340i M Sport

[ro250]

I've been casually looking to change the family car and having been round in many circles I am gravitating towards a 340i M Sport. They tick the box for me as hopefully not attracting the full 'M' tax for parts and servicing etc. but also being a very capable car and something I'll enjoy driving when I've dropped the kids off at football.

I'd be interested to hear any experiences of them. I've been looking at 2017 / 2018 models (c.£25k) but prices seem very variable. It looks like Shadow Edition gets the nice wheels but I haven't worked out the different specs.

Any info or advice welcome - on buying watchouts, owning or servicing.

[curvature]

I'm no expert on these but the Shadow Edition was a run out model so you do get a nice spec with these.

I think the wheels are different and the mirrors are a different colour too but not sure about what else you get.

Then engine is highly regarded.

[c3m]

I used to have a 340i (2015), then went to an M4 CP (2017) which I then sold and went back to a 340i MPPSK (2018). It's a much better road car than the M4 CP, to be honest - you can use more of the power more of the time and it's much more comfortable.

The M4 CP was just silly on the public road and way too heavy on track. It ate a set of tyres over two track days, so if I was looking at tracking, I'd stay away from M3s/M4s.

TL;DR Go for it, 340i are great value. Definitely make sure you get one with electric seats - not all of them have it!

[RonnieHotdogs]

Look at the 4GC as well ... Has a more practical hatch boot, still has 4 doors, and comes better spec'd as standard.

[VRSrob14]

Made the jump from a 14 Plate Mapped VRS Estate to a 16 plate 340i Touring last year (always loved fast estates!)

It was a 50/50 shot but went with my heart as my head said a 280 Superb.

I don’t have the MPPSK fitted yet but am hopefully getting it fitted soon as I’ve had nothing but good comments about it.

You wont regret it, the power is just at the sweet spot for daily driving. Mine is fully de-badged so may fly under the radar slightly, so surprises some people off the lights who assume its just a bog standard Silver 320D!.

Get roughly 26mpg daily "spirited" driving, but get a solid 36mpg in eco mode on my trips from Burgess Hill -> Guildford in Eco with CC set at 72mph.

Currently costs me £68 a time for a re-fill at Shell with the good stuff.

As mentioned some have nice extra's so take the time to find the one right for you. In hindsight I wish I had found one with electric seats, but that’s the only option I wish it had.

Its worth noting the boot on the touring was smaller than I was expecting, but still manages to fit a buggy and 6/7 large shopping bags from Tesco with little fuss.

Had absolutely nothing go wrong in the year I’ve had it, and even managed a Burgess Hill -> Aberdeen run last September which was a fantastic trip, a great 14,000 miles so far!.

[un1eash]

Shadow edition is basically the old M Sport plus package with the nice wheels, tinted rear lights, black inserts front lights and gloss black grills/mirrors.

[ro250]

Fantastic advice, thanks all.

Hadn't considered the 440i GC - shall put that in the mix - a quick search seems they are around the same price but as I said in first post, prices are variable which I assume is down to spec.

A very specific point but I think I'd want a reversing camera ideally as I'm used to one. They don't seem to be standard but then I can't make that a deal breaker if everything else ticks the boxes.

I'd only be doing about 6,000 miles a year. Is that still annual servicing or does it stretch to 2?

[BFleming]

I'll repeat what the others have said above - specification is key, so find one that's right for you - not just the memory seats but wide nav, HUD, sunroof, full beam assist... I don't even think Xenons were standard. A 340i is a rare car anyhow, so you might have a challenge on your hands.
Here's an October 2018 price list to tell you what's what (incl the Shadow Edition): https://bmwonlease.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/1...

Edited by BFleming on Friday 21st May 09:40

[chandrew]

I'm going to offer an alternative perspective. I had a 340i xDrive Touring with the MPPSK and pretty much all the options you could get (you could have bought a 1 series for less than the price of the options). I never really gelled with the car.

