What little things will we miss on the 3?

[Avendit]

So, completely get that Tesla are to some extent learning which features are important, which can be replicated in software and which people can do with out. But which little things are people worried or suspect that they are used to that aren't going to be on an M3? This isn't Tesla bashing, this is just self expectation management - trying to find the things I've not thought of and get over them before the car turns up. The only thing the press seem to have come up with is heated steering wheel and cooled seats, neither of which I even knew were a thing.

The ones I'm unsure of so far (vs my 2011 high spec VAG based Leon) are:

• Headlights that look where you are going as you go around corners (the 3 at least has Xenons right?)
• Auto volume on the stereo?? Assume that most cars have this now, but haven't seen it explicitly mentioned anywhere.
• Soft indicate - gentle touch for 3 blinks of an indicator? Test drove a 2019 Swift for my wife and it didn't have this, which horrified me!
• Auto dim rear view mirror
• Heated windscreen wash (part of the winter pack with heated seats in the VAG) and side mirrors?

Any others or can anyone that has taken ownership comment on these ones?

Avendit

 

[WannabeOwner]

Auto volume on the stereo??

Increase as the engine gets louder? (I'm being factious of course there is more road noise at speed )

I can't say I have noticed that the volume is wrong and had to adjust it (slow or fast motorway) but I haven't seen an option for it

Auto dim rear view mirror

I reckon - as in "never noticed a problem"

Headlights that look where you are going as you go around corners

Model-S doesn't have that (only fog lights coming on at one corner to assist with turning) and when you turn into someone's drive they greet you with "one of your fog lights isn't working"

 

[Yev000]

Things ill miss coming from an old bmw 7 series.... (if the 3 doesn't have it)

Button that closes the boot and powered boot in general.

Auto dimming mirrors (all of them)

Auto lowering mirrors when you reverse to see the kerb. Although i imagine the cameras will do this on the 3

Powered Folding mirrors

Steering wheel that retracts and goes up as you put the car in park to make it easier getting out.

Powered steering wheel adjustment

Soft close doors. You just have to gently latch the door and it pulls it into lock. No slamming.

That's it i think.

 

[RamsfanJim]

Android Auto - I have a Leaf at present and clearly waiting for the upgrade to Model 3, but losing Android Auto is a major downgrade for me. Not looking forward to going back to needing phone holder, wires trailing around car etc..

 

[Avendit]

Android Auto - I have a Leaf at present and clearly waiting for the upgrade to Model 3, but losing Android Auto is a major downgrade for me. Not looking forward to going back to needing phone holder, wires trailing around car etc..

Although the 3 comes with a dock point for 2 phones and neat cable routing? Easy upgrade to QI charging if your phone supports it.

 

[ACarneiro]

• Windscreen wiper controls on a stalk! That has to be THE one for me
• Heated windscreen (lush when the whole car is iced over, you can start driving in 2 minutes)

 

[RamsfanJim]

Although the 3 comes with a dock point for 2 phones and neat cable routing? Easy upgrade to QI charging if your phone supports it.

Yes - without Android Auto will need to be able to see and access phone for Waze, Audio Books, Music etc while driving, so will need phone holder and wire to USB point for charging.

 

[VT_EE]

So, completely get that Tesla are to some extent learning which features are important, which can be replicated in software and which people can do with out. But which little things are people worried or suspect that they are used to that aren't going to be on an M3? This isn't Tesla bashing, this is just self expectation management - trying to find the things I've not thought of and get over them before the car turns up. The only thing the press seem to have come up with is heated steering wheel and cooled seats, neither of which I even knew were a thing.

The ones I'm unsure of so far (vs my 2011 high spec VAG based Leon) are:

• Headlights that look where you are going as you go around corners (the 3 at least has Xenons right?)
• Auto volume on the stereo?? Assume that most cars have this now, but haven't seen it explicitly mentioned anywhere.
• Soft indicate - gentle touch for 3 blinks of an indicator? Test drove a 2019 Swift for my wife and it didn't have this, which horrified me!
• Auto dim rear view mirror
• Heated windscreen wash (part of the winter pack with heated seats in the VAG) and side mirrors?

