First drive on Thusday....BMW Alpina B7 to Tesla P85D?????

[Electroman]

Different definitions of luxury and creature comforts. For folks that define luxury as plush interiors, wood every where, amazing interior storage space and dozens of sleek buttons -they should stick to the old world.

To me there is a new definition of luxury that is gaining ground : smooth amazing acceleration, comes with a free chauffeur that drives you around instead of you driving the car, always starting every day morning with 200+ miles and never having to go to a gas station.

That is my definition of luxury. How less stressed I am at the end of a long commute is far more important than those plush interiors.

Recently I drove from Houston to north of Dallas around 280 miles, and I was amazed at how fresh I was with Tesla AP driving me more than 80% of the way.

No amount of plush interiors and bells and whistles would come close to that level of luxury.

The benefits of EVs are hard to explain, but has to be realized by living with it for a month and then you are hooked. You will then laugh silently at those 'luxury ICE' drivers.

 

[sorka]

Different definitions of luxury and creature comforts. For folks that define luxury as plush interiors, wood every where, amazing interior storage space and dozens of sleek buttons -they should stick to the old world.

Um, the Tesla D cars have 31.6 cf of storage space vs the B7's 17.7 cf.....almost double. And that's with both cars having all seats in place. Once you fold the seats down, the Tesla goes to 63.4 cf which is 4 cf more than the SUV we replaced with Tesla.

 

[Laserbrain]

In Europe there's a stereotype about Germans which is like "they paid for the whole gas pedal, so they use it all the way down". Not just on the Autobahn, everywhere. They like flooring the cars, they like accelerating & fast driving. (But this is true for most big premium/luxury car owners over here. The first accessory that they buy for a new car is a radar jammer. Seriously!)

In decades I have never ever seen someone with a radar scanner in Germany. Could be because here they are totally illegal - or very well hidden (from the police.... from the TÜV....from the Ordnungsamt... from the car service centers... - from sight). I think even the possesion is already illegal...

And if you say that the Germans like to floor the gas pedal everywhere, this clearly shows that you have never ever been to Germany.

O.k. at least you mentioned that you are just spreading a stereotype. I hope it is just ignorance and not something else that drives your posts.

I agree. I definitely would not even consider one in Germany. Cannot imagine driving with no speed limit. Has to be crazy. Highway speed is so much more important there.

Nope. Most of the people do not drive faster than 80-95 mph on the unrestricted parts of the Autobahn (even if their cars go easily above 120 mph).

BTW, when you go faster than 80 mph you loose part of your insurance coverage and if you crash at 80+ mph - even if it is 100% the fault of someone else, you get part of the guilt because you where going faster the 80 mph (130 kmh Richtgeschwindigkeit).

And BTW, most parts of the Autobahn has a speedlimit of 62 or 75 mph.

Oh, and flooring a Dodge Hellcat in the unrestricted parts of the autobahn burns 35 liter gasoline per 62 miles which costs 1.50+ Euro per liter in Germany. So you would pay a dollar per mile for gasoline alone and your expected range would be 124 miles.

Normal people with half a brain don't drive like this on the autobahn. Idiots go that fast and there is a good chance you will encounter some of them autobahn. But luckily they are the minority.

And on-topic:

I think the Tesla is better than the BMW because it is silent and has smooth, linear acceleration and you can fill it up at home. Plus, it is simply more exciting (even though the ride is more relaxing). You are driving the future.

It comes down to whether you want to ride a horse with John Wayne or ride the TARDIS with Dr. Who. I would choose the future and the future is Tesla.

 

[Soundchasr]

My last 3 cars have been a 745Li, S550 and A8L. Before I learned about the Model S, I was planning to go for a new 750. I love the comfort and amenities of those 3 cars. Unfortunately, the MS can't compare to them in those areas yet...

However, the MS is a different animal and although we lose some of the creature comforts we gain a different experience that goes beyond what any other car on the road can offer; the MS is changing the world. I think that is what is attractive to a lot of people. On top of that it is a damn fine automobile. Sure, it's far from perfect but it really is quite an achievement. It has some amazing technology.

I've decided to lease the MS and give it a try. Three years isn't that long and if after that time my body aches for the comforts of the German cars I'll be grabbing the latest 7 series. For now, I'm planning to jump into the Tesla world and see what it's like. If I buy the 7 now I'm just buying another car, but by getting the MS I feel like I'm becoming part of history in the making.

