What would you buy? BMW or Tesla?

Diagro

Diagro

Diagro

Soldato
Joined
3 Jun 2012
Posts
11,256
Hey,

I've shortlisted two cars.

A 2017 BMW XDrive 435D 60k miles 23k.

A 2015 Tesla Model S 85D 76k miles 24k.
(Driven a P90D several times as family had one, loved it)

I wouldn't need to pay for charging the tesla. I'd charge at work for free.

What would you do?
 
Unhelpful comment as I've not driven either but if I was spending that kind of money personally I'd buy a newer lower miles vehicle even if it was less prestigious marque - also you lose a lot of range on battery as you get up to 100K miles or so.

Though I do like a 3.0 V6 (or straight 6 in this case) myself.
 
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Rroff said:
Unhelpful comment as I've not driven either but if I was spending that kind of money personally I'd buy a newer lower miles vehicle even if it was less prestigious marque - also you lose a lot of range on battery as you get up to 100K miles or so.

Though I do like a 3.0 V6 (or straight 6 in this case) myself.
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Unfortunately, not much about at these performance points which also allow for rear facing seats in the back.
 
Considering what detail you've shared, I'm confused by these two cars being the alternative options to one another?

By the fact you're saying your electricity cost will be nil due to work charging, I'm assuming you'll not be making any long trips that will require public charging top ups and therefore a diesel wouldn't be of much use either?

If lower running costs are important, I'm guessing the Tesla? If not driving something that is as poorly built as a Taylor Wimpy new build house is important, then get the BMW.
 
test drive both is the only thing for it really

stuff like the handling, controls, gear changing, breaking, sound, ride comfort and seating really need you to be there in person and see what you like, what you dont like
 
Mekrel said:
Considering what detail you've shared, I'm confused by these two cars being the alternative options to one another?

By the fact you're saying your electricity cost will be nil due to work charging, I'm assuming you'll not be making any long trips that will require public charging top ups and therefore a diesel wouldn't be of much use either?

If lower running costs are important, I'm guessing the Tesla? If not driving something that is as poorly built as a Taylor Wimpy new build house is important, then get the BMW.
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No, big miles are not what I do.
However, I would get a 440i, but still having 25mpg isn't fun. I've been there and done that with my MPS. Why spend the extra when you don't have to?

The reason why I've pitted these vs each other is purely because I've test driven both, I like both. Both offer me what I like and want.

Ones cheaper to run than the other...
 
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As someone who mainly sees cars as a tool, I'd go BMW, from what I understand they have a much better supply chain for any spares, it's also a couple of years younger, and whilst the tesla might be cheaper to run the battery is ~8 years old so i'd be worrying about that.
 
Werewolf said:
As someone who mainly sees cars as a tool, I'd go BMW, from what I understand they have a much better supply chain for any spares, it's also a couple of years younger, and whilst the tesla might be cheaper to run the battery is ~8 years old so i'd be worrying about that
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What makes you worry about the battery?
They just loose a little range.
 
Diagro said:
What makes you worry about the battery?
They just loose a little range.
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From a quick look Tesla's figures are about 4-5% degradation due miles/charge cycles and ~12% due to age but I'm not sure I'd hold much to that but also depending on your use how well it would hold up - Tesla's warranty seems to be 8 years, 100K miles, 70% capacity.

When I was looking at getting a new car a few months back a lot of the electric ones where you could see how much range they had left were quite a way down on the manufacturers claimed average including Teslas with more like 50% battery capacity left at 100K miles in many cases and most 15-16 plate models more like 70% range left.

EDIT: Though to be fair looking at some 17 plate Leafs on my local dealer's site most of them are still showing almost full battery capacity still though they are on fairly low miles.
 
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Rroff said:
From a quick look Tesla's figures are about 4-5% degradation due miles/charge cycles and ~12% due to age but I'm not sure I'd hold much to that but also depending on your use how well it would hold up - Tesla's warranty seems to be 8 years, 100K miles, 70% capacity.

When I was looking at getting a new car a few months back a lot of the electric ones where you could see how much range they had left were quite a way down on the manufacturers claimed average including Teslas with more like 50% battery capacity left at 100K miles in many cases and most 15-16 plate models more like 70% range left.

EDIT: Though to be fair looking at some 17 plate Leafs on my local dealer's site most of them are still showing almost full battery capacity still though they are on fairly low miles.
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Yea, that's the main issue.
I'd 100% get it checked before any purchase, as the one I'm looking at has the battery warranty expire this coming September.
Best case, its less than 70% now, and the replace it.

However, I've just found a nice 435d with the spec I want for just over 21k... so looking more likely to tilt over to the BMW... I'd have a few ££££ left in the bank for a holiday this summer.
 
Rroff said:
When I was looking at getting a new car a few months back a lot of the electric ones where you could see how much range they had left were quite a way down on the manufacturers claimed average including Teslas with more like 50% battery capacity left at 100K miles in many cases and most 15-16 plate models more like 70% range left.

EDIT: Though to be fair looking at some 17 plate Leafs on my local dealer's site most of them are still showing almost full battery capacity still though they are on fairly low miles.
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The Leaf is known for having terrible battery degradation because there is absolutely no active thermal management.

On the other hand Tesla generally does a very good job at looking after the battery - 50% degradation after 100,000 miles sounds like complete nonsense.
 
OllyM said:
The Leaf is known for having terrible battery degradation because there is absolutely no active thermal management.

On the other hand Tesla generally does a very good job at looking after the battery - 50% degradation after 100,000 miles sounds like complete nonsense.
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That was from looking at a range of makes/models but definitely seen a few Teslas with that kind of degradation. I suspect that is partly because people are more likely to sell if they are getting significant degradation - Googling it a few surveys at 125K miles showed >80% range left. It is definitely something you'd want to take a look at if buying an older higher mileage Tesla.
 
What sort of miles do you do? If you don't do many surely you'll end up with all sorts of issues with dpf. Also how was your mps so poor ar mpg, even my wife's old focus st was better than that and we thought that was poor at the time. And I'd be worried about the battery/motor on the model s, I thought the warranty only last 8 years anyway so it might not be milage that causes it to expire. Thinking about it, that price point must be 80% of the used car market, even small cars can fit rear facing carseats (unless you mean i-size as I think they are a bit bigger).
 
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Of those two, BMW and I don't really like BMW. An out of warranty Tesla seems like a liability, they do go wrong and it's never cheap to fix one
 
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