New M3 owner - Autopilot disappointment

[robert997]

I’m a week into M3p ownership - so its all new. On the whole I love it, and I’ve had a 5 month wait. However, I’m really disappointed with a couple of things, and I’d appreciate the forum’s help - is this normal, or am i doing something wrong?

1. Range. An NHS worker, I’m now driving instead of training it to London 3 days per week. It’s 121 miles each way, and even fully charged (302 miles when set to Trip instead daily limit), at 70 - 71 mph cruise control, I can’t get 242 miles return trip from a fully charged M3P. Really?
It’s easy enough to refill at a supercharger, but it’s been a surprise. I’ve checked and upped tyre pressures from 39 psi to the recommended 42 psi. (At 75mph it’s much less range again. I was assuming this is normal?)

2. Autopilot/adaptive cruise control. I’ve come from German cars with fairly response adaptive cruise. But this is really over-cautious. On a now almost empty motorway, cruising up behind a lorry in Lane 1 and indicating and moving into lane 2, the car really slows. It is really jittery too, lifting off-on-off-on and probably loses 2-4 mph throughout the overtake.

I appreciate it’s judging distance, but now I’m pulling out approx 200 yards before the truck and it’s still losing a great deal of speed way before I get near to the lorry. It’s way more sensitive than any previous car, and feels like an older generation not like something on my previous cars.

3. Auto steer. Accepting it’s Beta, it’s totally unusable. It ping-pongs between the white lines on the lane, and barely lasts 10 seconds before it self-cancels. Indicating to change lane is an ‘instant self-cancel’ too.

4. Headlights are set really short range, the auto high beam works well, and I know I can self-adjust these upwards. And I hate the wipers too, either manic or not enough.

So I would just appreciate some feedback from other owners. I’ve made these journeys on the M1 and M40, so various scenarios, and where I though the car would excel - on the motorway - it’s at it’s most frustrating.

I have read the manual which I downloaded, my expectations were much higher than this.

Are these your experiences, should I change settings (I am experimenting with warning/follow/distance etc) or should I ask for service?

All advice appreciated
Thanks
Robert

 

[Aye_Watt]

I’ve used autopilot twice. Two emergency stops later and I won’t use it again. No idea what caused the system to react like that but I’m fortunate no one rear ended me. Only had the car a few days.

 

[glide]

If you’re coming from a German auto you are going to be disappointed with things like ride quality, noise levels, headlights, etc...

Rated range is rated for California weather and driving conditions. So if you’re in the UK, always expect less.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

The ping-ponging isn't normal. If you're on a 2020.x version of the software I'd raise a service request to look at it, others have had the camera placement moved slightly to fix

Range sounds about right, taking into account high speed and time of year/temperature. see Tesla Range Table - Teslike.com
Stick below 65 and you should see range increase by ~50 miles
Precondition (just turn on Climate remotely, don't open the doors - boot/frunk is ok) for 20 mins while plugged in (but not charging) and you will gain a chunk of range which would have been used to warm the cabin & battery while driving.

 

[NigelT]

For the headlights i found them extremely poor initially. However, I went into the headlight adjustment menu and they performed a self level, much better now. It doesn’t seem clear about this in the manual

 

[ElectricJoules]

Auto steer. Accepting it’s Beta, it’s totally unusable. It ping-pongs between the white lines on the lane

Are you sure you are engaging autosteer (two quick times down on RHS stalk)? Is the steering wheel symbol below the indicated speed turning blue? Sounds like it's just using the system that prevents lane departure.

 

[MrBadger]

What version software are you on? The behaviour of some of your issues changed recently (around 2019.32 - 2019.36.x) and some newly delivered cars are running non standard versioning which fractionally predates those behavioural changes.

