Cheapish 958 Cayenne V6 Diesel .what could go wrong?
Discussion
Having decided that it was time to move on from the C Class we bought in January, it was time to start looking at replacements.
Initially an F31 3 series was the preferred option and a return to my safe place, however they all seemed really bloody expensive and it was hard to find at least a 320d with the options we (well, I) wanted. Anything half decent seemed to get sold instantly. I missed out on a higher mileage 330d x-drive in red that had some nice options and a massive stack of history with it.
We looked at a 320d not far away in white with red leather but there was a fair bit of rust starting to bubble on the drivers rear wing so that was a no. There was a 330d x-drive locally, again higher miles but full BMW history and a monster spec (heated steering wheel, heated front and rear seats, pano roof, pro nav, HK advanced etc). It was black with beige leather and no silly splitters etc that many dealers were fitting to their cars. It drove well but cosmetically there was a crease in the rear bumper, a decent scuff on the passenger rear wing, the interior was pretty grubby (the seatbelts were hanging), drivers door handle had melted and gone sticky. The engine cover was missing and the OBD cover undone which aroused my suspicions. I wasn’t sure and the price seemed punchy taking all of these factors in.
My wife expressed an interest in an Evoque but luckily the ones we looked at were dogs and really really badly prepped at a local dealer (covered in hair and god knows what else). The boot was loads smaller than the C Class so that idea died a quick death. Phew.
I showed her a couple of lower priced 958 Cayenne V6 diesels as a wild card and she was interested. I thought I’d get shot down very quickly. One happened to be pretty close, so we headed over to see it. It was certainly an imposing thing parked up next to a MINI and a 2 series coupe.
It’s a 2010 car in black with black leather, on 20 inch wheels, no tints and generally not drug dealer spec. It’s got the small sunroof, heated electric seats, cruise, Bose stereo and after that I’m not sure. Some of the other cars in this price bracket were on massive wheels had tints and were from Birmingham so were ignored.
It has a good history although the seller hadn’t owned it for very long. I spoke to the garage who used to maintain it and they recognised the plate and said it was a good car that was owned by a very good customer who used to get done whatever needed doing. They ran through what had been done which included a gearbox service at 102k, various door actuators, brake calliper rebuild, near rear wiper motor and much more.
We ummed and arrgghed about it for the next few days and none of the other cars we saw could replace it as the one we wanted. My main concern was the sheer size of it - it’s sodding massive. Which does have its benefits for chucking bikes, dogs, camping stuff etc but drawbacks too.
It drove well enough and seemed pretty solid if a bit grubby. There is some corrosion on the alloys, a small ding in the passenger door, bit of lacquer peel on the front bumper and a few scratches, which being black show up. It needed rear tyres and a wheel alignment. Despite those bits, we still really liked it and after seeing it for a second time I made an offer which was excepted.
s
t…..I’d just bought a Cayenne. A massive SUV and something that I’d always derided as being a bit daft (I still think it is to be honest). My new obsession is looking at the size of other cars in the village to convince myself that it’s not as enormous as I think it is.
Selling the C Class via Motorway was painless other than the handbrake playing up on the day of collection leaving us to be chipped on the price a bit. However, everything fell into place nicely so I’m hoping that buying the Cayenne is not going to be a decision that we’ll end up regretting.
Friday night we headed over to Derby to do the deed and collect it.
Obligatory picture at a fuel station.
And back home. Looking huge.
This morning I took it for a four wheel alignment (it was way out of spec) and then headed to Nottingham to collect some 19 inch wheels from a later Cayenne that I’d bought on Facebook marketplace. These are in much better condition than the wheels on the car as well as having really good tyres. All for less than the price of a pair of 20 inch Pilot Sports the car needed.
On the way home, I made a quick pit stop in Ruddington for lunch…..I’m now the same as everyone else in a silly SUV’s.
The new wheels are massive and very heavy, filling the back of the car.
Once the wheels were out, I decided to make a start on cleaning the interior which was a bit grubby compared to how our cars are usually.
I started in the boot working my way forward. I was even sad enough to tackle below the boot floor.
Before
After
It looks like it’s had a boot protector in a lot because the floor carpet wasn’t too manky. Sliding the rear seats forward was nasty though.
One of the boot handles wasn’t sitting correctly, so that was sorted.
With the boot clean, it was time to get cracking in the cabin. The crevasses of all the seats were like this.
