Seal Perf AWD vs Zeekr 7X Perf vs Model Y Perf vs “MG” IM5/IM6

I’ve been trying to decide what to buy in that range and something keeps drawing me back to the IM5/IM6. They drive so well and are packed with tech. The Zeekr 7X was nice, but just don’t handle as well as the IMs. I pushed both models hard in my test drives and neither felt like they were even close to losing it on corners, even at speeds that my current performance ICE vehicle would struggle with. In a straight line they are insane, and even swerving just felt flawless and fully in control. Once we hit January, I think that’s the way I’m going to go with a lease. Only other serious consideration is the BMW I4 M50, but they are $40-$50k more…

Same wanted an i5 or i4 M50 but the FBT limit is so attractive to save a significant amount in taxable income, hence going for this pricing of vehicles. The MY Perf just comes in under the FBT with its fleet pricing, for novated leases. Haven’t driven the IMs but on paper they def have what it takes to be a contender. The Teslas drove the most BMW-esque of all the cars mentioned. The Seal Perf having 390kw is just enough, could use more power, but it was ok for our first EV. Will def need to take the IMs for a test drive. On paper they seem great, just don’t want a floaty, typically Asian handling vehicle again, and some hesitancy going Chinese after the issues with the Seal Perf AWD we currently have.

Given the issues yourself (and others) are having with BYD warranty issues, I'd also be asking about others experiences with the various companies warranty claims as part of your enquiries. Just know BYD isn't alone, I reported a slipping transmission in my Hyundai for four services before they finally tested it. Got replaced under warranty without a fuss, the replacement new transmission started exhibiting the beginnings of the same issue within 1000km. The dealer reckoned it was a rare fault, colleague at work is onto his third transmission in the same car (different dealer).

There’s several of us with issues with the same drivetrain units. Some have been fixed some haven’t. Seems to be the luck of the draw to see who gets it repaired. However the repair wasn’t a perm fix. One driver had his vibration return 2k kms later. So it’s def a major issue that isn’t getting repaired. BYD has been the worst customer service provider I’ve ever dealt with in 30 years of owning over 40+ cars. It’s truly pathetic

I cross shopped the Seal vs the IM5. I thought I would prefer the IM but found the interior of the IM's to be horrible, cheap feeling, too bright, no sunshade, poor sounding stereo despite 30 mins spent trying to tune it etc. Also while being a hatch back they seem to have less usable space than the sedan of the seal due to the weird narrow opening of the IM's design. I can get a whole mountain bike into the seal but I am not sure you could do that in the IM6 even. At the end of the day I decided the premium version of the seal had 'adequate power'. It is plenty fast being as fast as a WRX imo. It has the FSD suspension which is pretty good if a little soft giving the car a grand touring vibe. The dynaudio stereo is excellent, requires no tuning to sound very very high end. Also the interior of the seal is lovely, dark, wraps around you. It has lots of controls in a similar layout to the mazda i came from. Maybe the right car was the premium and not the performance one? Additionally the seal look gorgeous in the flesh. https://preview.redd.it/ncg2q2ls9v9g1.png?width=1890&format=png&auto=webp&s=7d6e23c05413ef0f5ed30a04205764a610dc031f

Shopped them all. None are perfect, some are just flat our bad though. BYD Seal AWD \- Lacks refinement, lots of quality issues, software issues, lower quality materials starting to show. BYD built to a budget, and for those in it, its great. For those beyond it, it ages and tires fast. MG IM5/6 \- Software is shit , so many bugs and issues. Drive is nicer than Seal, lacks compared to MYP and X7x. Internals are lower quality and lack finish, despite looking nice to start with. Model Y Performance \- Better software than all by a LARGE margin. Less bugs, less issues, more UI/UX improvements, intuitive. Drive in new one is very nice, firmest of all in consideration. Lacking a little with internal fitout, overall nice, but not premium. It's like a Corolla Vs BMW. Nice, functional, not impressive. Zeekr 7x \- Best fit out, leather, design choices. Nicest cabin by a margin compared to the rest, higher quality materials. Drive is better than all except the MYP. Software beats MG and BYD by a large margin, but lags Tesla by a margin. Genuinely a 6/10 with MG 2/10 and BYD 3/10. Tesla 9/10/. I test drove and was deciding on all four. Also considered others liek Volvo EV, Polestar, BMR EV, VW EV etc. Overall, across the 8 categories I cared about (Drive quality, build quality, software quality, cabin quality, features, speed, looks, autonomous features) the Zeekr was the best, BUT if autonomous or software are more important, pick the MYP. Nothing else compares. Now owning the 7x, the sacrifices I made on software are very apparent. Had I opted for the BYD or MG the car would be gone by now. I have a top class, fun to drive EV with no autonomous features that work or are good. Best overall car, but no self driving, parking, recall, etc. Also with the Zeekr, its serviced at Volvos and typically higher calibre techs servicing it compared to MG/BYD.

