It's my personal opinion more than anything. You can take it or leave it. It's based primarily on the experiences of a close friend who purchased a new '03 Cayenne S at the same time I purchased my '02 4.4i sport CPO. We shopped together for our purchases. Being a Porschephile, he selected his chosen marque, while I, being a died in the wool Bimmerhead, bought an X5.

His CS was certainly no faster than my prefacelift X5, he could not outrun my X5 on an open road from either a standstill or rolling start. Equipped with the PASM option, his Cayenne outhandled my X. Behind the wheel of his Cayenne S, I could push harder through turns than my X5 with alot less body roll and much more adhesion. But for the cost of PASM, could I have upgraded the X5's suspension to be as good as or better than the CS? I think so.

Seating and cargo space was about a wash. I liked my comfort seats over the Cayenne seats, although the quality of leather in the Porsche was superior. I didn't care very much for the circa 2003 Nav system in his Cayenne considering its cost.

The quality in his Cayenne was very questionable, largely because Porsche had completely worked out the issues that plagued the early models. He had problems with his stereo, air suspension, remote mirrors, headlights, and various other miscellaneous and sundry items. His CS spent a significant amount of time in the shop during the entire time he owned it (now replaced with a Carrera 4 and a Sequoia). Worksmanship is the one area that I considered the X5 to be more owner friendly. At least with an X5, you know what is going to break. The problems with an X5 are the same as found in E38's, E39's, etc. Not so with a Cayenne.

My friend paid $72,000 out the door for his Cayenne S in mid '03, including PASM, Nav, leather upgrades, Turbo wheels, and a bunch of other goodies. I paid $38K for my X5 at the beginning of '04.

My point here is that the Cayenne S, at least through '06, does not represent a significant improvement over the X5 4.4i prefacelift or facelift, yet comes in at a price point closer to that of of 4.6is or 4.8is model year to model year. To me, the next jump is the Turbo S or a 4.8is.