M3 (BMW) to M3 (Tesla)

[g35x]

I spent 6 fun years of motoring with this 2008 E93 M3, overall it was a very reliable car with the only major mechanical failing being the throttle actuators (common weakness on these cars and expensive to fix) which was luckily repaired under warranty. The engine had lots of character and was fast when pressing on but easily caught off guard in day to day driving (although helped by the quick response of the DCT).



I fancied a change and was focused on fulfilling my childhood dream of getting a 911, specifically a 991.2, but really struggled with the huge variance in the spec as I wanted a highly optioned C4S which were few and far between (at least a reasonable price point).

After months of searching I started to lose interest and on a whim I booked a test drive of a Model 3 at a local Tesla showroom. To be honest I'd never been a huge fan of Tesla's up until that point, admired the engineering and performance but just couldn't get past the looks of either the Model 3 or S. Anyway the test drive really impressed both myself and my wife, it just felt like such a leap forward in car development. Some of the things i was worried about like the central console seemed to actually work fine in real life, and the way it delivers power makes the performance just so acceptable.

I ended up ordering a Model 3 Performance in Blue with White interior, spec wise there is very little to choose from but I ended up buying the full-self-drive option although that's largely vaporware at this point. Delivery process was a little rough, you just have to wait patiently with no clear sense of timeline. Overall i waited about 4 weeks which is good compared to some of the other horror stories out there. Initial build quality on my car was great, no corrections required, although some of the finishes fall below what you'd expect at this price point. Here she is ....



Likes:
- face melting acceleration (below 70mph)
- single pedal driving (due regen braking) just works so well
- regular software updates means new features get deployed all the time (including arcade games)
- ride quality is great compared to my old M3, even on the 20" wheels
- very minimal servicing
- center console is very intuitive

Dislikes:
- still not sold on the looks, on the plus side it barely gets noticed
- no Apple CarPlay integration
- some cheap interior finishes
- in US/Canada we are forced to endure Slacker (!) as opposed to Spotify
- no ventilated seats or HUD option, HUD would be really useful

The BMW felt fragile even though it was reliable. Had to be very careful to warm it up before giving it any beans, made strange noises and occasional rattles. The Tesla surprisingly feels very mechanically simple and solid .. largely because it is. Looking forward to putting some more miles on it !

[EarlofDrift]

I do like the colour and it took a bit of time for metro get used to the looks, almost a shortened Model S but still looks very smart.

I've only seen one in the flesh in the UK and I think that was a dealer car. Not sure they've completely rolled it out here yet.

One thing I kept noticing about the Model S was the panel gaps, some were fine but others you could put your finger in.

[The Dictator]

I rather like that, nice colour too. I also have a long standing desire to own a 911 and am not sure I would have seen this as a suitable replacement. Interesting choice and I hope you enjoy it.

I was speaking to someone the other day whose partner repairs these when they have been in a smack, apparently there are no specs to work to as with other larger manufacturers, so they have to hope for the best a bit.

[g35x]

EarlofDrift said:

I've only seen one in the flesh in the UK and I think that was a dealer car. Not sure they've completely rolled it out here yet.

One thing I kept noticing about the Model S was the panel gaps, some were fine but others you could put your finger in.

Thanks Earl.

I believe the UK rollout is almost underway so the roads should be littered with them soon !

I remember being shocked by the panel gaps on older Tesla’s and build quality was one of my worries getting this car. Mine is pretty good though, some small misalignments but much better than previous years.

[g35x]

The Dictator said:

I rather like that, nice colour too. I also have a long standing desire to own a 911 and am not sure I would have seen this as a suitable replacement. Interesting choice and I hope you enjoy it.

I was speaking to someone the other day whose partner repairs these when they have been in a smack, apparently there are no specs to work to as with other larger manufacturers, so they have to hope for the best a bit.

Thanks Dictator ! Loving it so far, although I doubt there are many people cross shopping the Model 3 with a 911. My family much prefers this more practical option though.

I’ve heard similar stories about the supply chain woes for parts, cars can be off the road for months for small accidents. Likely why insurance is quite high on these cars.

[RC1807]

A colleague has a model 3 company car. It's kind of a red, but looks like a nail varnish colour, so you win on your choice!

I'm surprised there's no Apple Carplay integration: the dash is like an iPadPro, after all!

For crash / body repairs, there aren't that many OEM approved repair shops. My brother is the COO of a body shop group in Illinois, and they've just got their Tesla certification.

[SWoll]

It does surprise me that they have no HUD as standard or even an option. With the single central screen setup you'd think it would be tailor made to then beam the simple stuff like speed, range and basic nav info onto the windscreen so you don't have to take your eyes off the road all the time.

