My 1 week review with the M3LR, compared to the BMW M135i

So I’ve had my Model 3 LR for a week now and I’ve done a few miles in it, so I thought I'd share my initial thoughts compared to my F40 BMW M135i that I part-ex’d. Just to note, this is the first Tesla I've ever owned.

Spoiler: Whinges

• The ‘touchscreen for everything’ is taking some adjusting to, I’m sure I’ll get used to it over time with more and more use.
• Most of the functions that use the cameras aren’t anywhere near as good as you’d hope:
  • The automatic wipers aren’t great.
  • The auto high beam is completely useless.
  • The speed sign recognition is rubbish compared to the BMW.
• The sound system can rattle the cabin quite a bit. Especially the little speakers in the A pillars at higher volumes on certain tracks. I might log a service appointment for it but don’t want them to faff and make it worse.
• The built-in Google Maps navigation isn’t as good as Google Maps via CarPlay (live traffic info isn’t as good, and I miss the perspective view when navigating)
• Spotify seems to update randomly and sometimes not at all. If I make changes to my playlists etc most of the time it doesn’t update for a few drives. Forcing a reboot of the system kicks it into life but this is a dumb workaround.
• As a result I’m missing CarPlay and Apple Music.
• The indicator stalks - why can’t they just be normal and hold position? I’ve adjusted to cancelling them etc but still.
• My car is awaiting the USB ports and wireless charging retrofit - but I suspect my car will be one those where the front USB-C ports won’t carry data. Not happy if that is the case but we shall see.
• The reverse lights are crap, the M135i used to illuminate my driveway when I was reverse parking onto it. The Tesla doesn’t.
• I don’t like the ‘bong’ noise when you press the button to close the boot.
• Talking of the boot, I wish it would open to the highest height automatically. I've already hit my head and now have to make a habit of pushing it open wider if I'm reaching into the back of the boot.
• The car could really do with a decent heads up display. I really miss that and was one of the best features on the M135i.
• The BMW had automatic parking (that worked very well) and reverse assistant. Tesla want £3k extra for that functionality as part of the enhanced autopilot upgrade. Nope. Let me pay a few quid for the bits I want.
• No storage hooks or anchor points in the boot. Had to buy a screw in carrier bag holder thingy.
• I wish I could move UI elements around on the screen. I’d rather have the nav closer to me and the AP visualisation the other side. Maybe I’ve missed something if that is possible.

Spoiler: Things I like

• It’s rapid. Even though it’s technically not a lot faster than the M135i was, it feels a lot faster.
• It’s sooooooo much more comfortable than the BMW was. The seats in the BMW, while they hold you well, we’re absolutely killing my backside and left leg. No issues at all with the Tesla. Might have also been the offset driving position in the BMW.
• Love the user profiles and easy access feature.
• Mobile app is excellent. Like being able to quickly warm the cabin and put the heated steering wheel on before getting in. Sharing locations from Google maps to the app works well too.
• Reading destinations from my sync'd calendar and automatically setting up navigation when I get in the car is great. Every car should allow this.
• Really like not having to carry a key with me, auto lock and unlock via the phone works really well.
• I’m a bit of a data nerd, and I’ve set up Teslamate which I really like a lot.
• Besides the cabin rattles mentioned above at high volumes, the sound system is excellent.
• Enjoying the larger boot space and the big under-floor storage area. Also the frunk which has the charging cables and maintenance bits I like to keep in the car.
• The cost to run it is a lot, lot less. I won’t miss putting £70 of petrol in for 350 miles at best. Also won't miss the tax and £40k tax premium either.
• The Supercharger network, at least so far, works very well and is super easy to use.
• I like having Netflix in the car. Really useful for burning some time when charging, etc.
• Autopilot, when on the motorway and on dual carriageways, works really well (except the speed sign recognition as mentioned). It’s especially good in slow moving and stop-start traffic.
• Single pedal driving is great when you get used to it.
• It’s a nice cabin to be in. I like the panoramic glass roof. I haven’t done any super long journeys yet but feel it’ll be a nice place to take a trip in.

So yeah, those are my early thoughts on the car. Will see how I get on over the next few months. Probably important to note that I’m the sort of person who can find a fault with just about anything - overall I’m really liking the car so far, no regrets on changing from the BMW.

 

[DM206433]

Good to hear about the ride quality. I find the BMW can be unforgiving for passengers and even the driver sometimes.

The M135i wasn't the worst car I've driven for ride quality (if you discount how badly I got on the seat and just consider the suspension) - on a particularly bad road it was occasionally brutal - once you've gone past the 'threshold' of those springs it was completely unforgiving. But then it's a 'hot hatch' so I guess thats par for the course. A fairer comparison would probably be with my wife's G20 3-series BMW. Her's has adaptive suspension and its excellent, a step above the Tesla I'd say.

