OK, I have had my MS since Dec 2015 and love it. But today I was looking at it closely and noticed that the shiny aluminum trim on the upper doors do not "line up" well. In fact, the drivers side noticeably lines up better than the passenger side, but neither is perfect. I started to think that maybe most cars are like this. Then I looked at my wife's BMW X5 and see things lined up perfectly. And in a parking lot today I took note of lots of cars, from Chevys to Hondas to Audis and see things line up perfectly. Is this something I should bring to the attention of my sales team? Has anyone else noticed this. I am correct that this is not what I should expect in a car that costs over $100,000, right?
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Gizmotoy
Active Member
Quite common. Mention it when you're in for service and they'll fix it. The problem is the size of that piece. You don't notice it until someone mentions it, but it's a huge piece that goes all the way around the windows and to the front of the vehicle. It must be hard to align. I bet Tesla doesn't do that again, given this has been popping up occasionally for two and a half years now.
I noticed, upon taking delivery of my 90d this past monday, that the overall alignment of panels is piss poor. This is an indicator of build quality someone pointed out to me decades ago when American cars had huge, variable gaps but Japanese and German cars had small, uniformly consistent, perfect gaps between panels and perfect edge alignment. These days, I notice that American cars, having significantly improved their quality, demonstrate these smaller tolerances and better alignment details. It's funny that you mentioned your wife's X5 because one thing that has bothered me about my x5 is that the automaticity closing/latching doors (they only close the last little bit) do not sit flush. But this is not an alignment issue, it's a symptom of the mechanism that closes the door. I would have preferred a flush door that I had to close more forcefully.
On the other hand, when I drive my ModelS, there are no squeaks or rattles, no pulls, no shimmies, no clicks, no hesitation, no screen boot errors, no door lock fails, no tire pressure monitor malfunctions, no engine stalls
, no turbo lag, no traction control interference, etc. The car is incredibly tight and amazing to drive and experience.
So to consider the contrast between panel alignment and the actual demonstration of quality that driving provides, I form the hypothesis that we are driving the equivalent of a hand built car. The quality is dripping from the thing but, as it is the very first production model from a brand new car company, tolerances are not yet dialed in. It's just a hypothesis, not even a theory, but it's much like the denting frunk... You don't see these issues until you've sent 100,000 of them out into the world. So, like a hand built car, the builder should take care of his customers and fix the inconsistencies.
My point is that I agree that panel and edge alignment on a car are typically an indicator of overall build quality but, in isolation, it is just one issue that could be improved.
On the other hand, when I drive my ModelS, there are no squeaks or rattles, no pulls, no shimmies, no clicks, no hesitation, no screen boot errors, no door lock fails, no tire pressure monitor malfunctions, no engine stalls
, no turbo lag, no traction control interference, etc. The car is incredibly tight and amazing to drive and experience. So to consider the contrast between panel alignment and the actual demonstration of quality that driving provides, I form the hypothesis that we are driving the equivalent of a hand built car. The quality is dripping from the thing but, as it is the very first production model from a brand new car company, tolerances are not yet dialed in. It's just a hypothesis, not even a theory, but it's much like the denting frunk... You don't see these issues until you've sent 100,000 of them out into the world. So, like a hand built car, the builder should take care of his customers and fix the inconsistencies.
My point is that I agree that panel and edge alignment on a car are typically an indicator of overall build quality but, in isolation, it is just one issue that could be improved.
steph280
Member
I mentioned this to the tech during an unrelated visit, he just pushed it into position with his hand right there on the spot, as if they were made to bend around.
OK, I have had my MS since Dec 2015 and love it. But today I was looking at it closely and noticed that the shiny aluminum trim on the upper doors do not "line up" well. In fact, the drivers side noticeably lines up better than the passenger side, but neither is perfect. I started to think that maybe most cars are like this. Then I looked at my wife's BMW X5 and see things lined up perfectly. And in a parking lot today I took note of lots of cars, from Chevys to Hondas to Audis and see things line up perfectly. Is this something I should bring to the attention of my sales team? Has anyone else noticed this. I am correct that this is not what I should expect in a car that costs over $100,000, right?
I just took delivery of a new S 90D yesterday and the build quality is abysmal, the drivers door panel not attached, the glove box is warped, the steering column plastic cover is marred with defects, the back passenger door gaskets not fitted properly, the tailgate plastic cover marked with contamination, along with several other cosmetic defects that would never have made it out of an Audi, BMW or let alone a Honda factory.... very disappointing delivery experience. For 100K I'm measuring it against my 750i and there is no comparison.
