Musings of a Z4MC Idiot

[Gwest44]

So with the Tesla Model 3 on order and not due to arrive until the end of April I've done 900 miles in the last 4 days in the Z4MC (despite having it advertised for sale on the forum).

Problem I have is the increased usage has just reinforced the reason I bought the car in the first place - I've enjoyed every mile and the sense of occasion / event the S54 power plant affords is an experience like no other.

My concern is the Tesla will bore me to tears having had a previous experience when I owned the Mercedes 350e hybrid so I'm torn with the best way to proceed - do I cancel the Tesla or proceed on the basis that running the Z4MC as a daily is not practical (as much as I would like to).

I'd be really interested to hear from anyone who has a view on the best way to proceed.

 

[mr wilks]

Keep the ZMC for sunnydays & weekends away & get yourself a £10k Bmw F10 or F11 520d , had ours only a month but what a car for the money , drives really well , properly built , 50+mpg , cheap Ved , cheap servicing & full of spec .
The only reason i see for getting into any ev right now are the tax perks , every person i speak to who has them ( not necessarily a Tesla) tells me more of the negatives than positives , though they do pull away like nothing else does :evil:

 

[Mr Tidy]

I suppose your annual mileage will have a bearing, but I suspect it's a bit high to run an MC as a daily if you've done 900 miles in 4 days!

I'm with mr wilks - I'd keep your MC and buy a daily, but maybe not a new Tesla. I run an old E90 3 Series as a daily and find that works for me.

 

[Ed Doe]

+1 on the daily and mcoupe pairing - I'm ashamed to admit but I have a crappynold citroen c1 daily - does 55mpg, cost less than my watch to buy, tax and insurance are pennies, and I can abandon it anywhere with absolutely no worries. The M then comes out for summer and trackdays. Couldn't be happier with the overall arrangement, except that I don't love leaving the M in storage for long periods. But if you're not fussed by the occasional winter blast that shouldn't be an issue for you either!

 

[MrPT]

I love my MC, but if I needed a daily and could afford a Model 3, I think I’d drop it and then maybe see how I was doing a year or two down the line. Both would be a fantastic garage.

 

[buzyg]

I"m with the consensus, keep the MC and by something else to do the churn miles in.

 

[Vanne]

The yay's have it, keep the MC, 5 years down the road you'll be glad you did.

 

[JoshsZ4M]

Keep the ZMC for sunnydays & weekends away & get yourself a £10k Bmw F10 or F11 520d , had ours only a month but what a car for the money , drives really well , properly built , 50+mpg , cheap Ved , cheap servicing & full of spec .
The only reason i see for getting into any ev right now are the tax perks , every person i speak to who has them ( not necessarily a Tesla) tells me more of the negatives than positives , though they do pull away like nothing else does :evil:

Couldn’t agree more with Mr Wilks on this one right now. I’m running a f10 520d saloon right now, and my boss and I looked at a model 3... but I’ve ended up going g31 520d se, as the lead time is only five weeks (!!!) for what is a very bespoke spec, and I’m a bit done with being told full electric is the solution to all of my problems

 

[MrPT]

I respect the opinions of everyone on here and I agree that, on paper, buying a cheap s/h workhorse as a daily makes a lot of sense. There’s a fair chance I’d do the same, if forced to make the decision and not just ramble about it on a forum.

But I’m surprised at the lack of love for EVs. Yes, they are expensive, the environmental benefits remain overblown, the infrastructure is weak and the driving experience won’t float everybody’s boat, but they are exciting in their own way. I thought that there would be more early adopters on here, given the number of hobbyists/technophiles.

Is it mainly a cost thing (i.e. having to chose one or the other, rather than being able to afford both)? I’m seriously considering a sub-£10k EV at the moment, just because our daily hack (Golf) is such a big proportion of our energy consumption. Would love a Model 3 but they are a bit out of reach at the moment and don’t really want to buy new.

 

[MKZ4000]

I’m seriously considering the Tesla model 3 SR+ as my next company car.

Zero company car tax is a no brainer, the only thing putting me off is the range anxiety aspect. My budget precludes the long range version.

I’m waiting to see what Phev are coming out as the tax will be affordable.

As a personal car, they are expensive to buy against arguably nicer cars

 

[mmm-five]

I’m seriously considering the Tesla model 3 SR+ as my next company car.

Zero company car tax is a no brainer, the only thing putting me off is the range anxiety aspect. My budget precludes the long range version.

