2019 Porsche Cayenne Vs BMW X5

Many luxury SUVs have been completely redone for 2019, which can make things tough on buyers who might want to stay loyal to a brand or jump ship to an all-new experience.

The new BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne are both totally new for 2019, and they’re vehicles from two brands that don’t typically skimp on anything. While the Cayenne has typically been the solid luxury SUV choice over the past few generations, it seems like BMW has taken its competition seriously by bringing to market a new X5 that’s promising to be better than ever.

We’ve brought both these large luxury SUVs together to determine which vehicle saw the most radical changes and which one represents the best blend of performance, technology, and premium appointments.

The new lightness helps it feel more agile and sporty. This is a Porsche, so driving dynamics come first, and it doesn’t disappoint in this area. Porsche calls this the “sports car of its segment,” which is kind of hard to argue with. The steering is also a highlight, feeling direct, heavy, and precise. The steering is easily better than what the X5 offers. Everything feels tight and solid in this SUV, and the turn of speed is spectacular, though it suffers from a bit of turbo lag when you really stomp on the pedal.

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Under the hood of this Cayenne S is the 2.9-liter twin turbo V6 that makes 434 horsepower and 405 lb-ft of torque. This is the mid-range engine option, between the Cayenne and Cayenne Turbo. It’s a smooth and refined powerplant that sends the large SUV to highway speeds in under 5 seconds. This is on par with the X5, but the BMW feels faster and more responsive. Two extra cylinders will do that, but you can always option up to the Cayenne Turbo if you want more immediacy.

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The eight-speed automatic transmission in the Cayenne is excellent with quick and well-timed shifts, but they can feel harsh at times. It’s clear that Porsche is going for a more aggressive feel. One issue is the automatic engine start/stop system, which is jarring and turns off the engine before even coming to a full stop — you can be rolling forward with no intention to stop fully, so it’s annoying when the car decides to shut off the engine when you didn’t want it to. The X5’s start/stop system was far smoother.

The ride is sporty yet comfortable, as an air-suspension setup and electric anti-rollbar stabilization work together to let the SUV corner flatter, but then we have to remind you that this is a luxury SUV and not a sports car, so being a confident corner carver isn’t as much of a priority as having a cushy ride that allows you to feel like you’re riding in an expensive yacht. The various safety and driver assistance systems are smooth, non-intrusive, and predictable to use, but the control stalk behind the steering wheel for the adaptive cruise control is fiddly to use.

The interior is very much a Porsche design, and our tester featured dark upholstery that was smooth and soft. It’s best described as conservative. The seats are sporty buckets, giving you needed support during aggressive drives, but little else. The gauge cluster and infotainment system are bright and full of useful information. They’re also easy to use. The gauge cluster is easily accessible through a pair of scroll wheels, while there are a few touch-sensitive non-buttons on the central console, which takes some getting used to. While we like that fingerprints don’t stick to the shiny touch-capacitive surface, in some light, you can see the labels of features that you haven’t purchased for your car. Still, the central area is a big upgrade over the old wall of buttons that the Cayenne used to have.

The large infotainment screen is excellent to use, as it’s very user-friendly and the menus require almost no learning curve to master. It’s crisp and responsive, allowing you to use smartphone controls like pinching, swiping, and dragging and dropping to use it. It’s also available with Apple CarPlay, but no Android Auto. The infotainment screen did crash and reboot itself once, but was otherwise problem-free.

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Other controls take getting used to, especially in terms of placement. Things like the ignition nub to the left of the steering wheel that simulates turning a key to fire up the car are a bit old school when a button would work well. The adaptive cruise control stalk is a bit hidden, and the heated steering wheel button is downright impossible to find — it’s unlabeled and slotted behind the wheel and between the central twin-spoke. Even the camera button is up on the headliner, which again, is a confusing choice.

To get a model equipped like this tester, you’d need six figures to spend, and that doesn’t even include every option and feature — in fact, it was missing many features we expect as standard at this price. Our tester lacked a head-up display for example, while some features like a wireless charging pad for a mobile device aren’t included when they really should be standard. While the Cayenne S is sporty, it is very expensive. Furthermore, many of the changes Porsche made to the Cayenne feel incremental — many small improvements instead of dramatic game-changers.

Starting with the twin-turbo V8 engine under the hood, the X5 feels fancy, as the powerplant is not only smooth but plenty capable. There are 456 horsepower and an incredible 479 lb-ft of torque on tap, which is fed through an eight-speed automatic transmission. You do need all that power to move the X5, which weighs over 5,000 lbs, and that extra weight means that the BMW doesn’t feel as agile or nimble as the Cayenne, but it does feel very sturdy and confident. The cabin of this SUV is also much quieter than the Cayenne, an important element of a luxury vehicle.

While the steering and ride aren’t as precise and engaging as the Cayenne’s, the X5 has a very pleasant way of gliding to each destination. Imperfect roads don’t ruin the experience in the cabin. A big part of this is the air suspension system, which gives the X5 five levels of ground clearance and allows the X5 to offer a capability that could compare with a Range Rover. You can get the vehicle with an off-road package and locking rear differential to help seal the deal.

That air suspension also helps the car tuck in for better aerodynamics and handling. The air suspension is also designed to level out the vehicle, and there’s even an emergency function that will detect if a tire has a puncture, leveling out the load so that the damaged tire doesn’t have a lot of weight on it.

Simply put, the technology on tap in the X5 is excellent, enabling a more luxurious and capable ride when compared to the Cayenne. Even the driver assistance tech is well done, with smooth adaptive cruise control that can bring the car to a stop, hold it for quite a while, and continue when the traffic gets going. The only issue is that when the ACC isn’t enabled, and the lane keep assist kicks in, it’s quite an aggressive correction. It can be really jarring at times.

That plentiful tech continues beyond the drive, too. The cabin is one of the most loaded high-tech experiences on the road. Our tester has a head-up display, an immersive digital dash, a large infotainment system, voice recognition, heated and cooled cupholders, heated armrests, massage seats, wireless charging, and gesture controls. That last item may be a bit of a gimmick, but it seriously wows people every time. And sometimes a car that you spend this much money on should be able to wow your friends with a silly trick.

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Then again, there isn’t much need to wow anyone with silly gimmicks once they get settled into the cabin. The materials and trim are classy, with brilliant dimpling on all the knobs and quilted leather accents. I can’t help but love the crystal accents on the shift knob and iDrive controller. The downside is that if the sun hits one of those controls, it can blind everyone. Thank goodness for all those driver assistance features…

However, the rear seats aren’t the most accommodating. For the desperate, there’s an available third row as well. The vehicle features much more cargo space than the Cayenne, but I don’t find the split tailgate design to be all that practical. It’s pretty cool though that the air suspension can significantly lower the vehicle to aid in loading groceries or help kids get into the back seats.

Finally, the X5 starts at just around $62,000 in the U.S. for the base six-cylinder model, which isn’t too bad. Ours is a kitted out V8 model costs about $90,000, meaning its much less expensive than the Cayenne S, yet more impressive.

Even when it comes to high-end luxury SUVs, the value is still important, and the X5 is much more affordable than the Cayenne S, while still offering more features, a more powerful engine, and an interior that feels much more modern than the Porsche’s. The driving experience of the X5 is muted and isolated, which is a perfect fit for those looking for a truly luxurious experience. The Porsche Cayenne is a fantastic vehicle and we love its sporty and engaging driving dynamics, but it is much more expensive than the X5 without offering enough to justify the price premium.