Some were worse than others, and it looks like someone has eaten a lot in the car; I hoovered out bits of the miserable lettuce that Maccies chuck in their burgers, crumbs, seeds and god knows what else. Lovely. All of the leather was given a clean with Heaven for Leather and then wiped down with a damp microfibre once dry.
All of the car mats were removed, shampooed and cleaned with the wet vac. The drivers side was the worst. I ended up popping some trims out of the sills because there were so many stones trapped.
I spent an age with interior cleaner, a soft detailing brush and my fav getting all of the crud from nooks and crannies. It’s a much nicer place to sit now.
The weather looks better tomorrow, so I’m hoping to tackle the outside.
I’ve done about 100 miles in or so far and I’ve got to say that despite my reservations, it’s a bloody nice way to travel. Despite being huge, it doesn’t feel so big to actually drive. It’s comfy and very refined compared to the four cylinder diesel in the C Class. It’s quite economical for what it is on the dual carriageway / NSL roads, less so sat in Nottingham’s traffic. I do see why these kind of cars are popular even though I do feel a bit silly in it. Scrap that, I feel really silly in it.
My Boxster looks absolutely ridiculous parked by it (I’ll try and get some pics of the two together as some point).
Since driving it, I’ve noticed that the time / date aren’t displayed which researching the issue seems to be something to do with the battery being disconnected or going flat and causing the binnacle and GPS no longer being synchronised. The GPS is fine in that it knows where I am on the nav, so I just need to get the binnacle recoded by the looks of it. Other than that it appears sound - no whining from the diffs, the gearbox is smooth if a bit keen to kick down and it’s quicker than I thought it would be given it’s an entry level car with the least amount of power on offer.
Plans for it are;
- fit the new wheels
- fit new centre caps
- new bonnet badge because the one on the car is faded
- fit a silver Porsche badge instead of the black one
- replace the silver trim in the bootlid because the finish is bubbling
- fit CarPlay
- service the transfer box and diffs for my peace of mind
- sort the date / time
- replace the exhaust trims because they’ve corroded (apparently a common issue)
Initially an F31 3 series was the preferred option and a return to my safe place, however they all seemed really bloody expensive and it was hard to find at least a 320d with the options we (well, I) wanted. Anything half decent seemed to get sold instantly. I missed out on a higher mileage 330d x-drive in red that had some nice options and a massive stack of history with it.
We looked at a 320d not far away in white with red leather but there was a fair bit of rust starting to bubble on the drivers rear wing so that was a no. There was a 330d x-drive locally, again higher miles but full BMW history and a monster spec (heated steering wheel, heated front and rear seats, pano roof, pro nav, HK advanced etc). It was black with beige leather and no silly splitters etc that many dealers were fitting to their cars. It drove well but cosmetically there was a crease in the rear bumper, a decent scuff on the passenger rear wing, the interior was pretty grubby (the seatbelts were hanging), drivers door handle had melted and gone sticky. The engine cover was missing and the OBD cover undone which aroused my suspicions. I wasn’t sure and the price seemed punchy taking all of these factors in.
My wife expressed an interest in an Evoque but luckily the ones we looked at were dogs and really really badly prepped at a local dealer (covered in hair and god knows what else). The boot was loads smaller than the C Class so that idea died a quick death. Phew.
I showed her a couple of lower priced 958 Cayenne V6 diesels as a wild card and she was interested. I thought I’d get shot down very quickly. One happened to be pretty close, so we headed over to see it. It was certainly an imposing thing parked up next to a MINI and a 2 series coupe.
It’s a 2010 car in black with black leather, on 20 inch wheels, no tints and generally not drug dealer spec. It’s got the small sunroof, heated electric seats, cruise, Bose stereo and after that I’m not sure. Some of the other cars in this price bracket were on massive wheels had tints and were from Birmingham so were ignored.
It has a good history although the seller hadn’t owned it for very long. I spoke to the garage who used to maintain it and they recognised the plate and said it was a good car that was owned by a very good customer who used to get done whatever needed doing. They ran through what had been done which included a gearbox service at 102k, various door actuators, brake calliper rebuild, near rear wiper motor and much more.
We ummed and arrgghed about it for the next few days and none of the other cars we saw could replace it as the one we wanted. My main concern was the sheer size of it - it’s sodding massive. Which does have its benefits for chucking bikes, dogs, camping stuff etc but drawbacks too.