For me it was too noisy (my fault for getting the MPPSK but I felt the car without it was a bit lacking in torque) and the suspension didn't have a great ride, even in comfort. The ride improved when I swapped out the run-flats and more so when it was wearing it's 17" winter wheels also without run-flats. It also had too much understeer for my liking, especially on snow or low friction surfaces.

It's fast and capable but it was never really fun to drive and I never, in 4 years, went out just for a drive though I live in an area surrounded by some of the best driving roads in Europe. I found it extremely capable without actually being enjoyable.

That being said the engine and drive-train are great and at the current prices as long as you can get on with the ride there's not much to dislike. Mine had some teething problems with some of the sensors when new, sorted under warranty, and never put a foot-wrong after that. I would caution about the MPPSK though as it is droney on a long motorway cruise.

It went yesterday after 4 years of ownership.

[un1eash]

440i GC is a better starting point as Pro Nav and memory seats were standard. It also has the bigger display dials instead of the little tiny display.

[BFleming]

chandrew said:

I'm going to offer an alternative perspective. I had a 340i xDrive Touring with the MPPSK and pretty much all the options you could get (you could have bought a 1 series for less than the price of the options). I never really gelled with the car.

All the UK cars are rear wheel drive; the X Drive gets SE suspension which attracts many complaints about handling, but it's not really an issue for a UK 340i M Sport.

[RiccardoG]

I'm also thinking about these but in the Touring variant. Very few around! Still not sure if its the right car for me, so its great to read the above feedback. Have not been able to try and so far though, so few on sale.

I'm looking for something comfortable (ie: refined) on multi-day high speed fully loaded Euro trips, but which also entertains on the mountain roads at the end. Coming from a 5 Touring (E39) which does the first bit, but not the second. Unsure as to whether the 3 or 5 series requires the least compromise.

chandrew said:

I'm going to offer an alternative perspective...

Thanks, that's great feedback. So, what would you say would have been the right choice, potentially? An equivalent age 535i perhaps? A Golf R maybe? Jaguar XF...? Panamera?

[chandrew]

BFleming said:

All the UK cars are rear wheel drive; the X Drive gets SE suspension which attracts many complaints about handling, but it's not really an issue for a UK 340i M Sport.

I had the adaptive 'M' suspension so my understanding is that this is the same between different models. However the issue with the suspension is it's too hard and uncomfortable, even in comfort it is only 'OK'. There was too much noise and vibration coming into the cabin.

Certainly here I've never seen a 340i without the adaptive dampers. We didn't get anything above a 320 in anything other than xDrive.

[chandrew]

RiccardoG said:

I'm also thinking about these but in the Touring variant. Very few around! Still not sure if its the right car for me, so its great to read the above feedback. Have not been able to try and so far though, so few on sale.

I'm looking for something comfortable (ie: refined) on multi-day high speed fully loaded Euro trips, but which also entertains on the mountain roads at the end. Coming from a 5 Touring (E39) which does the first bit, but not the second. Unsure as to whether the 3 or 5 series requires the least compromise.

chandrew said:

I'm going to offer an alternative perspective...

Thanks, that's great feedback. So, what would you say would have been the right choice, potentially? An equivalent age 535i perhaps? A Golf R maybe? Jaguar XF...? Panamera?

Obviously will depend on the size. I have good experience of the E39 (many miles in an M5) and it's about the same size as the later 3 series at least in width.

I got the 340 as a compromise, wanting an Alpina B3s. Unfortunately I couldn't find one in the dealer / importer and ordering didn't work out time-wise so took an available 340 from a forecourt thinking it was 'almost a B3'. It wasn't, certainly not in the ride department.

I quite liked the Mercedes E43 and could have had one at the same price as I paid for the 340. My wife wanted a smaller car hence the 340.

We collect an Alpina B5 Touring next week which should hopefully solve the understeer / ride quality complaints whilst being sufficiently rapid to get past caravans on the local passes.

[mr sagman]

Absolutely love my 340i Touring with MPPSK..... Very quiet and composed in comfort mode and pretty good on fuel.. Stick it in sport / sport plus and total

beast mode.. Would agree on hunting down a high spec one.. HK, heated seats, pro nav, larger brakes and adaptive suspension very desirable.

