crwd77 I can't comment on your first 2 questions, but for #3, here is what I have learned about the front seats. 1.). Nick Murray is a Porsche-focused Youtube reviewer, and he said that for the 911, he recommends the 18 way seats b/c the 14 way are too hard and not comfortable. But Nick also said that for the Panamera, the 14 way seats are very comfortable and that is what he recommends and not the 18 way. 2.) The biggest difference between 18 and 14 way on the Panamera is that the 18 way seats have more pronounced bolstering and if you want to be held in place on a track day, this extra bolstering might be useful, but otherwise maybe not. The taller bolster makes it hard to climb into the seat without dragging your body across the outside bolster and that could cause visible wear after a while. If you go to the online configurator, and click back and forth from 14 way to 18 way seats, you will see the seat back bolstering change on the front seats. But this is all from what I have seen on the Internet - maybe someone on this forum has personal experience. I ordered the 14 way front seats on my P Sport Turismo to get maximum comfort and I hope to pick up my car in the next 10 days so I will be able to report back on the comfort of the 14 ways seats then.

 

Here's my view, from shopping only as my car isn't here yet:

The 18 way seats are a little firmer than the 14 way and get smaller, but not bigger, as you adjust the bolsters. I didn't get them because at 280 pounds, I didn't need smaller. That said, my thin wife likes the feel of the bolsters, but liked the massage much more. But order what seems right and spend the next couple months visiting the Porsche dealers until you can sit in both seats and decide before the freeze date which is probably a month or two before production or 2-3 before delivery. I did this for everything - wood trim, colors, etc. going to about 7 Porsche dealers over 4 months.

Put the ED into the order. Who knows what happens. Mine got canceled but you may get lucky. Be aware it will add 6 weeks or more to delivery back in the US. If it's not available now put a note in the buyer's order that they will try again in a few months.

$6K for an upgraded stereo? Man, I can't see that...but hey, my ears couldn't hear the difference. At some point there is just diminishing marginal returns - Bose is plenty good for me.

I paid $400 for gloss powder coat on my spare 20 inch set of rims. Call around.

I got some of the same options as you but can't comment on stuff like rear steering because she's still on her way home ;(

 

Yeah. $6K for the upgraded sound that some don't think is great seems excessive. I think I will skip it. As for the seats, I will go with 14-way as suggested by @Tosa5 and @orca15 and add massage function to both front and rear. Any suggestions on if I should stay with the standard GTS 20" in satin black or upgrade to 21"?

 

The 20” wheels don’t cost extra and have 1 inch more of tire and air for a mod comfortable ride vs the lower and stiffer sidewall of the 21”, which people pay extra for if they want a little better performance in cornering. Or because they like the look of the last get 21” wheel.

 

Siem Aristotle is in Baltimore. Next stop Jacksonville so definitely getting closer!

 

More bad news for me- the ship that just left Emden for Halifax and Baltimore is going to SKIP Baltimore due to "volume" and thus my car is not on it. Next ship leaves around New Year. That means my car will have sat at the port for over a month.

 

Overall, that is a fantastic build. Some people will swear by the Burmester but I went with the Bose and it’s an excellent upgrade. I have zero regret that I should’ve gotten Burmester (in fact, the thought didn’t cross my mind until I just wrote this reply). Based on what you describe, you’ll be very happy with the Bose upgrade. By the way, make sure your Spotify’s Audio settings are set to “very high” quality, otherwise you’re not even getting the best audio (as Spotify defaults to “auto” and uses lower quality when streaming).

Your plan with the wheels is a good one. I got the 21” Sport Design wheels and then got them powder coated in semi-gloss (I concluded that it was the best middle ground between high gloss black and satin black… easier to maintain clean, somewhat glossy, somewhat matte-looking, I love how they turned out). I didn’t even get the thermally and noise insulated glass like you have in your build, and going from a BMW 550i (with 20” M wheels) to the Panamera with 21” wheels, I can hear much less road noise (note, I got the summer performance tires which are wider).

