2019 M340i xDrive impressions

[MCompact]

The Club Sport is at the dealer for its annual service, and my service advisor gave me an M340i xDrive for a loaner.

First impressions:
It's maybe a tick faster than my 2 Series, but the xDrive filters the fun too much for my tastes. That said, I scared a friend quite a bit accelerating through a corner flat out when he thought I was going to lift and brake.
Fuel economy is very good considering the performance; I averaged 35 mpg driving to work.
I like the interior a lot- including the glass cockpit.
The latest generation of iDrive is excellent, but it's considerably different from what I'm used to.
The voice recognition works quickly and accurately.
The base sound system is surprisingly good. I'd still want to audition the H-K upgrade, but the standard system is no slouch.
The car is a bit too big for my tastes, but it does mask its bulk to an impressive degree.
An M240i with the M340i cockpit, 382 hp motor, and M Sport diff would be just about perfect for me.

 

[Lolvoguy]

I'm surprised your dealer agreed to service that old dinosaur!

I sure wouldn't allow my local dealers to service mine.
Most of the techs on staff weren't even potty-trained by the time my car was on the road.

 

[edyvw]

I need to find time to go try it. Friend at dealership says it is considerable step up to traditional BMW from F30.
But it is funny how we find ourselves complaining about new BMW's as not being purist cars, when they are pretty much more capable than anything similar. I remember having 330i as loaner while dealership was changing those Takata airbags on my X5. I went for a lunch with my coworker who drives Impreza, he said: I will never sit with you again in the car. I was not that fast, but that thing just zips so quickly.

 

[Ws6]

If I trusted BMW more, I'd say the new M SUV and Sedans were the best vehicles available.

 

[ecotourist]

I've heard this otherwise pretty special 3 series model will not be available with a manual transmission. Pity. I would have thought there would be a demand for it.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by ecotourist
I've heard this otherwise pretty special 3 series model will not be available with a manual transmission. Pity. I would have thought there would be a demand for it.


I am buying myself next year used 335i, Audi S4 or Audi A4 with stick.
If you search used, you will see that in all US, you can find 2-3 BMW 335i E90 in good condition with stick. People just do not buy them. I completely understand why BMW is not going with stick. I would argue that they should offer it because of an image, but looking strictly numbers, it does not any make sense.
Recently I tried on 2013 335i F30 here in Colorado Springs with manual. It is on the market for more than a month, and price is slowly going down bcs. they cannot sell it. Sport package, HK audio etc. to no avail.
It is a shame, but that is reality of amrket, especially when you offer automatic like ZF8.

 

[Audios]

Im surprised you cant find any, maybe your filters are off, because theres 34 manual E90s within 15 miles of my area, 14 are 335s. I also agree that these are not the "purist" cars they were. Just because it can go fast and handle well does not mean its as good as their predecessors. It hasnt been Car of the Year for a long time now, and no longer the benchmark sport sedan it was. The build quality is way down, they cut corners on anything they can, and all of the distractions in the cockpit were a huge no no 15 years ago. They were completely adamant about not needing more than 2 piston calipers in the E60 M5 because 4 pistons offered no extra braking capability, and 2 years later they offer Brembos on almost anything, if you can afford it. The almighty dollar has shifted their views from reliable, well made cars that will last, to pumping out a million cars that all look the same across 6 model lines, and then adding a hunchback for the GT, and turning up the boost knob on the Ms.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted by Lolvoguy
I'm surprised your dealer agreed to service that old dinosaur!

I sure wouldn't allow my local dealers to service mine.
Most of the techs on staff weren't even potty-trained by the time my car was on the road.


Well, my service advisor owns an E36 M3 and an E46 wagon- and there's one tech who really knows the older cars; my advisor makes certain that he's the tech that always services my vehicle. In addition, with the BMW CCA discount the prices are more than reasonable.
When I worked there as a product specialist I often got called out to the service lane if a pre-2005 BMW showed up if my advisor wasn't available- often to troubleshoot issues and/or explain to owners how some feature worked. Most of those older cars weren't sold by my dealer, but we treated the owners just like regular customers and more than one owner later returned and bough a new or CPO car from us.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by Audios
Im surprised you cant find any, maybe your filters are off, because theres 34 manual E90s within 15 miles of my area, 14 are 335s. I also agree that these are not the "purist" cars they were. Just because it can go fast and handle well does not mean its as good as their predecessors. It hasnt been Car of the Year for a long time now, and no longer the benchmark sport sedan it was. The build quality is way down, they cut corners on anything they can, and all of the distractions in the cockpit were a huge no no 15 years ago. They were completely adamant about not needing more than 2 piston calipers in the E60 M5 because 4 pistons offered no extra braking capability, and 2 years later they offer Brembos on almost anything, if you can afford it. The almighty dollar has shifted their views from reliable, well made cars that will last, to pumping out a million cars that all look the same across 6 model lines, and then adding a hunchback for the GT, and turning up the boost knob on the Ms.

Well, yes I can find more 335i's, but I am for example looking only N55 engine, sport package, and while I would love RWD, due to the fct that I am in mountins a lot in winter skiing, it does not make sense. Point is, availability of automatics compared to stick is disproportional.
I suppose to be more specific.
As for build quality, I would argue opposite. They handle really good as F30 for example has weight distribution better than E90, and that one already had depending on engine perfect weight distribution (328i). F30 328 and 330 RWD have 49/50, while 6cyl is 50:50. Thay have far less issues with IBS than E series which is understandable, but this is what rubbed a lot of people wrong way:
1. Base model is far from old BMW's philosophy. Before, any BMW would always far better driving machine than anything else, with F people had to pay additionally for that. G20 is back to old ways.
2. Electric steering, while super precise is not offering that BMW feedback. That is probably the biggest issue people have.
Other than that F is great car.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Do you remember if it was running on 18" or 19"? What was your impression of the front grill? Remember the MSRP? I'm seeing these things going for $60K+ and having a hard time stomaching that price.

Oh btw..Don't forget that it has an actual (electro-mechanical) LSD rather than the e-LSD we lowly non-M owners have had to endure with since the late 1990's.

 

[MCompact]

It's running 18" wheels. MSRP is around $61k. If it was me I'd drop the xDrive, although yesterday I had it out for a run and it will actually drift a bit in Sport Plus mode.

 

[gofast182]

I'm actually on my way to test drive a M340i for the second time after work today (first time was in bumper to bumper traffic).

I'm a big fan of xDrive on my 340i. It allows the car to take off like a scalded cat, even in the wet. And yes, you can still drift it in Sport+, I see no downside.

 

[gofast182]

Well I've got a 2020 M340i on order. Its being made in Germany hopefully this week. I'm having it delivered to the Performance Center in Spartanburg; the PCD experience with my wife's X5 was so good it was practically a no-brainer to do it again.