G21 M340i Touring - any issues?

[numtumfutunch]

As above

My G31 530d has been superb if occasionally flawed however is getting on a bit and now the boys and dog have left home is too big for our needs

Consequently a current M340i Touring would be perfect

Im conscious of spec being stripped away with every facelift and have some homework to do in terms of what I "need"

HK audio is not negotiable as is decent leather/trim

Bigger alloys and adaptive suspension less critical, although whatever pack has keyless would be nice. Im not bothered about the HUD as I prefer Waze to native BMW Nav which in my current motor wouldnt mesh with the on board tech. Having said that if adaptive is worth the price Id be happy to tick the box. The car is occasionally used around town but gets most use on a 2h cross country trip to see my dad and a 7h motorway round trip to see the in laws on a regular basis

MPG not an issue, although 50+ in luxo barge comfort seats in the current barge will be missed

Thanks in advance, all comments welcome

[Joeigglypuff]

I picked up a second hand LCI model a few months ago, can't inform you of any issues so far but admittedly not owned for long. For sure the spec pick is a nightmare, seems like various different packs change at seemingly random points of time (I think the earlier cars also affected a lot by chip-shortages meaning certain options weren't available).

From my extensive looking in classifieds it seemed sports seats are rare, whilst the standard leather and 19" alloys are on basically everything. Sunroofs add value, I have one on mine and considering the black interior I really like it.

On the M adaptive, I think they all have the eco/comfort/sports setting but if you don't tick the box you don't get 'individual' mode meaning you can pick and choose your suspension/steering/throttle/gearbox settings. For me it's a must as I wouldn't use sport ever if it forced the stiff suspension and steering on me.

[Rob_R]

B58 is a solid, reliable engine if that helps?

[Wills2]

You'll struggle with decent leather as the vast majority have Vernasca leather which is a workman material rather than soft and luxurious, but better than Dakota of the previous gen.

[Fox-]

You don't say what year you're looking at.

The removal of specification didn't really start until around 2024, prior to this adaptive suspension, leather seats and 19 inch wheels were all standard fit. Now they are not.

Adaptive suspension is important I think as it improves the ride quality. It is now a £450 option, it was previously standard fit. I leave mine in Comfort 99% of the time.

The specification issues around COVID affected late 2021 and early 2022 cars mainly and I don't think are much of an issue, unlike the rest of the 3 series range the M340i did still get options like upgraded audio during this time. The removals were limited to things like wireless charging, passenger seat width adjustment and a very small number of cars without touch screen.

I also changed from a 530d and my biggest surprise has been that fuel economy is largely unchanged from the 530d. I had a previous generation car to you so it was less efficient in the first place, but you'll probably still be happy with the fuel consumption given the power on offer.

In some respects it will feel a step down from your 5 series - little things like plastic door armrests without padding. But on the whole it's an excellent car and I really enjoy it.

[Night Owl]

Wills2 said:

You'll struggle with decent leather as the vast majority have Vernasca leather which is a workman material rather than soft and luxurious, but better than Dakota of the previous gen.

I think the coverings vary in quality by series. The Dakota in my G31 is pretty nice; it is not so nice in my M2.

As for the M340 itself, I would avoid adaptive suspension. Car typically sits higher and the suspension never feels quite the same as the sorted passive 704 setup.

[Fox-]

Night Owl said:

As for the M340 itself, I would avoid adaptive suspension. Car typically sits higher and the suspension never feels quite the same as the sorted passive 704 setup.

Was this not more of an issue with previous generation cars? It'll be very difficult to even find an M340i without adaptive suspension as it was standard fit from introduction until very recently. Only the very newest of cars will offer the choice not to have it and there won't be very many of those without it.

[Night Owl]

Fox- said:

Was this not more of an issue with previous generation cars? It'll be very difficult to even find an M340i without adaptive suspension as it was standard fit from introduction until very recently. Only the very newest of cars will offer the choice not to have it and there won't be very many of those without it.

I've found it to be an issue on every adaptive car I have driven, but we all have different preferences. For some, the increased cushiness at the expense of some precision might be a welcome thing. Just not what I tend to like.

[malc993]

I’ve had my 340 touring for a year and I can confirm it’s a brilliant piece of kit.
Admittedly it’s heavily specced as I was coming out of a M4 and I didn’t want to feel that I was going into a poverty spec car.
Of all the additions I think the combination of the sport seats adaptive suspension and proper tyres (PS4 sports) are the most significant. It rides so much better than the M4 and it has plenty of performance.
I managed to get a very hefty discount as the dealer was obviously very keen to get me in the car - so drive a hard bargain!

