M3: First Impressions

[reidthaler]

It's 10:30 on Sunday night, and we just got back from having dinner and driving the M3 back from Freemont.

Our appt was at 3, but our car wasn't ready until a few hours later, like waiting at the airport for your relatives to arrive.

The Tesla center was right out of the Apple playbook: sleek, minimalist showroom, even down to the Tesla jackets: "Designed in California, Made in China."

I drove the car home. Lot of power, (what do we call it now? we don't "hit the gas," and saying accelerator is too long). It seems to be really, really nice. It looks great in black with the shiny 19" wheels Tesla comped us. A couple of things I'd change: I'll take some more buttons. Having everything on the screen is a challenge when I need reading glasses just to seem my phone, let alone the car screen. I'll have to look for some "driving bifocals" with clear on the top and +2.00 on the bottom. The side mirrors are a little small, and it's hard to see when someone is tailing me, given the cut of the real window. It's probably a safety feature so I don't get pissed off.

All in all, it all came together, and can't believe we have the car in the driveway a day less than ordering it a month ago. More solar panels will be installed tomorrow along with a 14-50 outlet.

Chat more soon,

Reid
Just north of San Francisco

Our dog Kona showing his approval of the M3 on display

 

[alloverx]

Nice summary. We need more dog photos, reviews and reports!

 

[Mo City]

Get back to us in a week or two to see if you still want buttons. It's a learning process and it took me some time to adjust to the screen. Now, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[SoCalGuy]

How/why did they comp your 19” wheels?

 

[ewoodrick]

I drove the car home. Lot of power, (what do we call it now? we don't "hit the gas," and saying accelerator is too long). It seems to be really, really nice. It looks great in black with the shiny 19" wheels Tesla comped us. A couple of things I'd change: I'll take some more buttons. Having everything on the screen is a challenge when I need reading glasses just to seem my phone, let alone the car screen. I'll have to look for some "driving bifocals" with clear on the top and +2.00 on the bottom. The side mirrors are a little small, and it's hard to see when someone is tailing me, given the cut of the real window. It's probably a safety feature so I don't get pissed off.

As Mo City mentioned, get back to us later for vision issues. As you are driving, generally all that you need to look at is the upper left 3 inches. All of the rest of the settings aren't something that you generally use when driving. They are often like the settings that you get to in other cars with arcane steering wheel button movements.

If you can't see out of the rear mirror, you may want to adjust seat height and mirror position, it generally is a decent view out of the window.

Buttons? You don't need no stinking buttons! No, honestly, there's more in the car than I generally use (I don't use the emergency button on the top).

You may want to sit in the garage for a little and setup your music, that's probably the most screen intensive portion when driving.
Also, go through the menu and look at the options, especially when that gear appears on the screens. And it is also a good idea to do this after some updates, new things get added!

 

[reidthaler]

How/why did they comp your 19” wheels?

Tesla emailed us with a revised purchase contract with an additional charge of $1,500 for the wheels and no explanation. It took a couple of hours of calls to work things out and having them tell us the revised agreement wasn't the final agreement since it didn't have the VIN (so why did they send it....)

It would've saved lots of time it they simply included a three sentence message that said:

"Good News! We've comped you the nicer wheels at no charge to get the car to you faster. Your final purchase agreement will be revised and sent a few days before delivery (oops, we mean pick up since you have to drive 1.5 hours through Bay Area traffic to actually get the car and we'll charge you a $1,200 "Destination Fee" for driving the car to a lot a mile from the plant and making you wait 2 hours.)

 

[SoCalGuy]

Tesla emailed us with a revised purchase contract with an additional charge of $1,500 for the wheels and no explanation. It took a couple of hours of calls to work things out and having them tell us the revised agreement wasn't the final agreement since it didn't have the VIN (so why did they send it....)

It would've saved lots of time it they simply included a three sentence message that said:

"Good News! We've comped you the nicer wheels at no charge to get the car to you faster. Your final purchase agreement will be revised and sent a few days before delivery (oops, we mean pick up since you have to drive 1.5 hours through Bay Area traffic to actually get the car and we'll charge you a $1,200 "Destination Fee" for driving the car to a lot a mile from the plant and making you wait 2 hours.)

That’s a great deal! Loving the 19s!

 

[reidthaler]

That’s a great deal! Loving the 19s!

Yeah! The car looks like it's ready for the opera!

 

[Gavyne]

Lovely dog! Oh and there's a Tesla car there as well.

Do note that a lot of the things you do on the screen, you can do with the 2 buttons your wheel as well as voice commands. You'll get used to the minimalist design much quicker than you think.

 

[Oyster Bait]

Who's a good doggy?

 

[wraithnot]

The side mirrors are a little small, and it's hard to see when someone is tailing me, given the cut of the real window. . .
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Leaving the rear camera on while you drive is a great way to tell if anyone is behind you. I also find it helpful for figuring out how close cars in adjacent lanes are to the back of my car when changing lanes. I have been told having the rear camera on while driving forward makes some people queasy so use with caution.