 

[AndrewGR]

I’ve recently found turning off a/c ( but still leaving heating on) dramatically improves range. I’ve gone from around 320Wh/m to 270 on a 16m journey I do frequently. Cruising at 65 is much more economical than 70. Auto steer works ok for me on motorways but is hardly worth the effort of hanging on to the steering wheel and re-engaging after passing. Cruise control requires a light foot on the pedal to avoid the slowing down problems the op described. On country roads its performance round bends is erratic and random hard braking may occur at any time - especially if it sees a truck coming the other way or a car turning off in front of you. Hardly fit for purpose off motorways.

 

[AndrewGR]

My headlights have been good from the start. Auto dip mostly works well. However, compared to my previous Nissan they are much more reluctant to dip when seeing the rear lights of another car ahead. I do think I get a few more flashes from oncoming vehicles that think I’m not dipped. I think this is because the beam is flat rather than being cut down on the right.

 

[Artiste]

I also came to the M3 from German cars - my last car was a new model Audi A6 - and like you I was disappointed by many aspects of the M3. I still am. The A6 knocks the M3 into a cocked hat in terms of comfort and refinement, especially over 40mph. It’s matrix LED headlights are fantastic and work flawlessly, as do the wipers. I’ve never had a single experience of phantom braking on adaptive cruise control in the A6, and it’s so much smoother in the way it brakes and accelerates. The M3 on TACC/NOA feels like there’s a learner driver behind the wheel, and after it slammed the brakes on three times on the motorway for no reason I regard it as not fit for purpose.

Needless to say the performance of the M3 is fantastic but in many other respects the car is deeply flawed. However, Elon has got us well trained - we tolerate idiosyncrasies on Tesla cars in a way we never would with other marques, and are grateful for every titbit he throws us by way of software upgrades.

 

[robert997]

Thanks everyone. I’m glad to know this is normal, and I need to recalibrate my expectations along with my headlights. I thought I was doing something wrong, needing to turn off the auto features for a soother drive, in marked contrast to my previous cars.

I am on the later software - 2020.4.2 - and I’ve been averaging < 300 wh/m on the journeys. I’m fairly certain I’ve been using the auto steer with the blue steering wheel symbol.

I didn’t appreciate that pre-heating before departure could have an impact on range either, I will try that for Monday.

I’ve learnt so much from this forum before and since delivery, I relay appreciate the feedback. I will continue to enjoy the performance, handling, cabin space, audio and being part of such a great community.

 

[nightowl]

I've used Autopilot and Autosteer a few times but to be honest my general preference is to drive without them. I've had only one instance of it braking suddenly, but I prefer to hang quite far back from the car in front which seems to lead to Autopilot making lots of speed adjustments way earlier than I'd like. Apparently reducing the distance can help that.

Autosteer hasn't pingponged for me. I've tried it on a relatively bendy A-road which has lanes of narrowing widths and it seems to navigate them fine, though admittedly I keep taking over because I fear it might get it wrong on the narrower parts and there's no barriers or markings at the side, just lots of grass and bushes.

So, generally I've found both functions to be mostly reliable when I've used them, just I like to be in control and switch to them if I want to rest my foot for a bit.

 

[DangerMouse]

Self driving just makes me tense, went through a tunnel the other day using autosteer. It rounded the bend 2 foot from the wall perfectly but it was just too stressful. It is like being in the car with a learner drive, I find it much more relaxing to just drive the car myself.

 

[Louis0w]

Self driving just makes me tense, went through a tunnel the other day using autosteer. It rounded the bend 2 foot from the wall perfectly but it was just too stressful. It is like being in the car with a learner drive, I find it much more relaxing to just drive the car myself.

The opposite for me. I use Autopilot (with or without NoA) every opportunity I can on motorway and A road journeys. The more you use the more you become confident, and aware of its capabilities and limitations. For me, it reduces the stress on long journeys. In my experience of using Autopilot (in the intended scenarios), the behaviour the OP describes is not typical.

