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Build My Porsche Journey

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EvilDrPorkChop

Test Pilot
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218
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125
Drives
Porsche Cayman
I’ll start off with a bit of background. I’ve been an avid BMW fan right from being a small boy, my Grandparents always had BMW and I think that’s where it stemmed from. They were into their cars, so I’d been brought up around the brand. My Grandad had a X5 E53 before they really took off and my Grandma had one of the first Mini’s, then one of the first Mini Cooper S’s that BMW released. My parents were into their cars but a bit more stingy. They liked ‘new’ models, so they’d had the A Class when it was released in dog dick red, along with the odd shaped shake your ass Renault Megane, then moving onto the futuristic Civic. It took years of convincing to get my Dad into BMW. 2010 I finally managed it when he got one of the last E83s out of the Austrian factory (Mainly cause it was heavily discounted). He’s since on a F25 35d M Sport.

I’ve been to the factory twice, the Welt and Museum. If you’re a big BMW fan and get the chance, go. It’s great. Munich is also a great place, the Welt is also right next to the old Olympic park where you can go up the tower and see the plant. I was even a BMW Product Genius for a very short period in a previous life! So the Porsche factory tour in Stuttgart is definitely on the list of things to do.

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Starting with my own car history it hasn’t been that exciting, mainly because disposable cash goes to more mundane things. More to the point I’ve ‘technically’ never actually owned a car as all these are in the OH’s name. The disadvantage of having a van for work. Also she gets to drive it more than me!

Starting off we’ve had a Vauxhall Adam (Our only Brand new car) Couldn’t pull you out of bed, the engine was shocking. I tease my OH as I said the Fiat 500 was the better car at the time and I was right 😉 We had that a couple of years, then swapped for a 12 month old 2014 BMW F21 118d M Sport that we had for 4 years. Cracking car, and we did a massive road trip around Europe in. We did 900 miles in one day going from Calais through Belgium and German to Zurich city, getting out fresh as a daisy the other end. It’d only hit 136mph on the Autobahn though 🙃 Never missed a beat in the 4 years of ownership. Then came the Mini Cooper S 2018 model just before the LCI, again 12 months old when we got it. I never wanted a Mini, but caved under pressure from the OH but stipulated it had to be Chilli Red/Black Roof and to have the Pan Roof and Auto. After a couple of months of searching we found what we wanted, with a cracking spec at a decent price. We’d of had a JCW ideally, but at the time I couldn’t justify the extra £3/4k for that extra 0.5 seconds. It was a cracking car, like a go kart so much fun. I’d happily have another, just was a little disappointed in built quality compared to the F21.
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As many of the existing refugee Bimmerpost members will know, the Mini was involved in an accident in October. A guy pulled out on my OH travelling home from work. He pulled out as she got to him hitting his front quarter at 40mph spinning her across 2 lanes. She was bloody lucky nothing was coming the other way. Unharmed in the grand scheme of things, just bruising and pain. But she got straight out, a testament to modern cars and the Mini. The force had creased the back quarter roof, and all the Airbags had gone off so automatically a write off. We then found ourselves in a position with no car at a time when prices are through the roof and no stock in dealers.
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Being such a big BMW fan, where does Porsche fit into all of this? Well I’d never really been a fan of Porsche till about 5/6 years ago. They just weren’t on my radar. Maybe as I’ve got older they’ve appealed more to me or maybe the fact that a decent spec BMW cost wise will nearly get you into a Porsche. I was working at a customers house one day who’s really into them his car really caught my eye. With the 982, and 991, 992 series I think they really upped the game with their designs. They’d all pretty much looked the same to me before that. Along with some of BMW’s questionable design choices in the later years, lesser quality, higher pricing and poor service at my local dealer I’d decided I was ready for a change and something new next time around.

The plan was to keep the Mini long term and for me to purchase a Cayman in 3/4 years time as a weekend car. So that was all thrown up in the air when the crash happened. With the used prices being the way they were we ended up getting £2k more than what we paid for the Mini (After a lot of arguing with the insurers). This put us in a better position than we’d ever be when trading in, and man maths kicked in. I also wanted to go all out as a last ICE car, as we’ll be forced down the Electric or Hydrogen route. I might never get the chance to get something like this again, along with costs going up.

So the hunt for a car began, we had two weeks to find something before the hire car went. Short list was M135i, Audi S3, another Mini S/JCW or Cayman. We looked at everything and nothing really floated our boats. I think we’d pretty much decided it’d have to be a Porsche in some form of a Cayman. Bit of an issue as waiting list would be 2023 for a new order and used prices were knocking on new prices. The over pricing of BMWs & Minis was a concern too, especially if supply picked up. We could over pay for a 135i then see the bottom drop out of it. At least there was a massive waiting list for Porsche even if supply did pick up at least the second hand market would hold it’s value a bit better.

