BMW X3 M40i - First Impressions
Discussion
On 1st March I took delivery of my new X3 M40i, after 5 years of an F31 330d Touring (RWD). Since I've now done 1200 miles in it I thought it might be worth dropping a few thoughts down on the car and my impressions of it.
Spec wise I ordered it in Phytonic Blue with Black Vernasca Leather with the blue contrast stitching. I was relatively light on the options:
Power and Performance - Yes it's stinking quick, far quicker than a 1.8 ton SUV is expected to be, arguably it's probably faster in a straight line than my V8 Vantage S Roadster... though some of that is because of 4WD and an auto box. The power delivery is remarkably non-linear though - if you just floor it away from rest it's actually pretty pedestrian until it hits 3000rpm or so, after which all hell breaks loose and it launches at the horizon like nothing else I've owned. Very much a car of two personalities in that respect - keep it under 3000 and it's a smooth refined I6, keep it over 3000 and it's just mental.
Handling and Brakes - Again, it's a remarkable achievement to make something this tall handle so well. You can feel the momentum build up after a few corners at pace and you definitely feel like you are working the tyres hard but it definitely clings on. The nature of the car doesn't really inspire you to drive like this though, it's much more of a long distance cruiser than a country road tool... again what you'd expect. Brakes are far better than the 330d and you don't really feel the car diving around even under heaving braking which I was expecting.
Economy - I went in expecting mid-20s mpg overall, with most reports online saying you're lucky to get over the teens initially. Around town - doing say 20 miles or so around the Loughborough area in short-ish journeys, 20-21mpg is the norm. I did a long round-trip for work from Loughborough to Bristol and back in a day, following by Loughborough to Northampton and back the following day. I did the Bristol trip entirely on flowing motorways at a Cruise-Controlled 70 but not driving for outright economy i.e. if I needed to go past someone doing between 68.5 and 78.5 in the middle lane I did. More pace and traffic was involved in the Northampton run. That tank yielded 419 miles and 33.7mpg which seems pretty incredible. The highest I saw on the way back from Bristol was 39.5mpg over 100 miles. In that respect I do think the car is pretty incredible. My normal commute to Derby is 25 miles and driving normally I get 29-32mpg keeping up with traffic. Coming cross-country off main roads with enthusiasm coming out of corners it's 22-25mpg.
Interior - It's a nice place to be and the new iDrive is an improvement in some respects and a step back in others. I'd like more technical data to be available but that's the engineer in me. I do wish they'd offered the Merino Leather in Black as I'd have picked that in a heartbeat, but since the only operations are white, red and split-my-coffee brown I had to go with standard leather. I do miss the Merino leather of the 330d though, it just made the interior a nicer place to travel in and felt more premium by far. Space is good and headroom is excellent, and like I say it's very quiet. Lots of neat cubby holes and the central armrest can hide loads by itself. Boot has no noticeable intrusions at all but I do miss having nets at the side to hold screen wash bottles etc.
Options - I think I picked pretty well, the only one I wouldn't bother with again is the adjustable backrest which I can't see using very often, but then it was the cheapest. I do think the folding mirrors should be standard and the HK Audio isn't as bottom end heavy as in the 3 Series, though in some ways that's a good thing! The acoustic glass is wonderful on a long journey, but does mean you need windows down if you want to really hear the exhaust, engine noise you can hear pretty well in the cabin anytime - you're never in doubt which pump it drinks from and how many cylinders it has.
Would I buy it again? If the choice was between a 20i and an M40i then yes I think I would, but given I have the Aston for performance which is even more effortless, if the xDrive 30e PHEV had been available or even a 30i then I think one of those two would actually be the sweet spot - in some ways the M40i is just too fast to regularly extend it's talents on the road in this country.
Spec wise I ordered it in Phytonic Blue with Black Vernasca Leather with the blue contrast stitching. I was relatively light on the options:
- Head-up Display
- Harmon Kardon Audio
- Acoustic Glass
- Folding Mirrors
- Adjustable-Angle rear seat rest
Power and Performance - Yes it's stinking quick, far quicker than a 1.8 ton SUV is expected to be, arguably it's probably faster in a straight line than my V8 Vantage S Roadster... though some of that is because of 4WD and an auto box. The power delivery is remarkably non-linear though - if you just floor it away from rest it's actually pretty pedestrian until it hits 3000rpm or so, after which all hell breaks loose and it launches at the horizon like nothing else I've owned. Very much a car of two personalities in that respect - keep it under 3000 and it's a smooth refined I6, keep it over 3000 and it's just mental.
Handling and Brakes - Again, it's a remarkable achievement to make something this tall handle so well. You can feel the momentum build up after a few corners at pace and you definitely feel like you are working the tyres hard but it definitely clings on. The nature of the car doesn't really inspire you to drive like this though, it's much more of a long distance cruiser than a country road tool... again what you'd expect. Brakes are far better than the 330d and you don't really feel the car diving around even under heaving braking which I was expecting.
Economy - I went in expecting mid-20s mpg overall, with most reports online saying you're lucky to get over the teens initially. Around town - doing say 20 miles or so around the Loughborough area in short-ish journeys, 20-21mpg is the norm. I did a long round-trip for work from Loughborough to Bristol and back in a day, following by Loughborough to Northampton and back the following day. I did the Bristol trip entirely on flowing motorways at a Cruise-Controlled 70 but not driving for outright economy i.e. if I needed to go past someone doing between 68.5 and 78.5 in the middle lane I did. More pace and traffic was involved in the Northampton run. That tank yielded 419 miles and 33.7mpg which seems pretty incredible. The highest I saw on the way back from Bristol was 39.5mpg over 100 miles. In that respect I do think the car is pretty incredible. My normal commute to Derby is 25 miles and driving normally I get 29-32mpg keeping up with traffic. Coming cross-country off main roads with enthusiasm coming out of corners it's 22-25mpg.
