Comparison of M3 RWD and M3LR AWD?

[roadcred]

Am I right in thinking that apart from the obvious ie AWD, slightly lesser performance and slightly shorter range, the only extras that the M3LR has are

Premium audio rather than Upgraded audio and
LED fog lamps

The range on the M3 is 317 on aeros - not to be sniffed at
Smaller battery therefore shorter time charging at S/Cs
For £7000?
Or are there other things missing not on the sales pages?

 

[MrT3]

I'd state the difference in performance between the two is more that 'slight'.

I still believe the RWD doesn't come with ambient lighting - did anyone confirm that with the latest spec changes from SR+ to RWD?

 

[Irata]

Surely a big difference is... the AWD has an extra motor as it's AWD.

I am never quite sure why the comparison seems to come down to speaker count and fog lights.

 

[GRiLLA]

SuperCharger speed is lower, it'll take you longer to get anywhere further than your battery. Check out ABRP and compare some journeys.

 

[Mrklaw]

its about the same time for supercharging per added mile, as the battery is smaller but it charges slower. it roughly balances.

The range isn’t massively more perhaps but you wont get 317 - more like 250 on the RWD, and 310 on the LR? so if you think 317 is plenty if it was real, the LR is the one you want.

 

[Llama.]

Many of us will have considered the difference in these two models very carefully. I’m sure.

In the end it was the actual real word range of the LR that made the difference for me.

I have a regular 200 mile round trip journey that the LR can do in any driving condition without a charge.

While the new LFP M3 has impressive range, 200 miles is probably the max real world range in the worst case scenario.

My preference is to arrive home with a minimum 10% charge from a 200 mile journey.

So it’s the LR over the SR+ for me.

 

[Lord Farquad]

 

[hellodave]

Yes I think those are the main differences. The RWD is very good value IMO and has its own major pro of the LFP battery so you can charge to 100% of the time which is really nice, no faffing with charge limits and you have your full range every morning. It's also more efficient than the LR (I think it's the most efficient EV you can buy?), so although the battery is smaller you get further per kW.

It's also cheaper to insure. I'm 28 so that made quite a big difference to me.

I comfortably get 240 miles of real range in the winter in my RWD which is plenty for me - I've had mine two months and not had to supercharge it yet. Will have to on longer trips I do a few times a year but probably would have to in a LR anyway so for my usage the extra range isn't worth it.

Performance wise, similar story, I rarely actually floor it because the acceleration is a lot for normal driving so I have no idea what people do with the performance acceleration.

At the end of the day the LR is clearly the better car in a number of ways If it's worth £7k more only you can really judge and I think the deciding factor is normally how frequently you do trips more than around 240 miles.

 

[yessuz]

LR is much closer to Performance than SR is to LR.

 

[NewTangerine]

A major benefit of the RWD is being able to charge to 100% daily.

I originally wanted the LR but after test driving it the only real benefit for me was a marginal range improvement (comparing 90% of the LR To 100% of the SR) and better speaker. The acceleration is undoubtedly stronger but I that’s not really any benefit for the driving I do. Definitely not £8k worth of benefit anyway!

 

[roadcred]

its about the same time for supercharging per added mile, as the battery is smaller but it charges slower. it roughly balances.

The range isn’t massively more perhaps but you wont get 317 - more like 250 on the RWD, and 310 on the LR? so if you think 317 is plenty if it was real, the LR is the one you want.

I never drive more than 2 hours between breaks - so range is not a problem

 

[roadcred]

LR is much closer to Performance than SR is to LR.

Yes it is but the M3P is really a niche car. I got rid of mine because of harsh acceleration, poor efficiency and generally uncomfortable for both driver and passenger. Had 2 LRs since - the Chinese one being in a different league to the Freemont one - really well built and the heat pump makes a difference - also more efficient. Never missed the P as the LR is not noticeably slower.....that's why I'm thing of the RWD - it is almost the same car and the performance is quite sufficient and will still beat ICE cars away from the traffic lights. Apart from the extra engine (not a UK essential) it is almost the same spec as the LR.
I have the MYLR on order, happily a Chinese not German car and will probably change it for a RWD when that model becomes available.

 

[roadcred]

Really interesting test. Confirms my suspicions.

 

[MrT3]

I’m sure performance will still be great but no one has driven the new RWD with the lower performance motor yet. Worth seeing how people rate it once they arrive in the UK.

 

[Mrklaw]

I never drive more than 2 hours between breaks - so range is not a problem

- On a short trip around town - both cars identical, no benefit to the LR
- On a long trip of multiple hours, both cars very close - maybe the LR is a faster stop or one less stop, but pinging between superchargers is easy in a RWD too. Did a trip to Cornwall in my previous SR+ no problem at all and that put any range anxiety at rest for long trips.

My use case that pushed me to a LR was in-between. 100 mile legs.

if you have a round trip of 200-220 miles on the motorway then each leg you don’t likely need to stop. And perhaps you can’t charge easily at the end - for me it is visiting my parents or my son at university. So then you head back and again you’ve just stopped so don’t need another one.

So you want to do the entire trip without stopping - and the SR+ struggled with both. I made it once with very low SoC so the RWD might be a bit safer, but other times with poorer weather I had to stop for a quick top up. Not a major thing on my own but with family it wasn’t ideal.

 

[Mrklaw]

I’m sure performance will still be great but no one has driven the new RWD with the lower performance motor yet. Worth seeing how people rate it once they arrive in the UK.

SR+ was more than enough power and 0.5s less to 60 may be noticable but with the instant torque it’ll still feel like a fast car. I don’t think I’d have had an issue with the performance. If it’d been more a 240 mile car in all weathers on the motorway I’d have stuck with it, but I want as close to a guaranteed 200 miles motorway speed in winter after a few years degredation, to give me that round trip range comfort. Want, not need as I could totally live with a RWD so I’m choosing the extra outlay for that slight extra cushion and option to not stop

 

[yessuz]

SR+ was more than enough power and 0.5s less to 60 may be noticable but with the instant torque it’ll still feel like a fast car. I don’t think I’d have had an issue with the performance. If it’d been more a 240 mile car in all weathers on the motorway I’d have stuck with it, but I want as close to a guaranteed 200 miles motorway speed in winter after a few years degredation, to give me that round trip range comfort. Want, not need as I could totally live with a RWD so I’m choosing the extra outlay for that slight extra cushion and option to not stop

0.5? It's 1.5 s difference between LR and SR

 

[MrT3]

0.5? It's 1.5 s difference between LR and SR

That is in reference to the difference between the old SR+ and the new RWD model.

 

[yessuz]

That is in reference to the difference between the old SR+ and the new RWD model.

Ah. Ok. Makes sense