[davewritescode]

As a person who’s owned some luxury cars in their life, going from a BMW to a Model3 feels like a really big downgrade in so many ways.

I can give a list of reasons why I didn’t buy an M3P at the time but quality, lack of repair options and really shitty interior topped the list.

Not having carplay/android auto or satellite radio were minor but still annoying in a car that cost so much money.

[ericd]

We've had the complete opposite experience with our BMW->Tesla move. Sure, the BMW had a very nice interior, that complaint gets a tons of play online, and it's not inaccurate. But you know what just blows that away? Getting into a car on a 100 degree day, and instead of scorching my skin on the leather, like I would with our old BMW, the seat is cold because I tapped a button on my phone 5 minutes before when we were about to head out. That is real luxury, and I appreciate it so much every single time. I stopped noticing the interior of the cars maybe two weeks after I bought each. Maybe that's just me.

And the thing is just automatically at a completely perfect temperature when we get into it in the morning. The automatic seat warmers that work in concert with climate control are a newish software feature, but wonderful.

Recently, one of our tires developed a bubble in the sidewall due to a curb impact, Tesla sent out a truck and they changed the tire inside our garage a couple hours after we noticed it and told them about it in the app. Not needing to interrupt my day to deal with the issue was a real luxury.

Music that picks up right where you left off when you come back.

A really efficient heat pump that makes it almost guilt free to just sit in the car and leave the AC running. All the things it enables, like camping mode! AC temperature keep mode!

Voice commands that actually work well.

A unified interface that controls everything about the car, and allows the voice commands to do everything from temperature changes to music searches to activating child window locks because our toddler needs to stop rolling down the windows and I can't take my eyes off the road to hunt for a setting (the voice commands obviated my biggest worry, the loss of physical controls).

There are just so many nice little touches that just work, and add up to make the experience much better than a BMW with carplay. I miss the exhaust note, the hardtop, the nice leather, fit and finish, but I would still choose the Tesla 10/10 times. And that would be the case against any legacy carmaker vehicle, except to go the complete opposite direction with full physical controls, basic radio, and no infotainment system at all. The legacy carmakers are still quite good at bolting together the mechanical components.

[tirant]

Interestingly, all those features you mention are also available on BMWs from the last years. Your comparison is not fair if you compare against an old BMW.

On the other hand, on all the Teslas I’ve tried I missed basic things like proper traffic sign recognition, proper adaptive headlights, proper automatic windshield wiper activation, safe lane keeping assistant, etc. those were unusable and unreliable on all Model 3 and Model Y I’ve tried. Not to mention how helpful is the 3D view for parking, also not available in any Tesla.

[ericd]

Are they all standard features on a BMW, or available as a dozen optional, rapaciously expensive add-ons? Or a subscription like the seat heaters? ;-)

I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the automatic wipers, but mine have always worked well, better than they did on my BMW. Maybe one of the software fixes in the past couple of years did it?

Unsure about the headlights, they seem to switch on at the appropriate times, but I’ve turned off auto-highbeams.

Autopilot’s been quite good for us, but we have a radar equipped model, can’t speak to vision-only, though my cousin has complained of phantom braking with their vision-only. The speeds listed have always been accurate, but perhaps you’re referring to a different use of sign recognition?

And it buzzes appropriately when it thinks I’m drifting out of the lane without a blinker.

So I guess I’ve just had a very different experience than you for whatever reason. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s the best I’ve seen, and I’d buy another if I needed a new car.

[puzzlingcaptcha]

>Music that picks up right where you left off when you come back.

I have this feature in my 2008 Renault Twingo.

[ericd]

Heh it’s not to say they’re all novel, but they’re all present as standard in the same car.

[mgraupner]

You should give the new BMW i4 a test, it's probably a much better car than the BMW you had. Built quality of BMW combined with the advantages of an electric car without the "features" of Elon Musk as discussed in here.