In the same boat coming from a i30n sedan. Only car ive driven is fhe seal perf and loved it now having second thoughts

It’s great for power and perceived build quality, but it ends pretty fast. Thr ride is unduly rough, and it is just sparkly the first few drives you have it then its teeth begin to show through. Perhaps another Chinese brand vehicle but never another BYD. Typically cheap junk. I wouldn’t recommend one to anyone I cared about. I’d avoid it at all costs. Tesla just seems to have the formula right in most aspects. The new Zeekrs SEEM to be a bit better but I’m sure still not up to the quality people are used to. If it’s pure acceleration you want it’s a great car, but beneath the surface the cracks show through.

Well said

What about the shark ? ( my partner is looking at buying one) she has a Isuzu dmax

When I drove the Tesla Y, I felt more composed than Zeekr 7X - less woobliness reducing motion sickness. Did you drive the juniper? I noticed that when stopping Zeekr 7X RWD, it would nose dive and wooble forward / backward till sitting still. I found it odd since I am used to ICE vehicles. I found Tesla Y well more behaved but I am reading that some other people prefer Zeekr 7X comfort. Not sure if I am missing something.

Not comparing the same ride. The RWD/LR misses out on the air suspension. When set low and to sport, its stiff. Not quite the Juniper, but close. IMO its better. Whilst the Juniper is a LOT better than the one before it (way to hard) its still in the hard territory for most. The AWD with Air suspension, set to low and sport dampening is the sweet spot IMO.

From Malaysia here, I had a Seal RWD and gone to Model Y RWD, still kept both cars. Have test drove the Zeekr 7X long range. My personal ranking is Model Y = Zeekr > BYD, but my pick is Tesla due to Zeekr being expensive to upkeep, and less efficient. I personally also find throttle response of Tesla being the quickest so if u like that acceleration feeling, they’re the best. Some background context I observed in Malaysia, typically people who bought a Zeekr here are people who used to own a Porsche, Volvo, BMW, Audi, Mercedes, or continental cars, as the build quality, drive dynamics and finishing touches of Zeekr matches all of those brands. For context Geely owns Lotus, Volvo and a lot more other brands, but Zeekr is their own luxury brand created from all the different elements and experiences working with each of those premium brands. Zeekr is a big step up from BYD in terms of drive dynamics, as they are similar to Denza, BYD’s higher end premium lineup. However there is a fixed annual, mandatory service for all China imported cars like Zeekr, and their servicing cost is not that cheap. Zeekr is also not as efficient as MYP, I see users typically reported up to 18-21kWh/100km consumption on highway speeds. Model YP is a very different car on its own as it lacks all the physical touches that u can usually find in continental cars, but it drives very well. There is also no mandatory annual service required. Car is very efficient due to Tesla’s well known efficiency, alongside a low aerodynamic coefficient at 0.22Cd when u drive at highway speeds. This means if u were to drive at legal highway speed limits, MYP always consume less energy than any other cars. So in a way, Zeekr is a direct upgrade, up from BYD. Zeekr 7X Perf is also the only car here with adjustable air suspension, this greatly increases the comfort and ride quality on its own. MYP is if u want a different taste that is comparable to Zeekr. As MYP is a much more functional car with larger trunk and frunk storage. TLDR: Zeekr if u like the traditional feel of performance ICE cars, the luxurious interior and ride quality, don’t mind slightly expensive servicing cost, don’t care much about efficiency costs. Otherwise MYP if u want an all rounder—cost efficient for ownership, very good ride quality, drives well.

Thank you. Exactly as I thought. Used to high servicing costs have two Porsches still and traded a BMW for the Seal Perf, so that’s not an issue ever. Just turned off with the Chinese cars atm, experience was a let down with the Seal Perf. Eyeing a MYP, and ending our novated lease on the Seal. Thanks for your insightful input.

Haven’t heard the greatest things about them. They still can’t keep up with an ICE Ute in terms of off roading capability et cetera. While it seems nice, it’s definitely the perceived quality at first but down the line I just don’t feel they are great enough cars for the hype. BYD wanted to be a world class brand and I don’t see that happening anytime soon at all.

