tl;dr — My Cayman S build has become ridiculous. I really want to do European Delivery. I'm fixated on a certain color scheme. Help me build my Cayman, or help me settle on another car entirely.

Me
First post... I've read Bimmerfest, Rennlist, or this forum maybe once or twice a year for the last several years. I've been through a few cars in that time, cross-shopped cars that have nothing to do with each other, etc. My Cars. I've had Volvos (two 240s, sedan and wagon), and a bunch of VWs.The current GTI and the previous Touareg I got literally everything I wanted; they had/have literally every option available. Shopping those cars. At the time of the Touareg I was cross-shopping what would become the final production year of the BMW M Coupe (Z4 M), an S5, and the Touareg. None of those cars have anything in common. Ultimately I wanted to option out my car and be able to put my dog in it, so I got the Touareg. When I was tired of the Touareg, 50,000 miles later, didn't want to put brakes on it, and wanted a sportier car, I just bought the GTI. Turned in the Touareg at the dealership and walked out with the GTI. I didn't shop around, I didn't test drive anything else, I just bought it.

The next car
European Delivery (ED). All these years I've been lurking on the forums, the concept of ED has really excited me. The videos (a couple good ones [1] and [2]) and pictures are awesome, I want to see the German countryside, I want to drive on the greatest driving road in the world, and make memories.

Philosophy and Choices. I consider that in my past purchase I've been rather impulsive. I decide I like a car, fixate on it, don't consider other options, and basically just get the best iteration of it I can find. This next purchase should be different. I want it to be something I'm happy with every day, and I know that even if I spend $80,000, I won't ever regret it. Since I want to do ED, my choices are very narrowed. Audi, Porsche, BMW. I'm excluding Volvo (not as excited about Sweden or modern Volvos). I'm also excluding Mercedes because I don't like their ED program and as "overpriced" as people may claim Porsches are, Mercedes is worse, IMHO.

The Cars. In Audi, probably an S5. In BMW, a 435i or an M3 (more on that in a moment). In Porsche, a Cayman (of some kind).

I realize that I'm doing it again. I'm cross-shopping cars that have almost nothing in common, except that they're German. But when I configure my ideal Cayman S it comes to $82,350 MSRP. For that I get nav, keyless, espresso leather, 14-way power seats, heated and vented seats, bi-xenon, BOSE, sport exhaust, multi-function wheel, euro nav. I feel like, you can't have a Porsche that's not an S. If you're not going to get a 911, you better at least get the 3.4L. My GTI has DSG which makes me want the PDK. But if I get PDK I'm going to want sport chrono+. And now we're $6k+ additional. So I settle on manual.

When I configure a 435i I'm spending $53,725 and I get nav, saddle brown leather, 8-way power seats, keyless, heated seats, bi-xenon, multi-function wheel. The M4 isn't available, but even if it were, the 435i has a more powerful engine than the Cayman S and even if slower, the 3.0i twin-turbo engine is one of the greatest things BMW has done lately.

Part of the reason is that I want a deep midnight blue paint, and a rich, dark brown leather. That is something like $8,000 in options on the Porsche and virtually included in the BMW. But more than that, the BMW ED program is I think widely acknowledged as the best in the world.

Bottom Line
Longtime lurker, first time poster... help me think this through, guys. Am I being ridiculous in the way I option the Cayman? Should I be considering other cars?

What's important to me

1. European Delivery
2. Midnight Blue paint
3. Rich, dark brown leather
4. Navigation
5. Heated front seats
6. Xenon (or LED) headlamps
7. keyless/comfort/convenience access

Everything else is an extra, but I still have this urge that if I'm going to spend the money, it should be pretty close to the best of that type/model/variety.

As one last footnote, I compared some Cayman build choices... and I just don't know that the savings are worth the lost content. Take a look:

Cayman S Config 2 $74,775.00
nav, beige leather, 2-way heated seats, bi-xenon, sport exhaust, BOSE, multi-function wheel, euro nav

Cayman Config 3 $71,820.00
nav, keyless, espresso leather, 14-way power seats, heated and vented, bi-xenon, sport exhaust, multi-function wheel, euro nav

Cayman Config 4 $64,445.00
nav, beige leather, 2-way heated seats, bi-xenon, sport exhaust, multi-function wheel, euro nav

 

When I looked into the Porsche Europe delivery, I factored in the loss of bargaining power, the fact that the dealer actually had to charge you 2,500 or so in a hidden cost, and the fact that the car would be on a boat for 3 months, and the loss of financing options, and it just turned into a big expense. Porsche actually has a vacation program where you go drive their cars, and a variety of them, or you can rent one from Hertz if you want to drive around over there. Just my experience and some other options.

 

Just to confirm, are the last 2 examples non-S (base) versions?

 

visiting the factory and taking delivery will be a life long memory that how many of your friends have done?

ive been to the factory, and drove the Ring and it was a priceless experience.

 

Correct

 

Exactly! That's why I really want to do it. What do you think of my build/options?