 

[MrT3]

Although insurance is a bit steep apparently UK insurance companies deem Tesla security as below par. My guess would be the smartphone access is disliked but don’t see how this is any less secure than an RFID keyless entry personally.

Thatcham doesn't like how some security feature are implemented so didn't give them a very high rating - they are probably too old school to understand how Tesla are doing things, but Tesla doesn't help the situation by not fitted the basic things like locking wheel nuts.

Some insurance companies don't seem to like Tesla, but Direct Line/Churchill are ok with their premiums.

 

[yessuz]

Thatcham doesn't like how some security feature are implemented so didn't give them a very high rating - they are probably too old school to understand how Tesla are doing things, but Tesla doesn't help the situation by not fitted the basic things like locking wheel nuts.

Some insurance companies don't seem to like Tesla, but Direct Line/Churchill are ok with their premiums.

direct line looks like is Tesla's partner for insurance.
still cost me ~900 a year, while last private insurance I had 6 years ago (company cars since then) was 350

 

[dog299]

Did you not consider the i4?

This is a live debate in our house currently.

I have test driven one of these (RWD lowest spec version) and whilst I was impressed (ticked alot of boxes and I used to have a GOLF R and GTI) it didn't excite me.

As someone else mentioned it is oddly expensive in UK for what you get. The GTX Max fully spec version is close to the MY money.

The ID5 does offer a slightly newer spec (bigger battery, slightly faster charging, new OS etc) yet is even more money than the ID4.

The Tesla is somewhat (in my opinion) more interesting and is perhaps the EV benchmark (for better or worse).

All the reviews I saw of the ID4 and early comments on the ID5 constantly compare to Tesla 'almost as good' or 'kinda like a Tesla' which for the same money makes me think, why not get what people are always comparing these cars to? (strange logic maybe).

Again this thread is super interesting. I do like the m135i, it hasn't been as exciting as the Golf R was but there lots of things I will miss.

 

[yessuz]

This is a live debate in our house currently.

I have test driven one of these (RWD lowest spec version) and whilst I was impressed (ticked alot of boxes and I used to have a GOLF R and GTI) it didn't excite me.

As someone else mentioned it is oddly expensive in UK for what you get. The GTX Max fully spec version is close to the MY money.

The ID5 does offer a slightly newer spec (bigger battery, slightly faster charging, new OS etc) yet is even more money than the ID4.

The Tesla is somewhat (in my opinion) more interesting and is perhaps the EV benchmark (for better or worse).

All the reviews I saw of the ID4 and early comments on the ID5 constantly compare to Tesla 'almost as good' or 'kinda like a Tesla' which for the same money makes me think, why not get what people are always comparing these cars to? (strange logic maybe).

Again this thread is super interesting. I do like the m135i, it hasn't been as exciting as the Golf R was but there lots of things I will miss.

as I was making similar decision, for me the main factor was - even if others are the same quality/spec/price, Tesla's SC network is just added bonus which others cannot have (at the moment at least).

 

[DM206433]

oddly expensive in UK

It's way overpriced in my opinion by the time you've put some basic options on it. I'm sure it'll still sell well if any stock ever gets into the country. I sat in one in the showroom and quite liked the cabin, but I do actually prefer the Tesla as a place to be, if you discount the usability of course

I do like the m135i, it hasn't been as exciting as the Golf R was but there lots of things I will miss.

The M135i was a pretty good all-round car but I actually fount it to be quite 'sterile' compared to some other cars I've owned previously is the best way I can describe it. Even though the Tesla makes no noise, I'm definitely having more fun in it compared to the M135i. And I do quite like that when I get 'bored' of the performance I can pay for the acceleration boost and not void any warranties, etc.

 

[Leejmoff]

Nice breakdown review. I do agree with Spotify not updating playlists, its annoying as hell. Plus I'm already used to the Sat Nav, but it could be better with Google Maps imo.

Watching my neighbour scrape the car and wait 20 minutes freezing this morning in -2 Deg made me feel glad I don't have to do that with the M3.

 

[DM206433]

Nice breakdown review. I do agree with Spotify not updating playlists, its annoying as hell. Plus I'm already used to the Sat Nav, but it could be better with Google Maps imo.

Watching my neighbour scrape the car and wait 20 minutes freezing this morning in -2 Deg made me feel glad I don't have to do that with the M3.

Wonder if anyone has found a solution to get it to kick into life and sync without having to reboot. I'd have thought with my car connected to wifi while on the drive at home it would just sync automatically, but nope.

I'm amazed at how quickly the cabin warms up. Last night when I finished tennis it was -1°c outside, I set the car to 20°c in the app and by the time I got out of the building and to the car I just got the notification to say it had reached temperature. Heat pump magic maybe.