[numtumfutunch]

malc993 said:

I ve had my 340 touring for a year and I can confirm it s a brilliant piece of kit.
Admittedly it s heavily specced as I was coming out of a M4 and I didn t want to feel that I was going into a poverty spec car.
Of all the additions I think the combination of the sport seats adaptive suspension and proper tyres (PS4 sports) are the most significant. It rides so much better than the M4 and it has plenty of performance.
I managed to get a very hefty discount as the dealer was obviously very keen to get me in the car - so drive a hard bargain!

Nice looking car

I have a quote from a broker offering 17% off a car with decent spec, did the dealer get close to this?

I absolutely hate the negotiation pantomime and my last 10y worth of cars have either been leased or bought through brokers with no drama or fake mystery around the process

Cheers

[malc993]

The discount was not far from that- essentially it was equivalent to the VAT payable on the list price.
They have just updated the car (again!) with a further power increase- take a look at Joe Achilles recent you tube video where he goes through speccing one.

[Fox-]

The tyre thing is strange. You can pay £800 for 19 inch wheels with runflat tyres or £1600 for the same19 inch wheels with 'sports' normal tyres. There is no guarantee which tyre you'll get but it can sometimes be Michelin.

In my experience the runflat tyres are as expensive if not more so than the normal Michelin tyres - so why are BMW charging £800 more to swap them when ordering a new car?

[LeoSayer]

Night Owl said:

Wills2 said:

You'll struggle with decent leather as the vast majority have Vernasca leather which is a workman material rather than soft and luxurious, but better than Dakota of the previous gen.

I think the coverings vary in quality by series. The Dakota in my G31 is pretty nice; it is not so nice in my M2.

As for the M340 itself, I would avoid adaptive suspension. Car typically sits higher and the suspension never feels quite the same as the sorted passive 704 setup.

Many used I've seen have Sensatec which is man-made leather which feels nicer than Vernasca and is much cheaper than leather on the configurator. I think Merino leather was an option earlier M340is ie. pre-covid but it's rare.

I saw a nearly-new car on the BMW Approved Used website the other day which had the no-cost cloth option. It didn't look right.

On the Joe Achilles video the other day, the dealer said he would refuse to sell a car without Adaptive Suspension because he doesn't want customers coming back to him with a back injury.

For me, I'd prefer to either save money with a 2022 or earlier model (which come with proper HVAC controls) or buy a new discounted car to my exact spec with the power and mpg bump.

[Trufit]

We’ve had our Portimao blue M340i, from new for a year now and it’s been superb, it replaced a Golf R estate and apart from the smaller boot it’s better in every area.
I spec’d the car via drive the deal and our local dealer matched the lowest offer which equated to around 18% off the list price.
Spec wise, we went for M sport seats, adaptive suspension, adaptive cruise, pan roof, Harman Kardan, blue/grey ash wood trim, upgraded alloys and the upgraded switches (can’t remember what they’re called) as you can see we didn’t bother with any of the packs as we didn’t want keyless entry and are happy to charge our phones with a cable in the centre consul, the other missing items (red calipers, black grill and whatever the tech pack adds) may put some off come resale but we plan to keep it for a while and tbh the spec includes items we knew we’d miss if we didn’t have them and excludes some pointless (to us) items that we’ve never used or missed on our other cars.

[Night Owl]

LeoSayer said:

On the Joe Achilles video the other day, the dealer said he would refuse to sell a car without Adaptive Suspension because he doesn't want customers coming back to him with a back injury.

That is the exact sort of thing I would expect in a Joe Achilles video, TBH.

FWIW, even my passive-suspended M2C is pretty comfy on the roads where I am. My 540 with passive 704 feels like a sofa that just happens to corner really well.

[Fox-]

Night Owl said:

FWIW, even my passive-suspended M2C is pretty comfy on the roads where I am. My 540 with passive 704 feels like a sofa that just happens to corner really well.

My 530d on passive suspension was excellent as well but the 3 series isn't the same suspension. It's generally accepted that Comfort mode on the adaptive suspension is softer than the passive suspension and it's about as harsh as I'd want in a car, it's fine but any harsher and I'd be asking myself if I'd bought the right car. Ideally, I'd want it to be a bit softer still than it is now but it suits the car I guess.

Comments from those in markets where the adaptive suspension was never standard on the M340i seem to agree.

I see no real downside to it. I'm not sure if the ride height thing is still true these days (it definitely was back in the previous generation, I agree) as everything I can find suggests the ride height is the same on both types but looking at mine I'd not want it any lower anyway.

Edited by Fox- on Friday 30th January 10:15