MrBadger
Badger out
Wow, a UK section of the forum talking about BMW's gets taken over by Yanks discussing road trips that are probably longer than the whole of GB 
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Tesla Model 3 vs BMW 3-series - a personal view
- Thread starter pdk42
- Start date
It has been 25+ years since I left UK and it was nice to have a nostalgic reminder seeing words like smarmy, tosspots and cracking read. You don't see that in US at all.
Wow, a UK section of the forum talking about BMW's gets taken over by Yanks discussing road trips that are probably longer than the whole of GB
I really laughed out loud at this, hard. Glad I am WFH today!
It's here:
Tesla Model 3 - thoughts coming from BMW
Actually lots of very informed and thoughtful replies there too.
Tesla Model 3 - thoughts coming from BMW
Actually lots of very informed and thoughtful replies there too.
Well, I ordered on Aug 13th and the first formal communication I got was a text on Sept 21st with a collection appointment on Sept 30th. However, I did send a WhatsApp msg to the guy in the Solihull store who was super helpful and he told me early Sept that I had a car allocated, which I confirmed in my "hidden VIN" in the page source.
I've driven two separate Model 3s the same 1,500 mile (2,415 km) route from Los Angeles -> Dallas via the I-40 to El Paso & I-20 to Dallas route. One was a 3D LR non-P w/ 19s, and the other a P3D+ (the one with 20s that gets s#*t efficiency even at 65 MPH). Zero issues with range and SCing, and I made the same stops (I actually skipped a planned SC in the non-P, and a different planned one in the P3D+). In the P3D+ I drove parts of the desert route at the maximum speed AutoPilot allows (90 MPH), efficiency be damned. My longest leg was 224 miles @ 106% Efficiency (215 Wh/Mile in the 3D non-P w/ OEM 19s), this used 68% of battery capacity, an estimated 48 kWh; I left at 92% and arrived at 24%. This was between the Wilcox and El Paso SCs, and is the leg where I skipped a planned stop because I felt like driving for longer. I normally prefer shorter stints, usually by the time I get back from using the facilities the car is charged to where it needs to be so I arrive at the next SC with my preferred buffer -- this also allows most/all of the charging to be in the sweetspot of charging speed on the LR pack, I try to arrive at slightly under 20% and charge to 55-70% depending on how far the next SC is. The above 224 mile leg just kinda happened, I took a little longer at the Wilcox stop and I ended up way way overcharging (to 92%!) and that's what ultimately drove the decision to skip a planned SC stop and keep going because I didn't feel nature calling and efficiency/battery SoC was looking great.
I'm relating this because it's absolutely not an issue, the LR in particular affords great flexibility on the existing SC network even in some of the remote/desert areas I drove thru in the US.
P.S. Sorry to our UK hosts, tho I hope you find this at least mildly interesting
Great review, thanks!
I had a 2010 Infiniti G37x which was supposed to be a BMW 3 series killer/competitor depending on who you read. I loved that car. It was fast (330 hp), handled great and was really fun to drive.
I recently bought the LR AWD Model 3. The process was amazing. My son and I showed up, and took the 3 out for a half hour test drive. The rep answered all our questions, pointed out the important points of the car and left us alone. No pressure, no smarmy sales guy. Every other place i have been, Honda, Mazda, Infiniti, Toyota, Acura has made me want to shower when I got home. Negotiating a trade in value, true pain. Tesla gave me a firm figure for my trade in, maybe a little low, but reasonable and no hassle.
I ordered the car with a text to my sales rep. 9 days later, I drove in, and picked up my Tesla. I had to wait an extra half hour, in a nicely appointed waiting area with designer coffee and tea. It was near quarter end, and the rep said they moved a ton of cars that day. Long and short, the whole process was refreshing and simple.
I love the model 3, you dont get quite the same visceral feel when driving a little too fast on the back road twisties as the Infiniti, but the massive acceleration, luxurious ride, and amazing tech make me look for reasons to drive this car. You feel like a god when you mash the accelerator. When I get v10 and Netflix in the car, I may just go to the garage after dinner and watch blockbusters with amazing sound.
When I bought the car, I thought I would have difficulty justifying the price, I don't think about that any more. I thought I would miss my G37x, a little, but very little. Tesla has built a real car company from scratch in a handful of years. Of course they have things to learn, but like every area of their business theyhave triedto rethink and simplify it. There are areas to improve. They will make mistakes. The huge high tech aspirations they have will have issues, but I have a lot of patience for that since I really feel they are trying to improve the world and my driving experience, whle trying to build a profitable business.
My advice to friends now is, if you can afford a Tesla, buy one!