[Terminator X]

I can't muster any joy for electric cars despite the acceleration etc. How did you get over that "hurdle" or is ICE to electric simply a non issue for you?

TX.

[g35x]

RC1807 said:

A colleague has a model 3 company car. It's kind of a red, but looks like a nail varnish colour, so you win on your choice!

I'm surprised there's no Apple Carplay integration: the dash is like an iPadPro, after all!

Interesting, the Red color is actually the most expensive paint option and has that candy effect you mention.

On the Apple Carplay front, technically it would be simple for them to do, I think the barrier is Musk's desire to directly control the user experience. The driver ends up suffering when equivalent functionality just doesn't exist in the Tesla interface, e.g. text to voice messaging

[g35x]

Terminator X said:

I can't muster any joy for electric cars despite the acceleration etc. How did you get over that "hurdle" or is ICE to electric simply a non issue for you?

It's a great point Terminator X and one I wrestled with for a long time. I think it actually boils down to two different discussions:

- EV vs ICE: personally I still miss the personally of an ICE, esp in something as charismatic as a AMG63 where the crackles and pops are out on full display; the lack of soundtrack definitely detracts from the excitement of driving when pressing on but allows you to fly under the radar more at it attracts a lot less attention; the one big advantage of an EV is not having to worry about warming up the oil, esp on cold mornings where the first 10 mins of your journey you sometimes need to baby a more highly strung ICE
- Tesla vs Other Marques: this was probably the deciding factor to me. The Tesla is just such a different take on how to build a car with a much stronger emphasis on the user experience, its full of clever features and the continual software upgrades means you get new functionality every month or so. It's a lot more engaging as a consumer product (to me at least)

We still have an ICE as a primary car, i don't think it would be possible right now with our lifestyle to just rely on an EV.

One thing I would point out is that the UK/European roads do offer up more opportunity to explore an ICE compared to the roads here in Canada.

[Trophy Husband]

Elon Musk, despite having all of the appearance of a Bond villain is, without a doubt, a clever clever man.
He's just showing the big boys that it can be done and I've no doubt he is losing money with Tesla.
IMHO he just wants to have a battery business.
Let's face it, he can't compete with BMW, MB, Ford, Toyota, Honda et al in car devopment. He's just proving his power product so that it's a no brainer for them to spec it in their future products.
I'd wager that within 10 years there will be no new Tesla car on the road.

[g35x]

Trophy Husband said:

Elon Musk, despite having all of the appearance of a Bond villain is, without a doubt, a clever clever man.
He's just showing the big boys that it can be done and I've no doubt he is losing money with Tesla.
IMHO he just wants to have a battery business.
Let's face it, he can't compete with BMW, MB, Ford, Toyota, Honda et al in car devopment. He's just proving his power product so that it's a no brainer for them to spec it in their future products.
I'd wager that within 10 years there will be no new Tesla car on the road.

Hard to dispute any of that ! Tesla would be a ripe acquisition candidate (Apple has approached at least once), I doubt Tesla will be a standalone car brand by 2030 .. will likely be acquired for it's battery technology or huge amount of semi-autonomous driving data being accumulated by the existing fleet. Elon would be the biggest barrier to that happening but it may not be his decision.

[ntiz]

g35x said:

RC1807 said:

A colleague has a model 3 company car. It's kind of a red, but looks like a nail varnish colour, so you win on your choice!

I'm surprised there's no Apple Carplay integration: the dash is like an iPadPro, after all!

Interesting, the Red color is actually the most expensive paint option and has that candy effect you mention.

On the Apple Carplay front, technically it would be simple for them to do, I think the barrier is Musk's desire to directly control the user experience. The driver ends up suffering when equivalent functionality just doesn't exist in the Tesla interface, e.g. text to voice messaging

When I got my Model S 3.5 years ago we were promised full iPhone and Android mirroring on the touchscreen which would have obviously been really cool.

Apparently Mr Musk fell out big time with Apple and now refuses to work with them on anything. He does that quite often from what I understand there are a few examples of projects being binned or stalled due to Tesla not playing well with others.

[Rich135]

ntiz said:

When I got my Model S 3.5 years ago we were promised full iPhone and Android mirroring on the touchscreen which would have obviously been really cool.

Apparently Mr Musk fell out big time with Apple and now refuses to work with them on anything. He does that quite often from what I understand there are a few examples of projects being binned or stalled due to Tesla not playing well with others.

That would really put me off getting one. I used apple carplay all the time in my current daily, to control/pick podcasts and receive/send messages using the voice control. Can you do that in the Tesla with the big screen, just not through carplay?