 

[NLM3]

The opposite for me. I use Autopilot (with or without NoA) every opportunity I can on motorway and A road journeys. The more you use the more you become confident, and aware of its capabilities and limitations. For me, it reduces the stress on long journeys. In my experience of using Autopilot (in the intended scenarios), the behaviour the OP describes is not typical.

I agree completely, especially on long motorway journeys - much less tiring, and much safer in my opinion, than not using it.

 

[DaddyCool]

I use autosteer every day on the M8 - works really well (especially with knees giving rotation resistance ), indicator to change lane disengages it so you have to be ready to 'catch it' and then double click on the stalk and you are away again.

Wipers can be a little slow but a click on the wiper button sorts that.

It's great when overtaking lorries when you can see nothing beyond the bonnet due to the spray rain/wind
#UseTheForce

 

[Chippylad]

I agree completely, especially on long motorway journeys - much less tiring, and much safer in my opinion, than not using it.

This is my experience too. Normally very useful and relaxing with rare glitches which can be quickly corrected by driver

 

[DaddyCool]

It's a good test of your bottle on an A road, 60mph, tight bend, it starts going wrong and alarms red and asks you to take over - like WTF
I would be good if it linked with GPS and map data so it had a bit of prediction, say 20%, as well as the real world now data 80% for deciding speed. Nothing wrong with a bit of adrenalin.

 

[phillcom3]

I’m a week into M3p ownership - so its all new. On the whole I love it, and I’ve had a 5 month wait. However, I’m really disappointed with a couple of things, and I’d appreciate the forum’s help - is this normal, or am i doing something wrong?

1. Range. An NHS worker, I’m now driving instead of training it to London 3 days per week. It’s 121 miles each way, and even fully charged (302 miles when set to Trip instead daily limit), at 70 - 71 mph cruise control, I can’t get 242 miles return trip from a fully charged M3P. Really?
It’s easy enough to refill at a supercharger, but it’s been a surprise. I’ve checked and upped tyre pressures from 39 psi to the recommended 42 psi. (At 75mph it’s much less range again. I was assuming this is normal?)

2. Autopilot/adaptive cruise control. I’ve come from German cars with fairly response adaptive cruise. But this is really over-cautious. On a now almost empty motorway, cruising up behind a lorry in Lane 1 and indicating and moving into lane 2, the car really slows. It is really jittery too, lifting off-on-off-on and probably loses 2-4 mph throughout the overtake.

I appreciate it’s judging distance, but now I’m pulling out approx 200 yards before the truck and it’s still losing a great deal of speed way before I get near to the lorry. It’s way more sensitive than any previous car, and feels like an older generation not like something on my previous cars.

3. Auto steer. Accepting it’s Beta, it’s totally unusable. It ping-pongs between the white lines on the lane, and barely lasts 10 seconds before it self-cancels. Indicating to change lane is an ‘instant self-cancel’ too.

4. Headlights are set really short range, the auto high beam works well, and I know I can self-adjust these upwards. And I hate the wipers too, either manic or not enough.

So I would just appreciate some feedback from other owners. I’ve made these journeys on the M1 and M40, so various scenarios, and where I though the car would excel - on the motorway - it’s at it’s most frustrating.

I have read the manual which I downloaded, my expectations were much higher than this.

Are these your experiences, should I change settings (I am experimenting with warning/follow/distance etc) or should I ask for service?

All advice appreciated
Thanks
Robert

Autostear is strange, on some corners I don't expect to work it works fine then on gentle curves it just let's go I just have my hands ready to let go at any second. On motorways, where its designed for btw, its great but our UK roads are just too sharp. I guess when regulations let go and relax the 1.2 g limit it'll improve

 

[pgkevet]

I’m a week into M3p ownership - so its all new. On the whole I love it, and I’ve had a 5 month wait. However, I’m really disappointed with a couple of things, and I’d appreciate the forum’s help -

Dissapointment is a free extra with every Tesla - just wait until something needs fixing..

Actually it's not free. Its Elon's clever marketing stategy...it's built into the price and let you think it's free,,