[991GT3]

I thought it time to give a long term comparison review of my 2010 BMW X6M and my 2008 Cayenne GTS(which is now my wife’s vehicle). I gave a few initial impressions a couple of months back but I think it was a mistake to comment that early in my ownership. I (and I think a lot people) get excited about any new vehicle and that initial surge of excitement tends to color any attempt at an even-handed review. I also think test drives and car magazine reviews, other than giving concrete specification and performance numbers, are almost worthless. You have to live with a vehicle for awhile, get to know the layout, and figure out whether it is a good match to your needs and personality. Which leads me to the review.

After putting 7000 miles on my BMW and 23000 miles on my Porsche, through all sorts of weather, I have had enough experience to give an accurate assessment. The X6M is clearly the performance leader and the Cayenne GTS is the best all purpose SUV. No surprise there.

The X6M accelerates like a rocket. It jumps to 60 in slightly over 4 seconds and will hit the quarter in 12.8 seconds trapping a 111ish. While the Cayenne hits 60 in 6.0 seconds and the quarter in 14 at 99. So they’re leagues apart on a dry surface. But in the harsh winter climate of the Great Plains those numbers are pretty meaningless for four to five months. When roads are covered with ice and snow, getting purchase is king. You can have all the power in the world but traction control systems will make a 555 hp X6M perform no better than a 405 HP Cayenne. This is where the Porsche shines. Its Air Suspension w/ Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) is a god send in snowy conditions. We have had a couple of storms that piled up a 12 plus inches of snow with drifts several feet high for long distances. Just driving out of my garage could be hazardous. In fact I high centered my trucks a few times. In the Cayenne I could just lift it up a few inches and crawl out whereas the X6M requires a good old shovel and a lot of manual labor. This isn’t a rip on the bimmer just a giant plus for any truck that has such a feature.
The GTS also seems more sure footed in inclement weather than the X6M. I have the same Pirelli Scorpion Ice and Snow tires on both so it’s a fair comparison. It could be the better seats, lower center of gravity on the GTS or the fact the rear tires on the BMW are wider than the rears on Porsche. Whatever the reason, the Cayenne is the vehicle of choice in nasty weather.

The interior is kind of a toss-up. The BMW has better electronic gadgets but they’re far from perfect(and sometimes I find them annoying). BMW has a tendency to rely on technology too much, incorporating half baked ideas into production vehicles (eg. iDrive, electronic oil monitoring, HUD, etc) that are distractions rather tan enhancements. Porsche, on the other hand, tends to be more minimalist (which I appreciate too) but stuff like the navigation just flat out sucks. I prefer the little creature features of my BMW. The heated seats and steering wheel are really nice. The Porsche’s heated steering wheel has no rhyme or reason to it (where’s the on/off button?). The sound system and steering wheel are much better in the BMW. While the Porsche’s seats and alcantra leather are superior.
Even though the Cayenne has more space I prefer the easy fold down seats in the BMW. No more time consuming taking off headrests and busting the plastic when you fold the back seats own. I also like the hard rear privacy cover (or whatever they’re called) BMW has to the mesh pull out ones.
On other matters, I prefer the Cayenne’s throaty exhaust note by a mile to the awful noise the BMW makes.

My final judgement is that the BMW is for people that want just one vehicle that can do all things well.
It’s faster than 99% of vehicles out there, it’s very practical, and works well in all seasons.
While the Porsche is the perfect for people that already have a fast car and want a great vehicle for the winter. It is a better winter SUV than the X6M.