Looks a lovely colour BTW.

[ntiz]

Rich135 said:

ntiz said:

When I got my Model S 3.5 years ago we were promised full iPhone and Android mirroring on the touchscreen which would have obviously been really cool.

Apparently Mr Musk fell out big time with Apple and now refuses to work with them on anything. He does that quite often from what I understand there are a few examples of projects being binned or stalled due to Tesla not playing well with others.

That would really put me off getting one. I used apple carplay all the time in my current daily, to control/pick podcasts and receive/send messages using the voice control. Can you do that in the Tesla with the big screen, just not through carplay?

Looks a lovely colour BTW.

You can only make phone calls. Playing music you have to physically change it on the phone no way of seeing the music on there you can just skip through or pause. But it has spotify built into the infotainment so I have never bothered, it used to be free but I think you pay for the 3G and spotify with a subscription now. I'm sure someone with a newer car than mine will be able to tell you.

As is the way with Tesla that the music connection aspect is rubbish but it connects to your calendar on your phone and brings up what you have to do today when you get in the car in the morning which being forgetful i find brilliant.

[RC1807]

RC1807 said:

A colleague has a model 3 company car. It's kind of a red, but looks like a nail varnish colour, so you win on your choice!

I'm surprised there's no Apple Carplay integration: the dash is like an iPadPro, after all!

For crash / body repairs, there aren't that many OEM approved repair shops. My brother is the COO of a body shop group in Illinois, and they've just got their Tesla certification.

I talked to my colleague with the (hideous) red model 3 today.
He said that in real world use, he gets +/-350km from a charge. He's done 8,000km since the beginning of May, so he knows the Tesla Supercharger network across the continent quite well, including 3 trips to Switzerland so far ... we're in Luxembourg.
He commented that the lack of Carplay was a pain for him, but he's really enjoying the car and its lack of NVH.

[Rich135]

ntiz said:

You can only make phone calls. Playing music you have to physically change it on the phone no way of seeing the music on there you can just skip through or pause. But it has spotify built into the infotainment so I have never bothered, it used to be free but I think you pay for the 3G and spotify with a subscription now. I'm sure someone with a newer car than mine will be able to tell you.

As is the way with Tesla that the music connection aspect is rubbish but it connects to your calendar on your phone and brings up what you have to do today when you get in the car in the morning which being forgetful i find brilliant.

Thanks Ntiz. It would be a real step back for me losing that kind of connectivity, and I only drive a Skoda! :-)

[g35x]

RC1807 said:

I talked to my colleague with the (hideous) red model 3 today.
He said that in real world use, he gets +/-350km from a charge. He's done 8,000km since the beginning of May, so he knows the Tesla Supercharger network across the continent quite well, including 3 trips to Switzerland so far ... we're in Luxembourg.
He commented that the lack of Carplay was a pain for him, but he's really enjoying the car and its lack of NVH.

I get around the same range, most of my trips are local so I just plug in at home to top it back up again every few days overnight (I have a 220v-40A socket for it which charges at approx 45 kmph). I've done a couple of longer trips recently and get to use the supercharging network which has lots of availability and super high charge rates (530 kmph) so less of a problem that I initially thought it would be.

The one challenging thing about range on these cars is even when parked outside they can consume energy to keep the battery temperatures within tolerance. So if it's cold or hot the car can use up energy just sitting there which can be quite a hit on long roadtrips with overnight stops.

I definitely agree it's a relaxing way to travel, its buttery smooth even on the 20" wheels.

[g35x]

The other thing to mention about the range is although it has a theoretical range of 500km, to preserve battery life you are generally only charging it day-to-day to approx 90% of the max capacity so to about 450km in my situation. You are only meant to charge into that last 10% for infrequent road trips where you need the full range available.

450km quickly becomes 350km real life range when you drive 'normally', avoid operating in the last 50km reserve, and have the parked up drain I mentioned above. The one thing I do notice is that rapid acceleration doesn't hammer range as much as I thought it would, especially around town.

[Shiv_P]

Rich135 said:

ntiz said:

You can only make phone calls. Playing music you have to physically change it on the phone no way of seeing the music on there you can just skip through or pause. But it has spotify built into the infotainment so I have never bothered, it used to be free but I think you pay for the 3G and spotify with a subscription now. I'm sure someone with a newer car than mine will be able to tell you.

As is the way with Tesla that the music connection aspect is rubbish but it connects to your calendar on your phone and brings up what you have to do today when you get in the car in the morning which being forgetful i find brilliant.

Thanks Ntiz. It would be a real step back for me losing that kind of connectivity, and I only drive a Skoda! :-)

Buy an android phone?