 

[dog299]

The M135i was a pretty good all-round car but I actually fount it to be quite 'sterile'

Great way to explain M135i ownership. It is a good experience but have had more engaging cars (Golf R was amazing but size and current needs are now different).

if any stock ever gets into the country

That was another factor; the long uncertain wait of the ID4/ID5 (and my personal experience at the local VW garage) was crazy.
No one knew anything or what might actually arrive when it does (ie some options might be changed/removed before delivery etc).

 

[yessuz]

Watching my neighbour scrape the car and wait 20 minutes freezing this morning in -2 Deg made me feel glad I don't have to do that with the M3.

why? why would you wait 20 minutes after scraping car?
use any spare plastic card to scrape windshield and 2 side windows. 1 minute and you can go anyway...

 

[dog299]

The M135i wasn't the worst car I've driven for ride quality (if you discount how badly I got on the seat and just consider the suspension)

I agree.

Over this festive period I was a passenger in the back of the car for the first time (usually the main driver).

This was on one of our infrequent longer journeys (though one given the age of relatives we might need to make more often going forward) and I was shocked how bad the ride quality and space was.

Granted this unfair as the m135i is a hot hatch but just cemented our decision to change and my hope is the ride in the MY is at least better than this BMW.

I have heard and read some crazy negative reviews online about the MY and to a lesser extent the M3 in this regard. Not expecting it to be class leading yet hoping for an improvement.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

This is a live debate in our house currently.

I have test driven one of these (RWD lowest spec version) and whilst I was impressed (ticked alot of boxes and I used to have a GOLF R and GTI) it didn't excite me.

As someone else mentioned it is oddly expensive in UK for what you get. The GTX Max fully spec version is close to the MY money.

The ID5 does offer a slightly newer spec (bigger battery, slightly faster charging, new OS etc) yet is even more money than the ID4.

The Tesla is somewhat (in my opinion) more interesting and is perhaps the EV benchmark (for better or worse).

All the reviews I saw of the ID4 and early comments on the ID5 constantly compare to Tesla 'almost as good' or 'kinda like a Tesla' which for the same money makes me think, why not get what people are always comparing these cars to? (strange logic maybe).

Again this thread is super interesting. I do like the m135i, it hasn't been as exciting as the Golf R was but there lots of things I will miss.

Are you thinking ID4 or BMW i4? I was mentioend the BMW as many of the features the OP was missing would be on the BMW. As pointed out its more but lease prices are lower so presumably they think depreciation will be lower over the period, but it's all crystal ball stuff. I just tried to configure one and you can't even order one with a rear view camera at the moment because of supply issues. It must be crippling the car makers that they can't meet demand and Tesla seems to be able to (USB sockets aside).

 

[Xdama]

why? why would you wait 20 minutes after scraping car?
use any spare plastic card to scrape windshield and 2 side windows. 1 minute and you can go anyway...

Why scrape a car & have to drive it to feel heat when you can preheat/de ice beforehand? I love the scheduled departure feature on the M3 & the speed the heater works. The BM I had was awful at heating the cabin from cold.

I thought of something else I won’t miss with BMW too ….. the almost monthly trips to a service centre to get this or that updated, topped up, checked that came in with the change from fixed term service. My last 6 months ownership of the 6 series I had 5 visits to my local dealer for varying reasons that would have been done in 1 fixed service a few years ago.

Picking up a couple of points, the Tesla sat nav isn’t google, many think it is because they overlay the route on a google map but that’s purely for show. The built in nav is, like many things, a Tesla work in progress.

We’ve a BMW as well as a Tesla, your point about seat comfort I recognise but I miss the lateral support in the Tesla and I wish the Tesla seats went lower.

Suspension wise, if you’re enthusiastic down country lanes I find the Tesla set up becomes harder to place the car. The Tesla brakes are also poor in comparison but the instant torque of the Tesla makeup for it.

Did you not consider the i4? Most of your negatives would disappear while keeping most of the pluses. It’s on my short list for when we next change.

I considered the I4, Kia Ev6, Mustang E as well as the M3. Mine is leased through my business and costs for the M3 were much lower than any of the above plus the lead times for the other were all at least 4 months & I got offered a daft amount for my BMW on Motorway due to the chip shortages for new cars. VW was never a consideration as I just don’t like the look of any of their EV range plus the decision to have snail acceleration compared to others manufacturers. My wife has had a Kona E for a year and the BMW 630D could barely keep up with that 0-60. Buggered if I was getting an EV that she could leave for dust.

- Access. I always park with the yoke inverted. Which leaves you masses of space to get in and out. Ideal for me if I'm wearing thick walking boots without having to adjust memory seats.

You could just have set comfort access on the M3 to move steering wheel, lift & move seat

I can understand the rest of your points though lol. I kind of like the fact the M3 has quite a lot of accessories available online.