 

[once a car guy]

Okay. I'm late to this but...had an 06 750 '13 750 now a tesla. the tesla is cool for many thing but it is no 750. the tesla is more of an amusement park ride with the neck snapping instantaneous offline acceleration.the seven is a more predictable car to drive. find the tesla will bobble accelerating out of a tight corner i think this has more to do with the steering setup than the cars real stability. I like the tesla for many reasons but also find it a a pain in the ass some days. The seat position for the driver in most cases has the butt of the driver behind the b pillar. This creates problems getting into the car as you have to go in ass first and a pillar is so low the it is difficult to contort into the car. What is strange is that I only noticed this after buying it and not during the test-drive guess i was just excited.now once you are in the car both the a/b pillars create huge blind spots. An entire person can easily disappear behind the a pillar.The screen that was so cool at first blush I find very distracting as I constantly need to look at it to make adjustments to the cars status. Whereas I could learn a conventional cars buttons very quickly and not need to look at what I was doing.My wife mostly drives the car as it was going to be for her but typically i would drive if we were together. This is not the case with the tesla.She drives as i find the car too much work to enjoy the benefits especially on short drives. I will still drive if we are going to be on the road for 20 minutes or more. When we had the sevens i drove overtime. Fortunatley I still have a 1m/m3(e46) a couple 2002tii/ 2 914's/ 300hp vanagon and wife has a couple 1965/6 mustangs in case i need the buttons to fumble with over the uber slick tesla. would i do it again? yes. but I would certainly have the seven as well and will probably get a b7 just cause. oh and if you see a ms with b7 21" wheels that'd be me

 

[sorka]

Okay. I'm late to this but...had an 06 750 '13 750 now a tesla. the tesla is cool for many thing but it is no 750. the tesla is more of an amusement park ride with the neck snapping instantaneous offline acceleration.the seven is a more predictable car to drive. find the tesla will bobble accelerating out of a tight corner i think this has more to do with the steering setup than the cars real stability. I like the tesla for many reasons but also find it a a pain in the ass some days. The seat position for the driver in most cases has the butt of the driver behind the b pillar. This creates problems getting into the car as you have to go in ass first and a pillar is so low the it is difficult to contort into the car. What is strange is that I only noticed this after buying it and not during the test-drive guess i was just excited.now once you are in the car both the a/b pillars create huge blind spots. An entire person can easily disappear behind the a pillar.The screen that was so cool at first blush I find very distracting as I constantly need to look at it to make adjustments to the cars status. Whereas I could learn a conventional cars buttons very quickly and not need to look at what I was doing.My wife mostly drives the car as it was going to be for her but typically i would drive if we were together. This is not the case with the tesla.She drives as i find the car too much work to enjoy the benefits especially on short drives. I will still drive if we are going to be on the road for 20 minutes or more. When we had the sevens i drove overtime. Fortunatley I still have a 1m/m3(e46) a couple 2002tii/ 2 914's/ 300hp vanagon and wife has a couple 1965/6 mustangs in case i need the buttons to fumble with over the uber slick tesla. would i do it again? yes. but I would certainly have the seven as well and will probably get a b7 just cause. oh and if you see a ms with b7 21" wheels that'd be me

There are a litany of common complains with the Tesla but the items on your list are not things I've seen on anyone else's list including mine. I've never experienced any "wobbling" when accelerating hard out of a corner in my P85D nor any of the other items on your list. Itss like you're talking about a completely different car.

And of course you're late. You just joined and this is your first post ever.

 

[RogerHScott]

I am in the minority, but I think the interior in The model S is fantastic. It is so clean and harmonious. As the old commercial used to say, " It's got everything you need and nothing you don't".
For me the attraction is that they made it so clean and uncluttered.
When it is powered off there are no gauges and no controls visible.
Like the spaceship on "Independence Day", until it powers up it is an mystery as to how it could function.
To me the interiors in most of the so called higher end luxury cars resemble a bordello. " hey let's see if we can work in carbon fiber, and leather and titanium trim and alcantara. Ooooo, oooo, throw some wood in there too, and neon lights"! " oh yeah, it must have at least 987 individually lit buttons for that 1980,s commercial aircraft cockpit look"! YUCK!
Simplicity and clean design are the ultimate luxury.

I, too, shall be a voice in the wilderness. Prior to my MS, the favorite car I've owned was an Acura Integra GSR. I loved Acuras.
After driving that into the ground we got a TSX -- which seemed like the closest available at that point. While certainly a nice car,
we never loved it the way we loved the GSR -- it just wasn't as fun to drive, even though it was undeniably more comfortable and "high end". Acura has moved away from sporty, efficient, more tech-oriented cars. When it came time to look for a new car we didn't even
look at any current Acuras. When we test drove the MS it was a "this is what I'm talkin' about!" experience -- a much "purer" driving
experience. Do I wish they weighed about 1500lbs less? Sure. Fwiw, I find the next-gen seats to be very comfortable for driving.
I don't know if I'd install them in my living room, but my living room doesn't involve "gee force"

 

[RogerHScott]

I just expect to pay for simple

I don't think it is correct to assume that complexity is correlated with cost. I expect to pay for "good",
and in my eye simple is good. Ymmv, of course.