What is the benefit of that? Cheaper?
It would be cheaper, I guess, but that did not seem to be the main point.
People thinking about that option mentioned:
- less possible issues (pano roof leaking, mechanism breaking down, replacement costs, maintainance...)
- benefit of having a bright, light interior (some of them ordered the pano for this reason, also, not really to 'open' it, see this thread also)
- more head room
- possible roof rack mounting points
- less weight
- maybe, not sure about these:
_ even more head room, when the beams next to the head do not to be as thick as with the pano mechanism.
_ better stability than pano with moving parts (added stiffness to the cabin)
It might be cheaper, also, but that really wasn't the main point.
This is not my personal opinion, but I can understand it. I ordered the pano to have rack mounting possibility and for the lighter interior. These days, I would order black alcantara headliner, as it's standard, and I'd want glass ceiling to get more light in the cabin than without. If an 'all glass, no opening' option was available, I'd indeed consider it.
But then, I'm happy with what I've got and open the pano roof a lot, whenever reasonably possible.