I got the massage seats for our front seats (was only concerned with myself and my wife). We absolutely love the massage option. We both think that of all the options on our car, the massage was the most “worth it.” It works so well!! Our BMW had “massage” but it was nothing compared to this. The Panamera provides full back massage, lets you adjust the intensity in 5 levels, and choose various programs (wave, stretch, shiatsu, etc.). And in practice, it is so comfortable and a wonderful feature for any drive. I cannot recommend this enough! The 14-way seats are sporty and comfortable… I’m 5’10” and I have no complaints.

Another thought on your build. From what I’ve read, the extra features of the PDLS+ are not activated in the U.S. for legal reasons so you may want to check into that because otherwise you’re paying extra for something you can’t even use.

 

That is horrible. So sorry. One thing you have to keep in mind is everyone keeps saying "it was worth the wait". It'll get here. Merry Christmas 🌲

 

@orca15, that really is awful, I’m sorry. Glad there’s another ship leaving soon. Have you found out if your car has all its parts and everything? I.e., no open campaigns?

@Gator Fan 1957, 100% yes, it is worth it!

 

Thank you for the detailed response. Based on the feedback from this forum, I will switch to the 14-way seats and add massage to both front and rear. I hope the massage feature is better and easier to access than on my wife’s AMG. I will also stick to the Bose system. If it is really bad, I can always replace it with something nice later. As for the PDLS+, I was not aware that it is not approved for the US. Kind of weird that they would sell it here. It is part of the Premium Package so I can’t remove it. I selected the option to make it black. Still trying to decide on 20” vs 21”. I have been to two Porsche dealerships nearby and they had so few cars and did not have some of the wheels I wanted to check out. In fact, I have not seen the standard GTS satin black wheels in person.

 

I would advise 20" wheels - I don't see any value in 21" unless you just love the way they look. They will ride a little rougher and more importantly be far more likely to rupture. That extra inch comes right off the sidewall. Plus the 20's have at least a little bit of an option when it comes to all season, summer, etc., not sure about the 21. I ordered the 19', which only come in performance tire (even aftermarket) and got 20's as spares/all season.

You do get the auto high beam with PDLS+, for what it's worth. Too bad DOT hasn't approved the other features...and even if they do it may not be an easy retrofit (depends who you talk to).

 

I can’t speak to the Mercedes massage from experience but I believe you’ll be pleased with the Porsche ones. I would be surprised if you think the Bose would be bad let alone “really bad.” I could see the original audio system on the Panamera not being good but the Bose is excellent. I got the Premium Package too; it comes with PDLS (not PDLS+). I got the 21” wheels mostly for the looks. It’s a big car and the larger 21” wheels looks amazing in my opinion. I live in Orange County so the roads are pretty good (I know some people worry about 21” wheels and potholes).

 

My understanding is that the difference between PDLS and PDLS+ is the “high beam assistant” and that’s the option that hasn’t been approved in the U.S. but maybe that’s changed?

Here is a close-up of my 21” summer performance tire. As you can see (and to my surprise), the sidewall is not that thin. My 20” M wheels on my BMW actually have a thinner sidewall. And you can pick the 21” wheels to have all-season or summer performance on the configurator. I picked the summer tires because they’re actually better for the rain and where I live (Orange County, CA) we only get rain and never snow. I love the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires and now understand the hype they get. They have the best grip and are universally regarded as the best performance tires. They are crazy wide too (275 in the front and 325 in the rear).

 

The PDLS+ has the auto high beam, see here. It does not have the beam forming that it would have in Europe, where the cars ahead get low beams but the rest of the view gets high beam, at the same time. This is because US regs require either high or low, nothing in between. Watch especially at 0:52 where there is a dark spot that follows the oncoming traffic then fills in as it passes. With regards to 21' vs. 19" we will just have to agree that "eye of the beholder" applies, those look thin to me

 

I understand what you’re saying now about the high beam assistant feature of the PDLS+. So you do get limited functionality even in the U.S. because it will toggle high/low beam automatically based on approaching cars in your own lane or oncoming cars in the opposite lane.

On the tires, let’s actually see. My front tires are 275mm wide with a 35% aspect ratio and the rear tires are 325mm with 30% aspect ratio so the sidewall is about 96-97mm for both front and rear (or about 3.8”). What’re the specs on your tires?