Everyone's situation is different.
But what sort of rationale do you go through to end up getting a 5 seater in MX? eg. do not need versatility of more seats? $7,500 saving easily justifies lack of versatility of having more than 5 seats? I (family) simply do not need more than 5 seats? I must have fold down and i don't need more than 5 seats?
Clearly as mentioned already, if MX 7 seat configuration is $2K, then yeah, that's an easy decision.
And i'm fairly certain the 3rd row 2 seats cannot be retrofitted by average person, in a 5 seat configuration.
What gets me is, will resale value of 5 seater be seen as less favorable option in a "SUV" vehicle, when it has >5 seats choices.
But then again, i own a X3 and that's an SUV, with 5 seats (but that is "only" 5 seats so if someone is looking for used X3, they know from start what they are getting for # of seats from factory)..