I have a very good contact at our local Porsche dealer, and they’d just taken in a Cayman in part ex. He brought it home for us to test drive one evening, here’s the keys take it for 2 hours and we just fell in love. It was more than our initial budget, but in reality the extra cash required got us into something under 3 years old and a 982 rather than a 981. So we picked up this beauty, with 7k on the clock.
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It's a standard Cayman with PDK, so nothing 'special' as such. 2019 model just before they started fitting the petrol particulate filters so it’s quite vocal. We had a 2021 Boxster with Sports Exhaust and Sport Chrono whilst it was in one day and that was really quiet, the service manager said they’d had a few people complaining the new stuff wasn’t as loud.

The Spec is pretty much if i'd of ordered from factory, if I wasn't going mad.

Spec:
Carrera White Paint, Black Leather and Sports Seats Plus with Crest on Head Rests.

Xenon lights with PDLS, Tinted taillights, side window trims Gloss Black, PDC Front & Rear with camera, Folding mirrors, PDK, Sports Tailpipes in Black, Carrera 20 Sport Wheels in Black, Cruise, Two zone Climate Control, Heated Seats, Multifunctional Wheel with Heating.

It didn't have Power Steering Plus, so they've software coded this as part of the deal. Along with Rain Sensing Wipers (Who'd of thought in 2019 you wouldn't get these as Std!)

In terms of condition the car is like new. Just a very slight mark on the black highline trim around the window low down. I’m not sure what’s done it, as it’s in a strange place. Other than that it’s perfect, and all 4 wheels were refurbed during prep.

We’ve had it 5 months now. It get’s used as a daily (By my OH 🙄), we’ve racked up about 3k. First MOT done last weekend, passed with flying colours as you’d expect for a 3 year/10k car. I haven’t been really able to stretch it’s legs yet with the rubbish weather, poor roads and really not having much time. Hoping to get a couple of holidays away in it this year. And apologies, not many good photos! I always say buy a car in summer!

Pros
  • It’s very comfy for a sports car on 20s. Maybe we’re a bit biased, we’ve come from a Mini with poor seats, 18” Run Flats and rock hard suspension. But it’s much more comfy than the Mini.
  • The Seats are great. If you’re looking for a 718 though I’d strongly suggest the Sports Seats over the standard. I didn’t really realise the difference as our car has the Sports Seats Spec’d. But after seeing a couple without them and sitting in them the Sports seats really do make a difference to the comfort and looks of the interior (The configurator doesn’t really do them justice).
  • Economy is better than expected. We’re averaging around 28mpg, the Mini only did 32mpg.
  • There’s a button for everything, call me old fashioned but I like a button.
  • No Keyless entry or start. With all the car thefts going about I’m quite pleased it doesn’t have this.
  • Xenons are so much better than LEDs. Would have liked PDLS Plus, but beggars can’t be choosers.
  • Handling is spot on.
  • It puts a smile on your face every time you drive it 😁
Continued...
 

EvilDrPorkChop

Test Pilot
Posts
218
Likes
125
Drives
Porsche Cayman
10,000 character post limit, so continued...

Cons
  • The Pirelli tyres are shocking. Everyone says the same, it was one of the first comment the club members made to me. I’m looking to change them to Pilot Sport 4s when the weather is a bit better.
  • N rated tyres - didn’t know this was a thing until after I’d had a puncture at two weeks old and had to be recovered! Porsche recovery (AA) were great though. Luckily made it home before needing them, £303 lighter at the dealer I was back on the road.
  • Servicing ain’t going to be cheap.
  • Attracts a bit of attention when you’re out and about. I thought a White car might be less conspicuous, but no. Get kids waving at me and all sorts.
  • Its harder to get in and out of than the Mini 😂
  • Miss head up display. I loved this in the Mini and do miss it for gear changes in the Porsche.
  • Wish the steering was a bit weighted at speeds. Although I think the Pirellis don’t help, so will see with new tyres.
Had the Front End Wrapped in Xpel, 7k miles had done very little damage and I plan to keep this car a long time. Thought it was worth while as both our Mini and BMW got peppered in stone chips. Got a couple of issues with the PPF that are getting resolved next weekend. The dealer also put some PPF on the rear arch as they do tend to get peppered here.

