination? I have and it rides like an X5, although it handles better in that combination. The 21" wheels takes away some of the float and sharpens the handling lost to the softer sidewalls of the 20" setup.

@OP, you need to drive some cars with different handling/wheel options if you want to know which combination will work best for you.

toma nova

21 Base, PASM and Air, 19” Wheels is my spec. I only have 3k miles on it but this combo has never disappointed for handling while soaking up any road imperfections. My reference for handling (good) is my Boxster S on street and track and (bad) my stock Miata on street tires on the track.

The OP is trying to hit a budget and 21s with painted arches doesn’t appear to work.

kayjh

As I wrote, I think the OP should drive the tire suspension combinations he is considering to make sure the ride/handling is what he wants - especially if cross shopping an X5. I drove every model of Cayenne (except the Turbo/Turbo Hybrid models) and with tires/air from 19" to 21". In my opinion the 20" / air combination was pretty soft and floaty. Maybe the OP will like it or maybe he'll say that the handling is too soft and more comparable to the X5 which has a much more responsive engine than the Cayenne base.

We can opine all we want but the OP needs to test drive what he will be living with.

macanakey

I also find that wireless charging is super slow, so I'd pass on that feature. I agree that air suspension is a must if ride comfort is important. I'd give up upgraded wheels to get there. Surround view is a must for me in any larger vehicle, too. I don't care about auto-parking features, but I wouldn't buy (& did pass on) a Cayenne without surround view. Unless you do a lot of highway driving, I'd also consider passing on the adaptive cruise option. I'm ambivalent about ACC. I've missed it in cars that didn't have it & it's driven me bananas in cars that have had it, mostly because I find the slowing down as I come up on someone before I realize it! Otherwise, this seems to be a good build.

sampelligrino

FWIW I have a '19 base with the 21 Spyder wheels and standard suspension, no PASM no air. I find the ride quite stiff for an SUV like this. Love the current gen Cayenne, so I'm fixing the problem by throwing more money at it and upgrading to a Turbo...