I had a 2010 Infiniti G37x which was supposed to be a BMW 3 series killer/competitor depending on who you read. I loved that car. It was fast (330 hp), handled great and was really fun to drive.
I recently bought the LR AWD Model 3. The process was amazing. My son and I showed up, and took the 3 out for a half hour test drive. The rep answered all our questions, pointed out the important points of the car and left us alone. No pressure, no smarmy sales guy. Every other place i have been, Honda, Mazda, Infiniti, Toyota, Acura has made me want to shower when I got home. Negotiating a trade in value, true pain. Tesla gave me a firm figure for my trade in, maybe a little low, but reasonable and no hassle.
I ordered the car with a text to my sales rep. 9 days later, I drove in, and picked up my Tesla. I had to wait an extra half hour, in a nicely appointed waiting area with designer coffee and tea. It was near quarter end, and the rep said they moved a ton of cars that day. Long and short, the whole process was refreshing and simple.
I love the model 3, you dont get quite the same visceral feel when driving a little too fast on the back road twisties as the Infiniti, but the massive acceleration, luxurious ride, and amazing tech make me look for reasons to drive this car. You feel like a god when you mash the accelerator. When I get v10 and Netflix in the car, I may just go to the garage after dinner and watch blockbusters with amazing sound.
When I bought the car, I thought I would have difficulty justifying the price, I don't think about that any more. I thought I would miss my G37x, a little, but very little. Tesla has built a real car company from scratch in a handful of years. Of course they have things to learn, but like every area of their business theyhave triedto rethink and simplify it. There are areas to improve. They will make mistakes. The huge high tech aspirations they have will have issues, but I have a lot of patience for that since I really feel they are trying to improve the world and my driving experience, whle trying to build a profitable business.
My advice to friends now is, if you can afford a Tesla, buy one!
I'm curious if anyone has actually done a side by side of the latest auto steer product in the latest 3 series and autopilot. I've only found a few videos of the 3 series and it seems to be very sorted in the sense that it tries to do 99% of what AP does - no nav on autopilot which is largely just a junction exit thing and a fraction of the journey - but it does the 99% as well and its nag system seems to monitor the drivers attention rather than rely on a wheel tug, pro's and cons of both
The Tesla system seems to be immediately held up as the best but there's a whole new crop of systems and as the BMW one will be a later version of the mobileye system used for AP1, and that still holds its own against the latest stuff, you do wonder. The mindset seems to be old school auto only release when they think its ready ad play it safe, Tesla push the boundary and if you're honest they have releaed some pretty shocking versions that no driver would accept in a BMW because of expectations
So.. back to the question.. has anyone come across a decent comparison between the 2?
The Tesla system seems to be immediately held up as the best but there's a whole new crop of systems and as the BMW one will be a later version of the mobileye system used for AP1, and that still holds its own against the latest stuff, you do wonder. The mindset seems to be old school auto only release when they think its ready ad play it safe, Tesla push the boundary and if you're honest they have releaed some pretty shocking versions that no driver would accept in a BMW because of expectations
So.. back to the question.. has anyone come across a decent comparison between the 2?
It's a real pity that we don't get the same pre sales experience in the UK. It's clear that the Tesla UK organisation is stretched to its limit and beyond - and the result is patchy customer service; in some cases unacceptably so. Thankfully, the car is great so we live with it.
Would be nice to know that. I must say, I find the AP the most disappointing feature of the Model 3 compared to its hype.
vitesse
Active Member
AP works really well on the original non-Tesla sytem that we have but of course it does less (but better). I'm a bit confused about the latest cars as I thought autosteer was limited to cars ordered with FSD? Do you have that? How is the TACC?
MrBadger
Badger out
Autopilot is effectively TACC + auto steer
What EAP and/or FSD bring to the party is lane change whilst on AP
What EAP and/or FSD bring to the party is lane change whilst on AP
vitesse
Active Member
MrBadger
Badger out
It is driver prompted, or under NoA it is driver confirmed. The difference is who/what decides to make the lane change.
In US, NoA also allows unconfirmed - regulations restriction here but I'm not bothered by unconfirmed as its view of what lane and my view differ.
In US, NoA also allows unconfirmed - regulations restriction here but I'm not bothered by unconfirmed as its view of what lane and my view differ.
There are a few versions of the differences floating around like this one
EAP vs FSD upgrade
..but this is the only one I've seen that splits out the MCU and the Autopilot differences and recognised that the old AP1 can do a least one thing the others cant.
Tesla Info: differences between versions
EAP vs FSD upgrade
..but this is the only one I've seen that splits out the MCU and the Autopilot differences and recognised that the old AP1 can do a least one thing the others cant.
Tesla Info: differences between versions
Similar threads