Any others or can anyone that has taken ownership comment on these ones?

Avendit

- The LED headlights are excellent. I don’t notice any difference between the 3 and my high end Mazda 6 with adaptive lights.
- Auto volume. Don’t know
- 3-blinks. Works just like BMW. Half push is 3 blinks, full push is continuous.
- auto rear view mirror - has this
- Pretty sure the side mirrors are heated. Not sure about the washer fluid

 

[VT_EE]

Things ill miss coming from an old bmw 7 series.... (if the 3 doesn't have it)

Button that closes the boot and powered boot in general.

Auto dimming mirrors (all of them)

Auto lowering mirrors when you reverse to see the kerb. Although i imagine the cameras will do this on the 3

Powered Folding mirrors

Steering wheel that retracts and goes up as you put the car in park to make it easier getting out.

Powered steering wheel adjustment

Soft close doors. You just have to gently latch the door and it pulls it into lock. No slamming.

That's it i think.

The 3 has everything you listed except:
- Soft close doors
- Powered trunk lid

 

[Gordon87]

Although the 3 comes with a dock point for 2 phones and neat cable routing? Easy upgrade to QI charging if your phone supports it.

At least 4 options currently for wireless phone charging. The devices sit inside the console opening in the front: Tesla, Jeda, Nomad & Taptes. There are threads discussing these.

 

[VT_EE]

• Windscreen wiper controls on a stalk! That has to be THE one for me
• Heated windscreen (lush when the whole car is iced over, you can start driving in 2 minutes)

Since you don’t have to wait for the vehicle to warm an engine, the normal defrost function quickly melts frost without needing the elements built into the windshield. You can also use you phone to activate it while you’re eating breakfast.

 

[Gordon87]

Powered Folding mirrors

Steering wheel that retracts and goes up as you put the car in park to make it easier getting out.

Powered steering wheel adjustment

Power folding mirrors work automatically. I don’t recall having to even select the option.

Both of these others are set through the Driver's Profile option in the touchscreen's Controls window (and using the buttons on the steering wheel). As to steering wheel retraction: When you set up the Driver Profile, after you set up the general profile (which allows you to set the steering wheel, the driver's seat and the driver's side mirror), check the "Use Easy Entry" box and then, set how the seat and steering wheel should move upon Easy Entry. Then, when you put the car in park, it will automatically go to your Easy Entry settings. When you get back in the car and push the brake, it will automatically go from your Easy Entry settings to your Driver Profile settings. Works perfectly.

 

[Avendit]

How does it pick a driver profile? If I approach with my phone I can see it sets my driver profile. But if I get in driver's seat, and wife gets in passenger with her also registered phone, can it tell who is where to set the right profile?

 

[ewoodrick]

Probably one of the biggest things that you will miss, especially to begin with is the On/Off button.

Next biggest, but again, it will take a little, fumbling through various arcane button contortions and screens to change things.

Having to quickly switch between accelerator and brake, for that matter, you'll tend to miss a lot of braking

The quality time that you spend at a petrol station

Watching a plane pass overhead and getting upset that the roof blocked the view

The fact that the car can look pretty cool when wet and in light.

Having to steer as much

Having to pay so much for petrol

The Teslas in front of you when you punch it from 0-60

In the near future, having to get wet walking to the car in a parking lot.

Having to hold your phone to browse the web while driving, as well as squinting at a small screen.

Having to lock and unlock the doors

You're definitely right, there are a lot of things that you will miss!!

 

[Gordon87]

How does it pick a driver profile? If I approach with my phone I can see it sets my driver profile. But if I get in driver's seat, and wife gets in passenger with her also registered phone, can it tell who is where to set the right profile?

At this time, the software is not sophisticated enough to select. But you can easily set up two Driver's Profiles and whichever person gets in the driver's seat can easily select the right profile from the upper right on the touchscreen when entering the car.

