I made my first visit to a Tesla dealer (Chester) this weekend.
I just say I was really surprised.
I too had read a lot about interior quality. They had a model 3 that I spent some time gong over … and I loved it. I couldn't really fault the set up, comfort and quality perception for the price.
Talking about the U.K. here really but the price of the Tesla surprisingly undercuts the i4 by some margin, and if you need to travel with work greater than the cars range, only the Tesla network makes sense.
There are endless YouTube videos of non T EVs struggling to make charge in daily life. Shmee150 and Harry's Garage you could see are huge EV fans and want it to be good but we're let down by the infrastructure.
Also the product itself, I have to agree with the OP. The AWD Long Range Model 3 (since it's 2021 updates) blows the i4 away. To my knowledge below are some items you have to add to the base i4 to meet spec
Leather seats! (At this price terrible and I know the Tesla isn't leather but at least it's not cloth.)
Comfort Access pack for comfort access and electric seats
Tech Pack or Plus pack for all the camera views
Metallic White (TBF I like Alpine White too)
I'm sure there's plenty more but that alone might be about £8k
The i4s play points vs the Tesla is the larger boot and it's opening and the BMW build quality.
We haven't touched on performance yet at 5.9s 0-60 vs an F82 M4 style 4.1 for the Tesla
To bette that you need to go to the M50i and you're into high £60k then so might as well pitch it vs the Model performance and it's a big win for the Tesla again