2021 BMW M340i review: A just-right sport sedan

The BMW 330i? Probably a contact as well gentle. The BMW M3? Probably a tad as well intense (not to mention ugly). But the M340i? It’s an M3 dressed in business casual, ready to hustle when referred to as on or have you through the everyday schedule with comfort and ease aplenty. Think about it the best of both of those worlds.

Let’s start with the most significant contributing variable to the M340i deal: the turbocharged three.-liter inline-six motor. With 383 horsepower and 369 pound-ft of torque, this Bimmer never lacks oomph. Electricity heads to the rear wheels exclusively on my tester, while BMW’s xDrive all-wheel push is optional. The small-close torque allows for blissfully uncomplicated passing on the freeway and exciting-stuffed rips alongside backroads, with a pleasant soundtrack to back again it all up.

Paired with a speedy-shifting 8-pace automated transmission, the M340i can actually dance. I actually like utilizing the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters to downshift, particularly to seize an earful of the snaps and crackles from the M340i’s exhaust.

I used plenty of time in Roadshow’s now-departed, extensive-phrase BMW 330i with its mounted activity suspension, so I expected rough times in the M340i on my winter-walloped regional roads. But that never came to go. This M340i’s optional Adaptive M Suspension turns the worst areas of driving into a tolerable experience, which speaks volumes to the system’s wizardry. Positive, this M340i has Pirelli winter tires, and a auto shod with lessen-profile summer season tires will most likely boost the rough patches, but I’m truly impressed by how the M340i keeps items with each other when bounding about undesirable sections of highway. 

Firmer springs, a torque-vectoring rear differential, revised anti-roll bars and the aforementioned adaptive suspension factors make the M340i a legitimate pleasure on stretches of backroad. Flicking the auto into a corner, the nose dives ideal in. The regular M Sport brakes offer gobs of bite, as well. These stoppers are a tiny sensitive and can be complicated to get utilized to, but they are a large enhancement about the 330i’s regular brakes. In that auto, I was never getting plenty of stopping power, but the M340i’s improve is terrific.

If there is a single thing that stays a bummer, it is really the three Series’ variable activity steering. On paper, it is really good to have light, uncomplicated-to-maneuver steering when parking and then heavier, extra immediate action when you’re out for some exciting. But what the M340i actually lacks is feedback and so no subject how nicely tuned the variable ratio could be, it still benefits in a wholly lackluster experience.

Switching among the M340i’s four push modes (five if you double press Sport to unlock Sport Additionally), the auto actually adjustments its demeanor. Ease and comfort provides outstanding, uh, comfort and ease all over city, while Eco Professional is a champ on the freeway, creating the most of just about every fall of gasoline. Talking of which, go uncomplicated on the throttle and the M340i ought to return 23 miles for every gallon metropolis, 32 mpg freeway and 26 mpg combined, which is much better than most other compact luxurious-activity sedans.

The Adaptive driving mode presents the M340i the Ok to automatically make changes to different powertrain and chassis parameters as it sees suit, but this is not my desire. Personally, I like to leave this sedan in Sport. The exhaust opens, the digital gauges flip purple, the transmission retains gears lengthier and the accelerator responds significantly extra eagerly to your “gotta go rapid” urges. A testimony to the M340i’s refinement, even in Sport, the sedan is nicely behaved in stop-and-go targeted visitors. Sport Additionally nips some of the driver aids and relaxes the steadiness manage method, creating the M340i significantly extra tail-happy.

Inside, the M340i shares a large amount with the entry-degree 330i, while my tester’s mix of grey and Oyster Vernasca leather seems to be extra premium than other color schemes. Nevertheless, the three Series’ cockpit in normal offers alone as appropriate for the price, but not over and over and above. Ahead of the driver sits a twelve.three-inch digital gauge cluster with plenty of information, a lot of which is adjustable from steering wheel-mounted controls. To the ideal resides a crisp 10.three-inch screen, which — hallelujah — supports Apple CarPlay and Android Vehicle without having any linked fees.

The M340i features a host of driver-support units that hold you coddled while driving. The roster involves adaptive cruise manage, ahead-collision warning and automated unexpected emergency braking. An optional Driving Guidance Package adds even extra with blind-place detection, lane-departure warning and parking sensors. And when it will come to the all-vital cell product, there is no scarcity of options to locate a put to charge them. Select the wireless charging pad, USB-A or USB-C ports. Rear seat travellers also receive USB-C ports and a twelve-volt outlet, as well.

At $66,000 and change, this M340i is not an economical auto. But thinking about it commences at $55,695 right after a $995 spot charge, it is really uncomplicated to locate worth in the powertrain when in contrast to the regular 330i. For instance, our extensive-phrase 330i rang in at $fifty seven,000 right after options, but if I had to put a financial determine on exciting, I unquestionably relished myself so a lot extra in this M340i that it feels really worth the additional charge. Among its shape-shifting character, charming powertrain and terrific seems to be, the M340i is a just-ideal three Sequence.