One word of caution: The default driver's profile is the last one used, so if the shorter/smaller driver last drove the car and the taller/bigger driver gets in next, that person should select his/her driver's profile before putting their foot on the brake (or else the shorter/smaller person's profile will move the seat and steering wheel).

People have suggested that the software should be updated to "see" who opens the driver's door or sits in the driver's seat and automatically select that Driver's Profile, but I don't know how difficult this would be to program.

 

[Avendit]

Technically with the 4 BT receivers (someone said) they should be able to directional effects, like knowing which phone approached from which side. But I guess that is lower down the to-do list than the ai stuff promised to the bank manager.

 

[MrBadger]

Model-S doesn't have that (only fog lights coming on at one corner to assist with turning) and when you turn into someone's drive they greet you with "one of your fog lights isn't working"

I've never owned a car with this (at least that I know of) so I'm one of those people who wonder what the point of them are. Let me guess, it's a way of prematurely aging a bulb fitted in a tough to reach place that will allow a dealer to charge a small fortune just to fix on a light that quite often is otherwise turned on once a year during the MOT.

 

[Avendit]

Navigating in unlit areas with tight corners they help you see the edge of the corner a bit better. Its useful in those 5% of times, and does look pretty stupid the other 95%. The steerable headlights mean they are always pointing at the road which I find really good. You hardly notice it day to day but its helping keep your dipped lights pointing where they need to the whole time.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Button that closes the boot and powered boot in general.

Model S/X, not Model-3

Auto lowering mirrors when you reverse to see the kerb.

There is an options setting for that - so your choice

Although i imagine the cameras will do this on the 3

If you let it park itself then yes

Powered Folding mirrors

Yes - again, its an option.

Steering wheel that retracts and goes up as you put the car in park to make it easier getting out.

There is Easy Exit mode ... I assumed it was for people for whom "getting in shape" is "Round"

Alternatively create a Profile called "Chill" (you don't just have seat memory 1, 2, 3, 4, you can have quite a few, each Named). I use that for when I want to "work" in the car - at Supercharger for example.

My personal view on Exit Profile is that I don;t want to have to wait whilst everything moves about ... but if I was infirm it would certainly be handy.

Powered steering wheel adjustment

Yup, and that is remembered with your profile

Soft close doors

Model-X only

Heated windscreen (lush when the whole car is iced over, you can start driving in 2 minutes)

Nah, that's so naughties Just put the Car Climate on, heat [or cool of course] the whole thing, and that will also defrost the screen. Can be done using a scheduler (if you leave for work, Mon-Fri, at a specific time and geofenced - so only if the car is parked at e.g. Home (ditto for parked-at-work shortly before your departure time) ... or use Phone APP for one-offs.

How does it pick a driver profile? If I approach with my phone I can see it sets my driver profile. But if I get in driver's seat, and wife gets in passenger with her also registered phone, can it tell who is where to set the right profile?

The Model-s/x has that. Each Key can be associated with a Driver Profile. If my wife gets to the car first that's what the seat does ... regardless of who gets into / opens the drivers door. If I get out at Supercharger, to plug in, car resets to her settings ... and so on. It was an OTA update since I got the car, so maybe "better than before" but not perfect. In old days on a trip I would do all the diving, set the profile, and it would stay like that until the next time my wife used the car - and changed it. If only one of us travels its fine. Don't think the Model-3 has "Assign profile to key" ?

I've never owned a car with this (at least that I know of) so I'm one of those people who wonder what the point of them are. Let me guess, it's a way of prematurely aging a bulb fitted in a tough to reach place that will allow a dealer to charge a small fortune just to fix on a light that quite often is otherwise turned on once a year during the MOT.

Its better than it sounds. Handy when turning at slow speed (manoeuvring) as it highlights adjacent items on the side you are turning towards. LED bulbs, so probably going to last longer than my ownership of the car ...

 

[seattlite2004]

If you had it...you will miss the heated steering wheel.