I’ve got a Blackvue DR900x-2ch, which I need to finish fitting the rear camera etc. (@moonstone Could do with asking you about the Cloud features). We have dash cameras in all our cars/vans and was definitely the most useful thing in the crash, so it was a must in the new car again. Was considering Thinkware but I’d had Blackvue for years and couldn’t fault it.

I’m going to get the rear spoiler wrapped in Black. The Boxster they lent us had this painted from factory and looked really smart. Think it’ll just break the back end up a bit more. If I don’t like it at least I can just take it off.

This Spring and Summer I’ll machine polishing the rest and ceramic coating it, no doubt with Gyeon products out of their new Evo Range.

I’m not one for Mod’ing cars, so that’ll probably be all. I’m quite boring in that respect!

I've joined the Porsche GB Club too, so hoping to get on some local days out and drives. Seem great guys so far, very welcoming.

Is my heart still in BMW? I think the great years of the E ranges and early F ranges have gone. They’re basing their cars around what the general consumer wants just so they can sell the most cars, not around their original values. Look at the likes of the disasters of the 5GT, 6GT, 2 Active Tourer, 2 GC, X2 just because they thought they could sell to a different market. BMW are all probably still great cars, just not what they used to be. I think the discussion that we had over on Bimmerpost about manufactures such as Kia and Hyundai are catching up in terms of technology, quality, reliability and in the end aren’t that much different. BMW are loosing that ‘premium’ aspect, as I suspect the likes of Audi and Merc are too.

I think that’s where Porsche differs, they’re making a car they want to make with handling and performance being number one. Not just what Joe Bloggs wants to drive, so they sell sell sell. We’re doing it our way, and if you don’t like it then lump it. So Porsche has won my heart, for the time being anyway.

Hope I’ve not waffled on too much, any questions fire away.
 

boba fett

Racing Driver
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Kent
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320d
Great post and a good read. The best thing with the Porsche is it will hold its money and can prove free motoring, so although cost more it will see you well!

lovely Cayman mate, and thanks for sharing.
 

EvilDrPorkChop

Test Pilot
Posts
218
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125
Drives
Porsche Cayman
Great post and a good read. The best thing with the Porsche is it will hold its money and can prove free motoring, so although cost more it will see you well!

lovely Cayman mate, and thanks for sharing.
Thanks. I'm hoping so, more so than BMW or another Mini.
 

Tengocity

Test Pilot
Posts
163
Likes
162
Drives
Cayman 981 GT4, Cayman 987 S, BMW 340i tourer, BMW X3 M40i
Great read!

I really ought to spend some time writing my car journey up a little bit, and certainly plenty of parallels with yours. Just not sure I can spare the 3 days it would take! 😃
I think what Porsche do really well is make a car really enjoyable to drive, in a sporty manner, without it becoming too harsh to drive when you're not on it.
BMW M make some great cars, but they come with a firmness that makes the a bit of a chore much of the time. The standard cars are very hit and miss. I think the F30 generation was a bit of a low point in that regard, really needing modifying to be good handlers, unlike the E46 and even E90 cars. I think the G20 is a return to form, but then for me you really need a M340i to get the classic straight six engine.
Glad to hear you're enjoying your Cayman. What I love is this perfect balance of size - small enough for British B roads, but still reasonably refined and spacious (for a sports car). And the performance is well judged too. Enough to allow for accelerating well for overtakes, and for the longitudinal agility to match the lateral agility, but not so much that you can't keep your foot in for quite a while, and enjoy the rev range. And it feels alive at reasonable speeds.
An M4 on the other hand, has incredible acceleration, but you're constantly reining yourself in for fear of an immediate ban!
 

moonstone

Tyre Kicker
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Lanarkshire
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Audi R8 V10+ • Taycan GTS
Excellent thread @EvilDrPorkChop. Really enjoyed reading that. I was originally looking at a 987 but so many of them in the market at the moment are tired old dogs. It’s very difficult to get a good one. I’ve still got the feelers out for one but at around the £20k mark I think an Audi TTS is probably a better buy.

But it’s a Cayman that I really want so I’m now thinking it’s a better idea to save some more pennies and up my budget to get into a 981. Funnily enough a 981 in white is my first choice.

718 is lovely but at that kind of money it would need to be my main car (which isn’t going to happen with two kids to ferry around).

One things for sure on the Porsche vs BMW comparison, the two are at the very opposite ends of the depreciation spectrum.
 
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Senna11

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Great post and I would agree with your comments about BMW, I do feel they are losing their way compared to previous designs. The 1 series is plainly awkward looking, 2 series Gran coupe is a disaster, those huge grilles on other models just don’t work IMHO.
 