As long as you plan your trips using the in-built nav, then it will route you to the very fast Supercharger charge points, which will give you 80% charge in 20 minutes. Good for another 200 miles or so.

Obviously not as easy or quick as filling up a Z4M every 250 miles - but it will be a hell of a lot cheaper.

 

[Striven]

I was a bit early for getting a Tesla 3 but when I changed company car I went for a BMW i3s which has been great as a daily driver. The Z4MR and the i3s are chalk and cheese in their own way. The i3s is great around town and quicker to 40 mph than the Z4. I must admit that driving a silent car daily certainly makes the RPI on the Z4 sound pretty loud :evil:
Given the desire to kill new petrol cars in the early 30’s I will be keeping the Z4 for the long haul.

 

[Justino]

Having 1 car to satisfy all driving cravings/needs is almost impossible. Maybe the new RS6 Avant might do it for me, but I've been multi car for a while now.

For me it started with a £1k 300e Merc alongside the Audi S3. I used it for tip runs, pub duties, golf trips etc. I put the miles on that when I had no desire to go quickly, although it was reasonably spritely. Things have evolved since then to the A6 daily driver, Z4m for the raw experience, and Clio Cup for simplicity, and its easy to park when going into town.

If you can keep it for weekend use, European road trips etc.

 

[wonkydonkey]

I’m surprised at the lack of love for EVs.

I have no use for a car that can't dependably carry me 200 miles without an extended stop somewhere. Last time I visited my parents (275 miles each way), I didn't even stop to go to the toilet, so an electric car would be a pain. I commute 60 miles per day, so would need to charge an EV daily to avoid battery charge fears. They're just not convenient (or affordable) enough yet, but they will be one day.

 

[Mr Tidy]

To be fair I can see the appeal of an EV, especially if you are ever likely to need to venture into central London - or possibly other cities in the not too distant future.

But as my only parking at home is in "allocated" spaces I'd need to plug in from the house and chuck a cable over the garden fence. I can't help thinking this must be an issue for plenty of potential EV buyers, especially in the more built up places where an EV might otherwise make a lot of sense.

If I was still working and could charge at work that would be solve the problem for commuting.

But now and again I'll go to watch motor racing or to car events with a mate and do over 200 miles on a round trip, so I'd still want something with an ICE - ideally my MC. :lol:

 

[MrPT]

I’m surprised at the lack of love for EVs.

I have no use for a car that can't dependably carry me 200 miles without an extended stop somewhere.

Not sure why I didn’t mentioned range, but yeah, that’s a biggie at the moment. Especially if you can’t use the Tesla network.

For me, it’s a pivotal moment in the history of private transportation and I’d like to be part of it; not at any cost, but in spite of all the current compromises. Otherwise I’d feel a bit like a 19th century man moaning about how unreliable the new combustion engined cars are compared to a horses.

 

[wonkydonkey]

[ref]MrPT[/ref] hopefully the charging infrastructure will improve and manufacturers will be funnelled into using standardised plug layouts. I'm surprised it's all still so chaotic and confusing when EV drivers try to charge their cars when out and about. I'm still in the phase of letting everyone else be guinea pigs while these teething problems are ironed out. There will no doubt be some fun to be had in EVs in the future

 

[MrPT]

The non-Tesla charging “experience”, if you can call it that, sounds horrendous! Hopefully one of the big power companies will put their balls on the line for a few years and build or supplement better infrastructure.

 

[z4pilot]

I'm old enough to remember VHS vs Betamax and I can't help thinking that hydrogen is probably the better answer, but that plugin EVs have gained too much traction and will dominate, despite all of the unnecessary compromises other posters have noted. I'll sit on the fence for as long as possible and hope that the issues are ironed out before I'm forced to choose.

 

[Bottom]

The non-Tesla charging “experience”, if you can call it that, sounds horrendous! Hopefully one of the big power companies will put their balls on the line for a few years and build or supplement better infrastructure.

We've run an i3 as our main runabout car in the Highlands for 3 and a bit years now.

I almost never charge at home because I'm a tight Scot and it's mostly free to use public chargers here. We charge the i3 about twice a week.

In that time I've had precisely 1 experience of a faulty charger... I do use an RFD card because getting a mobile phone signal in some areas is a bit of an issue. We have a single card provider up here so no hassle with having the "wrong" one. Occasionally I've not been able to get onto a charger (due to the local taxi company hogging the 3 public chargers), but I never let the i3 run down so far that it's an issue. Range isn't a big issue, it'll do a genuine 120 miles any time of the year which is enough for the trips I make in it.