 

[Adopado]

That’s the main reason for the option to set the height lower, but I think the question was more to do with why it was set lower on collection of a new vehicle.

Maybe during transport and delivery the cars will be packed in restricted height areas… on the ships or on transporters.

 

[Fox86]

Interesting review and I’d agree with the majority

For anyone whose coming from BMWs (which seems to be quite a lot on here) I compared the M3 LR to my previous 3:
2009 E82 120d coupe
2015 F21 m135i 3dr hatch
2018 F36 440i Gran Coupe

Interesting what you say about the seats, I really miss the under thigh support on the BMW seats with that piece that can be extended out manually to make the base longer (don’t miss the gap where dust and dirt collects though ) I miss how low you sit in a BMW too.

Ride wise I got rid of my m135i as it was practically unusable for 6 months of the year, combination of short wheel base, RWD, silly tyre choice by BMW and the set up of the car meant I had very little confidence in it. It felt quite skittish and lively all the time, which is great when you want a bit of fun but not for a daily driver (maybe I’m getting old). Switched to the 440i which was a far more stable and easy car to live with and the hatch back was awesome when you did need to carry a lot of stuff or a filthy dog. When I test drove a Tesla the dealer in Stratford upon Avon only had a SR+ and Performance version, so I took the performance one out as its 4WD and closer to the LR version I wanted. I have to say even the performance version on 20” wheels rode far more comfortably than the BMW did (my 440i didn’t have adaptive suspension and was M-Sport+ so had the 19” wheels) now I have the LR on the standard 18” wheels it is a far softer ride than any of the BMWs I’ve owned.

Slightly off topic my work mate has the F40 M135i hatchback and I did seriously consider it but the 2L turbo 4 pot felt lacking compared to the 3L straight 6 turbo and the ZF 8 speed auto is better than the Asian 8 speed auto in the part time 4WD cars. The Golf R and Audi S3 felt a bit more exciting and lively too, but it felt like you had to thrash these 2L engines to go quickly where as the 3L was just effortless (I miss that engines noise most of all and it‘s efficiency wasn’t that bad on a long run) The interior on the latest BMWs is a real plus in my opinion, they look fantastic and the quality exceeds all the other German OEMs and Tesla. I test drove a M340i X-Drive and it blew me away, as did the price, fuel economy and tax though

If BMW could make an i4 comparable to the M3 LR in performance and price I’d be all over it. With the way it’s going though Tesla will probably just continue getting more expensive rather than a BMW getting cheaper.

 

[yessuz]

Why scrape a car & have to drive it to feel heat when you can preheat/de ice beforehand?

while I agree on that (loved this in my BMW 330e and will be utilizing in model 3), I am asking WHY would you scrape car and wait for 20 minutes?

with ICE car is simple: start engine, max fan to windshield and heat rear window (+ turn on seat heaters if have such), get out of the car, scrape it with engine running for 1 minute (neutral gear + hand brake of course), get in the car and drive.

20 mins were exaggerated from your side, I hope.

 

[Adopado]

I'm amazed at how quickly the cabin warms up. Last night when I finished tennis it was -1°c outside, I set the car to 20°c in the app and by the time I got out of the building and to the car I just got the notification to say it had reached temperature. Heat pump magic maybe.

Nothing to do with the heat pump (resistive heating in older cars probably a bit quicker if anything). It’s just that you don’t have to wait for the ICE to heat through before you get any worthwhile heat into the cabin. The engine has to prioritise its own requirements to minimise wear, emissions and fuel consumption.

 

[DM206433]

Nothing to do with the heat pump (resistive heating in older cars probably a bit quicker if anything). It’s just that you don’t have to wait for the ICE to heat through before you get any worthwhile heat into the cabin. The engine has to prioritise its own requirements to minimise wear, emissions and fuel consumption.

Makes sense. Its very impressive however it works

 

[DM206433]

I test drove a M340i X-Drive

I strongly considered one of these and test drove a couple of them. But then I thought that if I was going to spend that much money to change, it might as well be into something that's at least forward thinking and will overall cost me less to run.

 

[dog299]

Are you thinking ID4 or BMW i4?

Sorry should have been clearer the main consideration was the VW ID4 and ID5.

We are looking to move away from the hot hatch/saloon body shape. The BMW i4 does looks exciting but the cost/body shape and as you mentioned some 'must have' (in my opinion) tech missing means it is off the card.

We did for a hot moment think about the iX but the cost goes up even further - we are PCP buyers rather than leasing - I cant lease through work and never been fully comfortable with the dynamics of leasing.

We did consider and sit in the EV6 but my impressions were not positive (plastic....) and then again sat in the Ioniq 5 yet were concerned its design might age quickly.

After reading people's comments here I am feeling more confident re; the ride experience BMW M135i vs Tesla - that was certainly my opinion from the Model 3 test drive I had.