EvilDrPorkChop

Test Pilot
Posts
218
Likes
125
Drives
Porsche Cayman
Great read!

I really ought to spend some time writing my car journey up a little bit, and certainly plenty of parallels with yours. Just not sure I can spare the 3 days it would take! 😃
I think what Porsche do really well is make a car really enjoyable to drive, in a sporty manner, without it becoming too harsh to drive when you're not on it.
BMW M make some great cars, but they come with a firmness that makes the a bit of a chore much of the time. The standard cars are very hit and miss. I think the F30 generation was a bit of a low point in that regard, really needing modifying to be good handlers, unlike the E46 and even E90 cars. I think the G20 is a return to form, but then for me you really need a M340i to get the classic straight six engine.
Glad to hear you're enjoying your Cayman. What I love is this perfect balance of size - small enough for British B roads, but still reasonably refined and spacious (for a sports car). And the performance is well judged too. Enough to allow for accelerating well for overtakes, and for the longitudinal agility to match the lateral agility, but not so much that you can't keep your foot in for quite a while, and enjoy the rev range. And it feels alive at reasonable speeds.
An M4 on the other hand, has incredible acceleration, but you're constantly reining yourself in for fear of an immediate ban!
Yeah it did take me a while to put together 😂

I think the F30 was a bit of a lower point of the 3er range, where as I thought the F20/21 was a cracking car over the E87. I think the biggest downfall with BMW is the insistence of Run Flat tyres which really don't help the ride. Along with the fact they don't consider the awful roads we have in the UK. The M cars are great, but I don't think I could live one as a daily (The DCT did my head in whenever I drove them over the ZF box) . Where as i'm more than happy with the Cayman for daily driver. I think you summed it up pretty well, it's just right. For me, someone who won't or very rarely track the car I don't need a really quick 0-60 speed. What I want is something I can have a bit of fun in on A and B roads.
 

EvilDrPorkChop

Test Pilot
Posts
218
Likes
125
Drives
Porsche Cayman
Excellent thread @EvilDrPorkChop. Really enjoyed reading that. I was originally looking at a 987 but so many of them in the market at the moment are tired old dogs. It’s very difficult to get a good one. I’ve still got the feelers out for one but at around the £20k mark I think an Audi TTS is probably a better buy.

But it’s a Cayman that I really want so I’m now thinking it’s a better idea to save some more pennies and up my budget to get into a 981. Funnily enough a 981 in white is my first choice.

718 is lovely but at that kind of money it would need to be my main car (which isn’t going to happen with two kids to ferry around).

One things for sure on the Porsche vs BMW comparison, the two are at the very opposite ends of the depreciation spectrum.
Yeah it's always hard to find a good one, as they usually get kept. The rough ones are generally people who want a taste, yet aren't willing to keep the upkeep of a vehicle like that. You ideally want one that's been the same owner for sometime. The Audi TTS will be a great buy too though, but again I imagine it's hard to find a good one.

It had to be the 718 for me, it's the one that really made me start looking at Porsches. But when we were looking there was about £6/7k between a well maintained Approved 981 and a 982. I saw that as not being that much more (Maybe man maths kicked in 😂) for something sub 3 year old vs something 5/6 years old.

In some respects I'm glad it's worked out how it has, the Mini gone and the Porsche being a daily. It would seem such a shame to spend so much money then it get used once a week. Plus I think we need to enjoy the ICE cars as much as possible before it becomes financially and environmentally unviable, if that means using it as much as I can I will. I had to laugh, I was talking to a guy in the Porsche GB club with a 911. 100k+car, he'd didn't take it out when it was raining, or bad weather. He'd done about 3k in 12 months, I just don't see the point in that. I'd be out in it everyday!

Depreciation we'll see, we dropped lucky with the Mini and the BMW we didn't do bad on over 4 years. I've probably more than likely overpaid for my Cayman due to the supply issues, but didn't really have a choice. I didn't get a bad deal, but only the future will tell.
 

EvilDrPorkChop

Test Pilot
Posts
218
Likes
125
Drives
Porsche Cayman
Great post and I would agree with your comments about BMW, I do feel they are losing their way compared to previous designs. The 1 series is plainly awkward looking, 2 series Gran coupe is a disaster, those huge grilles on other models just don’t work IMHO.
I actually don't mind the big grills 😂 I know they aren't everyones taste. I think it's more their ethos they're loosing, 'The Ultimate Driving Machine' You used to get in a BMW and know it was better than most cars out there. When the likes of a Kia and other brands are driving as good or better now then somethings wrong.
 