Come from BMWs and Porsches, so a taught, firm ride is ok and the Germans seem to get ride right on most occasions. If the MYP Juniper is anything similar, think I’ll be sold. Still have a 911 Targa and Cayenne GTS for ICE vehicles. The MYP is just for in the city driving really.

Only thing I’d miss is the autonomous driving. Will be driving the Zeekr and MYP back to back this weekend and see which is more fitting. Hoping one or the other stands out in this getting crowded segment.

No problem. Lastly to add since you’re in Australia, Tesla has FSD available. If you care about ADAS or driver assisted software, Tesla is way better than Zeekr, even in terms of basic autopilot (lane keeping and ACC, I believe zeekr’s is slightly delayed, based on Bjorn Nyland’s video). With Tesla being the only brand that has FSD and semi autonomous driving available, if u do have long commutes or want to take the daily driving stress out eventually, Tesla is the only brand that can do this. The car you buy today will be capable of unsupervised FSD eventually as there are no physical hardware differences in the car built until end of next year. For more context, self driving technology I’m currently only seeing Tesla being the only one able to go global, with XPeng slightly lagging behind by 1-2 years. This is because they use a Vision-based system and teaching the car to drive in any scenarios, and no HD mapping required. So if self driving tech is one of ur buying criteria, Zeekr is likely out of the picture in the future. This is a whole new topic on its own haha. On the side of autoparking software, Zeekr’s one is very slow and I’d say very bad, XPeng is better than Zeekr. Tesla’s autopark tech is already slightly old by 2 years+ not upgraded, but I believe it’s getting an upgrade sometime soon next year once banish mode comes out for FSD.

Thank you! Yes FSD is important. Our Porsches have semi autonomous and our BMW we traded in on the Seal had great semi autonomous driving. Leagues better than the Seal is by far. And Tesla I know is even better than VW AG and BMWs so that’s a major plus. It’s nice to be able to just plug in your destination in and it do most of the work for you. Only downside is lack of CarPlay for music, but I’m sure I can connect phone via Bluetooth for playing music via Apple, Tidal and Carbon. If this isn’t possible will be a massive negative. As long as we can play music via phone that’s fine no need for integration into the UX screen et cetera. Thanks again for the advice, very helpful!

No prob, there’s also a rumor that CarPlay is being developed for Tesla this coming year, no news on Android Auto though. https://paultan.org/2025/11/14/tesla-working-to-have-apple-carplay-in-its-cars-report/

Think we’ve narrowed to the Zeekr 7X Performance and the Model Y Performance. Driving them back to back this weekend and seeing which we will go with. Cannot be happier we are dumping the Seal Perf. From owners raving about their Zeekr Perf’s have given us a new found hope that maybe there is someone who can build a decent, reliable Chinese branded car with decent customer service. Just hoping if we decide on the Zeekr that their customer service is actually existent. Will be extremely happy seeing the Seal go. First few months were great but as some pointed out, that “shine” is surface deep. With many, many cons to the vehicle in general, customer care at the heart of the problems. Looking forward to our second EV. Thanks all for your great input and help, truly shows what a great community this can actually be. Non-judgmental and real people with real cars and real opinions without sugar coating anything. Thanks again all! Will keep everyone updated. Side note, quite a wait for delivery of a MYP, but hoping with novated leasing, the supplier can source one more quickly due to their fleet pricing et cetera if we go that route.

Is dongfeng coming to Aus. The 007 reviews pretty well

I know what you mean on the BYD service. I had driveline vibration issues and poor A/C performance and to get resolution I had to tell them what the issue was at such a level that I was telling them the driveshafts had issues and that they needed to check my active grill shutters was plugged in before they finally fix it.

Have to throw in the Polestar 4 Dual Motor with Plus and Performance packs. 400kw and drove excellently. Granted a built in China car but roots from Europe. It’s in the running now. Anyone have one?

What did you end up choosing?

Will be getting an i5 M60. Just in the process of ending our NL and getting the Seal warranty repaired for its vibration.

Oh how interesting - what changed your mind from the Zeekr 7X and Model Y Performance? Very interested as I'm trying to make this decision myself among a similar range. Though, in my case, I am less inclined towards Tesla because I prefer more information and physical controls at hand.

Wanted to go back to a brand with Customer Service and just an overall better car. Won’t be buying Chinese made again, although the MY Perf is Berlin made, which is a plus. It was betweeen the MY and the i5 and the i5 just had everything we wanted. So worth the price difference. Just the buying experience is worlds better than BYD was. And we know their after sales service is excellent. Just came down to that.