What is the M340i?
The BMW M340i is a performance car meant to bridge the gap between the luxurious 3 Series and the bonker M3 while trying to offer you a package that’s the best of both worlds. Like every BMW, now and then, a mid cycle update is due to freshen things up. Like its more luxury-focused variants, the M340i also gets a few touch-ups here and there to spice things up. The M340i aims to be one of if not the best performance machines you can buy under 1 Crore with little to no competition available in the market.
Verdict
There is no doubt that this is quite a performance bargain for any enthusiast out there, and its acceleration would rival that of the top-tier performance sedans of a bygone era. The M340i is quicker than an old M3, yet it costs closer to the current generation 3 Series, making it quite the bang for your buck package. My only gripe is how artificial many things feel that rob you of the purity of driving a fast-paced six-cylinder. Much of it concerns the future of BMW and electrification and how BMW is slowly getting rid of buttons and styling cues to prepare the next generation of buyers for the future BMW design language and strategy. Does this make the M340i any less fun? Well, sort of. But despite that, I’d reckon this is the best performance you can get, and if you want something even more practical, I’d advise waiting for the all-new X3 M340i, which should make it a whole lot more practical.
The Engine, Performance & Handling
Armed with the same inline six but this time with a 48V mild hybrid system to aid overall performance. Ironically power is now down by 13 bhp compared to the previous iteration, while torque remains the same. Power goes to all four wheels, but mainly is rear-wheel drive biased to maintain the dynamics of this vehicle. Unfortunately, we don’t get the X-drive Plus version here, so you cannot switch it up to being just rear-wheel drive, meaning getting the tail out will be a much more challenging affair than the regular 3 Series. On the flip side, the X-drive system maximizes grip and never breaks traction, even when you floor it in the wet.
Dynamically this is still the benchmark for what you can get south of 1 Crore, and since the Mercedes-Benz C43 has left its post, the M340i has no real competition. I wish BMW could have added the adaptive dampers, which would have done a great job and brought the balance the M340i aims for between comfort and performance. The M340i is stiffer and less plush than the regular 3 Series. You can still drive the M340i daily, but you’d have to be extra careful because it’s ground clearance.
With the little coasting feature that allows you to save fuel, efficiency figures aren’t exactly out of the world. I’m surprised there is no cylinder deactivation technology to aid the fuel efficiency figures better. The gearbox is quick and is always one step ahead of you. Shifts feel intense, and you feel a gentle kickback which makes it fun. Take manual control of the gearbox, and it’s quite a rewarding experience, even with the artificial audio.
Like an episode of Big Boss, the drama is artificial, and the sound is a tad too muted for my taste. Most of the audio, along with pops and bangs, is piped in artificially. It’s amusing to hear the car sound louder with the windows up and quiet with the windows down. Instead of an exhaust button, you get an option on the screen called “iconic sounds” that enables these artificial sounds to flare inside your cabin.
The handling is sharper than a regular 3 Series but not extreme enough for the ride to remain bearable. The steering tends to weigh up, but that feels a tad too artificial and robs you of some feel. This isn’t precisely the sharp handler you’d expect, but there is no doubt about its hunkered-down agility. The acceleration is intense, and the M340i insulates you too well for you to notice how quickly one tends to get to triple-digit speeds with little to no effort. All in all, the M340i is more fun on straight lines than it is around corners, and that, to me, was a bit of a “you win some, you lose some” situation.
The most significant change on the inside is a big new curved display and a slightly new centre console layout that removes the programmable physical buttons and even the climate control switches. Even the gearknob is now replaced with an on/off switch for a vacuum cleaner, which is a tad bit disappointing. I prefer the physical buttons and the ease of use that they came with, but to BMW’s credit, the climate control options are always available at the bottom of the screen. However, given the driving nature of this vehicle, I would have preferred buttons that are easier to use and don’t have me take my eyes off the road.
Secondly, replacing the gear knob with a toggle selector has liberated more space, especially when storing your phone and drinks in the cup holders, which I can partially appreciate. The new steering wheel that’s available on the new X1 to me looks a whole lot sportier and would have been great in the M340i, but instead, we get a thick, rather mundane-looking steering wheel that looks a bit too understated for what this car is packing under the hood. The interior looks business, and the little carbon fibre trim sprinkled in looks tasteful and sporty. I would have preferred a sportier colour for the interior to give the interior more of a sense of occasion but nevertheless.
The exterior now features a brand-new bumper and headlamp design, making the M340i appear much more aggressive than before, especially in this stealthy shade of grey. The new DRL design is similar to the one that came before, just turned upside down, which is the new BMW theme. I’m glad BMW stuck to the traditional kidney grille, be it slightly more beefed up and didn’t give the M340i the bucktooth treatment it gave the M3 and M4. The additional gloss black bits have made this design seem more menacing, but I see they do somewhat resemble that on their electric models like the i4.
Engine – 3.0 litre, 6-cylinder
Power – 369 bhp @ 5,500 RPM
Torque – 500 Nm @ 1,900 RPM
Gearbox – 8-speed
Price – Rs. 69,20,000 (Ex-showroom India)