Senna11

Racing Driver
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I actually don't mind the big grills 😂 I know they aren't everyones taste. I think it's more their ethos they're loosing, 'The Ultimate Driving Machine' You used to get in a BMW and know it was better than most cars out there. When the likes of a Kia and other brands are driving as good or better now then somethings wrong.
Most manufacturers have raised their game to the point with KIa and Hyundai making some cracking cars. Was looking at an E38 7 series and that is a handsome car.
 

C320

Tyre Kicker
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14
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South Bucks, UK
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F86 X6 M (SOLD), F30 320d, Mini R56 MCS
Lovely looking Cayman, the accident in the Mini sounded horrible but it's amazing what it ultimately led to!
Yeah, it's funny how lots of stuff that should really be standard at the price point is an option with Porsche.
 

RENTAGOAT

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BMW F31
Stunning car and a great move from the mini also a little stunner in its own right. Porsche ownership is somthing I’ve always had on the back burner & nearly pulled the trigger on a boxster a couple of times but my old boss had a beautifully specced 997 carrrera 2s from new so having the regular ownership updates and moans in the office kept my wanting in check and now there’s other priorities for us so it will be a while until I go anywhere near owning one.
 

EvilDrPorkChop

Test Pilot
Posts
218
Likes
125
Drives
Porsche Cayman
Stunning car and a great move from the mini also a little stunner in its own right. Porsche ownership is somthing I’ve always had on the back burner & nearly pulled the trigger on a boxster a couple of times but my old boss had a beautifully specced 997 carrrera 2s from new so having the regular ownership updates and moans in the office kept my wanting in check and now there’s other priorities for us so it will be a while until I go anywhere near owning one.
Yes the Mini was a looker, took us ages to find the spec too! Really wanted Spot Lamps on it but glad we didn't now as we'd of never of recouped the cost. Funny as it's the only car we said we'd keep then this happened!

Porsche ownership was always on my want list, but hadn't planned to be so soon! I had done little research, but so far it's been great.
 

DaveA

Boy Racer
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91
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58
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BMW M135i xDrive
I never found any of my three Porsche's that costly to maintain, really... Certainly not the sorts of costs you hear about with some of the other sports and performance cars around...

The biggest costs for me came with my Cayman when it was already 5 years old and it needed a clutch and a set of ignition packs (a common thing on Boxster and Caymans of that age)... These were not the lightest of bills, but general servicing etc was not much different to BMW costs... I'd be surprised if they cost significantly more than, say, M cars do to maintain...

For the tyres, a good local independent was the key for me... So I was sourcing N rated tyres but not silly prices... I still use them even though I moved away form the area... I just go for a day trip... :LOL:
 

Tengocity

Test Pilot
Posts
163
Likes
162
Drives
Cayman 981 GT4, Cayman 987 S, BMW 340i tourer, BMW X3 M40i
I never found any of my three Porsche's that costly to maintain, really... Certainly not the sorts of costs you hear about with some of the other sports and performance cars around...

The biggest costs for me came with my Cayman when it was already 5 years old and it needed a clutch and a set of ignition packs (a common thing on Boxster and Caymans of that age)... These were not the lightest of bills, but general servicing etc was not much different to BMW costs... I'd be surprised if they cost significantly more than, say, M cars do to maintain...

For the tyres, a good local independent was the key for me... So I was sourcing N rated tyres but not silly prices... I still use them even though I moved away form the area... I just go for a day trip... :LOL:
The costs come when maintaining older ones. Any 987/997 generation car will need to have had significant money spent, and/or will need significant ongoing money - radiators, air con condensors, suspension components, clutches, suspension componentry, exhausts, exhaust brackets and hangars all well corroded by now...
 

Che

Test Pilot
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221
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191
Location
Nottingham
Drives
R8 v10+
Great post, enjoyed reading your journey. I completely agree re bmw, I think they’ve taken a design approach that sadly does nothing for me. I’ve promised myself a Porsche one day so it’s great to hear how much their owners hold them in high regard 👍
Che
 
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EvilDrPorkChop

Test Pilot
Posts
218
Likes
125
Drives
Porsche Cayman
The costs come when maintaining older ones. Any 987/997 generation car will need to have had significant money spent, and/or will need significant ongoing money - radiators, air con condensors, suspension components, clutches, suspension componentry, exhausts, exhaust brackets and hangars all well corroded by now...
As mine has the Approved Used warranty and had it's 111 Point inspection I should be able to extend that at the end of the 2 years for £660 per year up to 15 years old. I think i'll be doing that as it seems good value, especially when theres no excess too!
 
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