Interesting - It would be even more interesting to hear what you think about the i4 after one more month - and some more miles. Regarding seats, they might feel uncomfortable at first, try to make a longer drive, I did a 9000KM ten days trip to test - and my back had never been better. For a short period, I had a BMW iX together with the i4. The iX seats feels soft and good, but after a few hours, I had to have 30 minutes in the i4 to fix my back.

However, Please don't call your old Tesla, a M3. I and a lot of more people on this forum have dreamed about a BMW M3 for many years - and all we got was an i4M50.

Tesla using the M3 name - another example of Tesla just making bad imitations of other (German, Mercedes, BMW) cars.

The difference between German cars and other cars ?
You see it first at +200KMH at the Autobahn in Germany.

 

However, Please don't call your old Tesla, a M3. I and a lot of more people on this forum have dreamed about a BMW M3 for many years - and all we got was an i4M50.

Ha ha, fair enough. It's common shorthand on Tesla forums, but I understand what you're saying. I fixed it in my original post.

Regarding the seats: the i4 seats can never be better than the Model 3 seats for me because I could sit in the Model 3 for anywhere from 1 minute to several hours in 100.00% comfort. If I can simply get to the point on the i4 where I don't have to think about it every time I get in the car I'll be satisfied.

I have no doubt that seat comfort is highly person-dependent, I can only report my own experience.

 

Then what kind of seats is it in your i4.
It might not be to expensive to get other seats from a scraped i4 ?
M-Sport seats is probably best, but reduced rear legroom to much for me - so I only have Sport Seats.

https://www.i4talk.com/threads/m50-seats-and-their-options-possibilities.2593/

 

I have the standard seats that came with the xdrive40 Premium. They're certainly not bad enough that I'd go to the trouble of changing them out.

 

I’m coming from a model 3 as well. For me personally, I prefer the contiguous space of the lift back vs the frunk, trunk and cabin. Can fit about 10 mulch bags in before even folding the seats for example. I haven’t really missed the frunk yet.

It’s worked really well in my small family, for larger loads I tend to go with my wife’s rav4 anyway.

 

Tested a static iX3 today - suggest that you give a iX3 to your wife.

 

I think the i4 seats are firm and comfortable.
I test drove a 2020 dual motor model 3 and the poor handling around a corner was a deal breaker, but I also hated the seats in the model 3. In the i4 you can adjust how far forward or backward the head rest is. You can also adjust how high it is. In the 2020 model 3 you can’t adjust it and it’s so far forward that every time you accelerate fast it punches you in the back of the head. I think Musk purposely did this because when drivers and passengers were punched in the back of the head by the headrests every time they accelerated they would think they were accelerating faster than they actually were…

 

I remember driving a model 3 and had the same comparison points. A few things kept me away from it: they are everywhere, my wife and I both have a fondness for BMW, glass roofs with no shades, and at the time no Tesla service center nearby.

I gave up all wheel drive, faster acceleration, and much better rear seating. But love the hatch, the family reports the e40 is plenty fast, and there's only a few of us i4 owners around. That being said, much has changed in 3 years and if was in the market now I'd cross shop them again.

 

A former TM3 owner with a new i4 joins an i4 forum full of former TM3 owners, and tells us how the cars are different.

I'm joking, of course. All of your comparisons were based on personal feelings about the well-known differences. The number of i4 owners that found the Tesla preferable overall, and went back to a Model 3 has been vanishingly small, but certainly not zero.

I kept my TM3 all of 5 months, I disliked it so much, and even if Melon Usk prices the never forthcoming roadster at 50k, I would still not switch back. I find the T shortcomings vastly outnumber the few admitted advantages.

I found Autopilot so terrifyingly bad that I refused to spec DAPP on my i4, so I cannot comment on that, or the HUD. Without those, I find the customizability of the i4 driving experience welcome, and not overwhelmingly complicated. I just kept the OM handy when making settings adjustments for the first year, and haven't found any need to fiddle with things since.

Low tech air vents and full wiper control on stalk, for the win. I can't even imagine how frustrating having turn signals assigned to steering wheel buttons must be.

 

differences. The number of i4 owners that found the Tesla preferable overall, and went back to a Model 3 has been vanishingly small, but certainly not zero.

At this point it seems unlikely I would ever go back to Tesla, which has nothing to do with the cars. What will be more interesting (to me at least) is whether I'll stick with BMW when this lease concludes. The Neue Klasse cars seem to have a lot of promise, but there should be some excellent additional competition by then as well.

Low tech air vents and full wiper control on stalk, for the win. I can't even imagine how frustrating having turn signals assigned to steering wheel buttons must be.

You can "get used to" anything, but that doesn't make it good. Given that they put back the signal stalk on the refreshed Y, I assume they'll eventually make that change to the 3 as well.

Full wiper controls on the stalk is definitely welcome, although the auto wipers eventually (after years) because reliable enough on the 3 that I didn't have to fiddle with them too often.

 

as you have an e40 you can import a Wokeby Frunk - you won't regret moving all the cables etc to the frunk

 

Re the seats. I have to say I agree that they are not the most comfortable. It seems to be a German thing. They like well shaped lightly padded concrete.
They hold you in position well, and while actively driving are perfectly comfortable, but I find, if stuck in slow stop-and-go traffic my boney arse complains.
My last car was a Merc (W205 AMG line) and I found the seats better, but still not great in slow traffic. Prior to that I always had Japanese cars. Apart from Honda (no lumbar support) they were always softer and more comfortable, but lacked the side bolstering.