It drove well enough and seemed pretty solid if a bit grubby. There is some corrosion on the alloys, a small ding in the passenger door, bit of lacquer peel on the front bumper and a few scratches, which being black show up. It needed rear tyres and a wheel alignment. Despite those bits, we still really liked it and after seeing it for a second time I made an offer which was excepted.
s
t…..I’d just bought a Cayenne. A massive SUV and something that I’d always derided as being a bit daft (I still think it is to be honest). My new obsession is looking at the size of other cars in the village to convince myself that it’s not as enormous as I think it is. Selling the C Class via Motorway was painless other than the handbrake playing up on the day of collection leaving us to be chipped on the price a bit. However, everything fell into place nicely so I’m hoping that buying the Cayenne is not going to be a decision that we’ll end up regretting.
Friday night we headed over to Derby to do the deed and collect it.
Obligatory picture at a fuel station.
And back home. Looking huge.
This morning I took it for a four wheel alignment (it was way out of spec) and then headed to Nottingham to collect some 19 inch wheels from a later Cayenne that I’d bought on Facebook marketplace. These are in much better condition than the wheels on the car as well as having really good tyres. All for less than the price of a pair of 20 inch Pilot Sports the car needed.
On the way home, I made a quick pit stop in Ruddington for lunch…..I’m now the same as everyone else in a silly SUV’s.
The new wheels are massive and very heavy, filling the back of the car.
Once the wheels were out, I decided to make a start on cleaning the interior which was a bit grubby compared to how our cars are usually.
I started in the boot working my way forward. I was even sad enough to tackle below the boot floor.
Before
After
It looks like it’s had a boot protector in a lot because the floor carpet wasn’t too manky. Sliding the rear seats forward was nasty though.
One of the boot handles wasn’t sitting correctly, so that was sorted.
With the boot clean, it was time to get cracking in the cabin. The crevasses of all the seats were like this.
Some were worse than others, and it looks like someone has eaten a lot in the car; I hoovered out bits of the miserable lettuce that Maccies chuck in their burgers, crumbs, seeds and god knows what else. Lovely. All of the leather was given a clean with Heaven for Leather and then wiped down with a damp microfibre once dry.
All of the car mats were removed, shampooed and cleaned with the wet vac. The drivers side was the worst. I ended up popping some trims out of the sills because there were so many stones trapped.
I spent an age with interior cleaner, a soft detailing brush and my fav getting all of the crud from nooks and crannies. It’s a much nicer place to sit now.
The weather looks better tomorrow, so I’m hoping to tackle the outside.
I’ve done about 100 miles in or so far and I’ve got to say that despite my reservations, it’s a bloody nice way to travel. Despite being huge, it doesn’t feel so big to actually drive. It’s comfy and very refined compared to the four cylinder diesel in the C Class. It’s quite economical for what it is on the dual carriageway / NSL roads, less so sat in Nottingham’s traffic. I do see why these kind of cars are popular even though I do feel a bit silly in it. Scrap that, I feel really silly in it.
My Boxster looks absolutely ridiculous parked by it (I’ll try and get some pics of the two together as some point).
Since driving it, I’ve noticed that the time / date aren’t displayed which researching the issue seems to be something to do with the battery being disconnected or going flat and causing the binnacle and GPS no longer being synchronised. The GPS is fine in that it knows where I am on the nav, so I just need to get the binnacle recoded by the looks of it. Other than that it appears sound - no whining from the diffs, the gearbox is smooth if a bit keen to kick down and it’s quicker than I thought it would be given it’s an entry level car with the least amount of power on offer.
Plans for it are;
- fit the new wheels
- fit new centre caps
- new bonnet badge because the one on the car is faded
- fit a silver Porsche badge instead of the black one
- replace the silver trim in the bootlid because the finish is bubbling
- fit CarPlay
- service the transfer box and diffs for my peace of mind
- sort the date / time
- replace the exhaust trims because they’ve corroded (apparently a common issue)
Looks nice that Sam; a solid car for sure... Porsche haven on the driveway now 
Like me; you have OCD for interior cleanliness and IMO it needs to be done; nowt worse than sitting in someone else's muck
It's one thing I need to do to my 635d and that's seats out / carpets properly shampoo'd etc - a job for this week maybe as the weathers meant to pick up for a few days
Like me; you have OCD for interior cleanliness and IMO it needs to be done; nowt worse than sitting in someone else's muck
It's one thing I need to do to my 635d and that's seats out / carpets properly shampoo'd etc - a job for this week maybe as the weathers meant to pick up for a few days
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