Prices have shot up in the last 6 months grab a nice one whilst you can.

[12TS]

I’ve had mine for 5 years from new and I’ve racked up all of 19000 miles now. Servicing is on a cbs basis, can’t remember the exact costs but on average maybe £300 pa. MPG very much depends on conditions and style, many people claim 35mpg+ and that’s quite possible on lightly trafficked motorways at 70mph. I’m closer to 32mpg, but if you live in a hilly place with towns as well, then it would drop to Mid 20s.

Car is plenty fast enough for modern driving. Mine is stock with RFTS, ride is ok no adaptive damping on mine.

Spec wise take your pick. I like the hud, heated seats and pronav. I don’t drive much at night so standard lights are fine. I’ve got HK which is ok.

It feels its size. Which is fine as I do longer motorway journeys. The 1 series before was more nimble, my wife’s Cooper S is even more nimble and nippy, but hard work on long journeys.

I reckon it’s now worth about 50% of what I paid for it new, so it’s been a cheap car to run. I’d like a new shiny one, but it feels hard to swallow £45k+ when the improvement won’t be that great.

[rassi]

I am not entirely up to speed on prices but would a G30 5 series 540i be within budget? A very significant step up in interior quality, ride and comfort.

[12TS]

rassi said:

I am not entirely up to speed on prices but would a G30 5 series 540i be within budget? A very significant step up in interior quality, ride and comfort.

Yes they look good value, but it won’t fit my garage and it’s bigger than I need sadly.

[chandrew]

As people are mentioning options I thought it might be worthwhile if I added my 2p on this:

• Adaptive dampers. Never seen a Swiss car without them so can't comment on difference. See above for my view on the ride
• Adaptive headlights. I live in the mountains so often no street lights for 20km. Love them, especially on unlit motorways. Will be on all my forthcoming cars.
• Adaptive cruise control. Great and would be an essential for me now on all cars. Stops working in snow (you'd have thought a car from Munich could have engineered a radar so it didn't get covered in snow)
• Pano roof. My children liked it and it made the dark interior a bit less dark
• Self-parking. Used it once, decided I could do it better. Never used it after that
• Surround vision. OK. Strange omission of a front camera. Surprisingly difficult to activate / switch between views
• Parking sensors. Hit and miss. Unfortunately quite a few hits. Seemed to warn you when you were 50cm away or 1 second after you'd bumped into the snow-bank. Bumpers scratch quite easily
• Cameras on the front bumper to let you get out of junction. Useful but I could have lived without it
• HK sound. OK but against the top sound systems of the range above it's only OK. Should have had a B&W option
• Electric memory seats with lumbar. My wife & I have the same driving position so we never changed the position in 4 years
• Merino topped dashboard. Really brings the car up one stage. Obviously not essential. A guilty pleasure
• Merino seats. As dashboard
• Pro navigation / connected drive / concierge etc. I've never seen a Swiss car without this. It's OK but Google Maps is better. Never used concierge.
• Active safety stuff. Probably prevented at least one crash. One of those things that you'll not notice until you need it. Lane keep warning irritating on a mountain road but not too intrusive
• HUD. Loved it though wish it showed gears / revs
• Heated steering / front & back seats. I live in an area which gets down to -30c in Jan.
• Comfort entry & that 'wave your foot at the rear'. Mixed bag. Powered rear tailgates I find useful & frustrating (due to speed) in equal measure. At least you can chuck small stuff through the opening rear window of a touring
• Speed limit detection. It amazes me that politicians want to set speed based on this. Not fit for purpose. Often detects speeds of side streets.
• MPPSK - was a factory option in Switzerland. Loved the torque, noise too much for my tastes.

1. Other things

• Changing to Michelins for the summer - must have
• 17" winter wheels with Conti non-run flats. Preferred the ride of the smaller wheels. Conti tyres much better than whatever BMW sold me originally.

[tgr]

Thanks Andrew - great to have your considered thoughts. What does the HUD show then, as the E60 M5/B5 showed gear and revs I think?