As someone who is in the waiting room for a model 3 performance and an owner of bmw m2, I can say that tesla sure has overtaken bmw currently. However, I can also say that most people who buy bmws lease their cars as they want a new car every 3 to 4 years. Will be interesting to see what will happen once those "mainstream" model 3 owners, not the tesla fanboys who had a deposit down on day 1, get tired of their model 3 or y.
I am one of those "BMW mainstream" people who leased basically only BMWs for both my wife and I for the past 15 years or so. My model 3 performance (purchased in 2018) replaced an estoril blue 435 M sport model, pretty much every option that BMW puts on that vehicle from the factory, including the M performance power and sound kit, adjustable suspension, etc. It had an MSRP north of 65k (leased it, and did not pay anywhere near that for it but that gives BMW people an idea of the options selected for that vehicle).
Anyway, when it went back, I didnt want a 440, and was going to lease an M3. since they were not being made any longer I couldnt order it, but had found one I wanted that BMW had made at the end of it the f80 run in individual color for no additional charge, in a color I really liked (one of the greys, I forget the exact name).
Anyway, went to test drive a model 3 performance, and never finished negotiating on the M3. I have my model 3 performance a little more than 2 years now, and like it as much as I did when I got it. By this time, I am normally pricing out replacement cars. Part of it, for me, is that I like technology, and would always get annoyed how "the new BMWs" did something mine didnt, even though I ordered every option. The other was, I needed to drive it in sport mode to be happy with how it drove, which ment I got about 17-18 MPG. It also didnt "love" to drive slow, so cruising in it was not "great".
My model 3 performance solves both of those issues for me. It drives great, is very comfortable to cruise in as well, is faster in usable speed than my 435 was (significantly so), and I dont have to get annoyed because "iDrive 7 will have XXX but your car leased 2 years ago wont have that feature because you have iDrive 6". My model 3 performance is faster, quicker, and much cheaper to operate.
I wont be going back to an ICE vehicle as a daily driver. My wife still has a leased X3 M40, and not sure what I will replace it with when the lease is up. She doesnt like the look of a model Y, we cant afford a new model X. We might keep it, since she only put 5k miles on it in 2 years so far.... even though buying out BMW leases is normally not a smart idea due to the inflated residuals BMW assigns to their cars when leased through BMW FS.
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moderator note:
I have been looking at this thread for a couple of days, wondering if it should stay here in this section. The video is one on BMW (so not model 3 relevant). I havent watched it, but doubt its a comparo between the two vehicles. The thread isnt couched as a "comparing a model 3 and XXXX BMW" which would make it belong here.
On the other hand, the model 3 specifically is a direct competitor to the 3 series (among other vehicles), and a comparison between the two vehicles would be appropriate here. The thread is more about BMW than tesla model 3s though.
In the end, I decided to leave it here and hope that the discussion would be between BMW and tesla model 3s and why people picked one over the other, which would be appropriate here.
