inkey$ said:
The Cayman S was ranked better than the Z4MC consistently when the two cars hit the market in 2006. Though I already had an early Z4 roadster, I gave the Cayman a try and indeed found it better than the Z4M in a couple of areas: handling was much more supple, especially with PASM added, and being over 6' I found it a bit roomier (I fit in the Z4MC, but it's a near thing).
The big minuses for the Cayman were its lack of power compared to the S54 and lack of slippy diff to help put the power down, combined with a significantly higher price. The difference in price considerably overshadowed the difference in performance, and my feeling at the time was that a Z4M with coilovers added was a much better value.
Time and depreciation have leveled the playing field a bit, and currently there's a 20k mile Cayman S for sale here that's priced at pretty much exactly what I'd expect for my 20k M Coupe. And without starting a values thread yet again, I suspect the Z4MC will continue to hold it's value a bit better than the Cayman, based on the history of the Z3MC and Porsche's entry-level models in general (cf 968, Boxster, etc).
And for the Cayman, there continues to loom the spectre of the IMS problems. Reportedly fewer than 1% of Caymans have been affected and none since the mid-2007 update to the seal, though the only sure thing is the 2009+ cars with DFI engines (meaning the S, not the base model).