Interior - It's a nice place to be and the new iDrive is an improvement in some respects and a step back in others. I'd like more technical data to be available but that's the engineer in me. I do wish they'd offered the Merino Leather in Black as I'd have picked that in a heartbeat, but since the only operations are white, red and split-my-coffee brown I had to go with standard leather. I do miss the Merino leather of the 330d though, it just made the interior a nicer place to travel in and felt more premium by far. Space is good and headroom is excellent, and like I say it's very quiet. Lots of neat cubby holes and the central armrest can hide loads by itself. Boot has no noticeable intrusions at all but I do miss having nets at the side to hold screen wash bottles etc.
Options - I think I picked pretty well, the only one I wouldn't bother with again is the adjustable backrest which I can't see using very often, but then it was the cheapest. I do think the folding mirrors should be standard and the HK Audio isn't as bottom end heavy as in the 3 Series, though in some ways that's a good thing! The acoustic glass is wonderful on a long journey, but does mean you need windows down if you want to really hear the exhaust, engine noise you can hear pretty well in the cabin anytime - you're never in doubt which pump it drinks from and how many cylinders it has.
Would I buy it again? If the choice was between a 20i and an M40i then yes I think I would, but given I have the Aston for performance which is even more effortless, if the xDrive 30e PHEV had been available or even a 30i then I think one of those two would actually be the sweet spot - in some ways the M40i is just too fast to regularly extend it's talents on the road in this country.
Very good write-up! Surprised that the X3 is so much quieter than the F30, the acoustic glass must play a big role, as I don't find my F31 noticeably noisier, if at all, than previous F15 X5. And your fuel economy is impressive, especially the range you are getting, the biggest bugbear I had with my Giulia Quadrifoglio was the less than 450 km range on motorway duties (57 litre tank).
Good stuff, and the M40i sounds excellent!
Good stuff, and the M40i sounds excellent!
My wife's just switched from a 340i touring to the X4 M40i and it's significantly quieter in the cabin. Very cocooned in every way, a nice place to be.
Amazed at the mpg you're getting. Even after a 600 mile motorway schlep last week (out of 1k total mileage) with the cruise set at 70 we were only getting around 28mpg. Would have thought if anything you'd get slightly more in an X4 vs X3.
Amazed at the mpg you're getting. Even after a 600 mile motorway schlep last week (out of 1k total mileage) with the cruise set at 70 we were only getting around 28mpg. Would have thought if anything you'd get slightly more in an X4 vs X3.
rassi said:
Very good write-up! Surprised that the X3 is so much quieter than the F30, the acoustic glass must play a big role, as I don't find my F31 noticeably noisier, if at all, than previous F15 X5
Good stuff, and the M40i sounds excellent!
Yes I'm pretty sure the acoustic glazing plays a major part in the quietness - I tried an F15 X5 first and that was definitely louder than the X3, I had an F31 too and that I felt suffered from road noise and engine rattle more than anything. It was an early rather than facelift F31 though so maybe it changed at LCI.Good stuff, and the M40i sounds excellent!
Gren said:
My wife's just switched from a 340i touring to the X4 M40i and it's significantly quieter in the cabin. Very cocooned in every way, a nice place to be.
Amazed at the mpg you're getting. Even after a 600 mile motorway schlep last week (out of 1k total mileage) with the cruise set at 70 we were only getting around 28mpg. Would have thought if anything you'd get slightly more in an X4 vs X3.
Happy X4! I have to admit I'm also very surprised by the mpg it's doing, my life average in the 330d touring was 42mpg over 79k so while I could get good figures I don't generally drive eco warrior style. What I do find is that I'm much more likely to look ahead and come off the pedal earlier in the X3 because I can see round things more. I've always been quite an anticipatory driver and so that probably helps.Amazed at the mpg you're getting. Even after a 600 mile motorway schlep last week (out of 1k total mileage) with the cruise set at 70 we were only getting around 28mpg. Would have thought if anything you'd get slightly more in an X4 vs X3.
Lozw86 said:
What’s the ride like and what size wheels do you have?
I'm on the standard 20" tyres with run-flats. I think the ride is better than I was expecting for a 20" wheel, it's not particularly crashy though if you hit a rough bit of road you are certainly aware of it. It feels very similar to my 18" wheeled 330d overall - but not quite in the same way. The 330d felt like it was rode well (after a decade in S-Line Audis I'd have probably found it good with the transport blocks in mind you) but the M40i feels like the extra mass dampens a bit more rather than it being innately suspension doing well.Chris Hinds said:
Lozw86 said:
What’s the ride like and what size wheels do you have?
I'm on the standard 20" tyres with run-flats. I think the ride is better than I was expecting for a 20" wheel, it's not particularly crashy though if you hit a rough bit of road you are certainly aware of it. It feels very similar to my 18" wheeled 330d overall - but not quite in the same way. The 330d felt like it was rode well (after a decade in S-Line Audis I'd have probably found it good with the transport blocks in mind you) but the M40i feels like the extra mass dampens a bit more rather than it being innately suspension doing well.Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff