M340i

[JNW1]

Newc said:

JNW1 said:

Newc said:

Bought a 2020 saloon recently as a general family car.

Most uncomfortable car I've ever owned. Suspension made out of girders, and none of the comfort / adaptive settings make any difference. And the seats are shockingly bad. Thin hard padding with no give, and can't get the position to be anything that doesn't force my lower back into a 60° angle

Surprised to hear you say that, I always found the ride in my G21 M340i perfectly comfortable in either Adaptive or Comfort mode; out of interest which car(s) have you owned that make the M340i suspension feel like it's made out of girders?!

In terms of the seats, do yours have the adjustable lumbar support? Scandalous it was an optional extra on such an expensive car but it does make a difference. Having said that I'd have to say the standard seats are adequate and no more; the M-Sport seats weren't an option when I got mine but I'd definitely spec them if I was ordering again now.

I've had all sorts of I-expect-this-to-be-firm stuff in the past - 911's, ferraris, small lambos, M5, etc - and sure they are firm but I guess the word for the 340 is lack of pliancy. You go over a bump say in a 911 and you feel the wheel move but the impact is absorbed. Hit a hole in the 340 and every millimetre of the movement gets transferred to the cabin and then the seat isn't soaking up any of the pain either.

If it was an Atom or a Caterham I'd be 'yeah, OK', but this is a 4-door saloon with a performance bias.

Yes got the lumbar support, but just cannot get comfortable. I think - but IANABackSurgeon - it's because the base of the seat is always inclined up at the front so right away you're reducing the spine angle. But I don't know enough about it to be able to describe the problem properly, IYSWIM.

We have our fair share of badly surfaced roads where I live and even on run-flats I generally felt the ride in my M340i was fine; perhaps a touch floaty when making progress over a twisty, undulating, road, but for the most part decent when it came to bump absorption. The crashiness you're experiencing wasn't really in evidence unless you hit nasty pothole at speed (which I did once in the dark and the noise and jolt was such I was relieved not to have either burst a tyre or damaged a wheel in the process!).

I agree the standard seats aren't the best but at 5'11" and average build I never found them uncomfortable; on a number of occasions I did stints of more than two hours behind the wheel and never got out with backache. But there are certainly better seats out there (not least the M-Sports that are now available as an option on the M340i).

[williamp]

One thing I want to look at is the apina spec "comfort plus" which makes a more comfortable ride when I dont want to drive like me pants are on fire.

There is an app you can get which conne ts to the car and changes the software. Has anyone tried this.?

[Jonny Wishbone]

williamp said:

One thing I want to look at is the apina spec "comfort plus" which makes a more comfortable ride when I dont want to drive like me pants are on fire.

There is an app you can get which conne ts to the car and changes the software. Has anyone tried this.?

I own a G21 Alpina B3, so not quite comparing like with like (different suspension, wheels and tyres). With that caveat out the way I can say whilst it makes a difference, it’s not huge.

The only substantial dynamic “failing” of my car is a hard edge to the ride over very bad surfaces. That’s as much to do with the ridiculous 30 profile rubber as anything else and there’s only so much tweaked damper settings can do to mitigate this.

So Comfort Plus makes the car slightly more wafty on the motorway but does nothing much to alleviate the transmission of jolts due to potholes through the cabin.

[philmots]

Newc said:

I guess it will be relatively more compliant than an M3 but I'd still recommend a longer test drive over your familiar roads if you can.

You can alter the angle of the front of the seat so it’s not angled up all the time, the front and back of the seat raise/lower independently.

Re suspension, I’d get it checked over.. there’s quite a big difference between comfort and sport, comfort on mine (compared to previous hot hatches) is like a magic carpet!

[Newc]

philmots said:

Newc said:

I guess it will be relatively more compliant than an M3 but I'd still recommend a longer test drive over your familiar roads if you can.

You can alter the angle of the front of the seat so it’s not angled up all the time, the front and back of the seat raise/lower independently.

Re suspension, I’d get it checked over.. there’s quite a big difference between comfort and sport, comfort on mine (compared to previous hot hatches) is like a magic carpet!

Seat - I don't think the base ever goes completely flat, but I'll have another go.

Suspension - I've got a couple of trade in offers, which were as knee in the nuts as you'd expect. So I am wondering whether throwing a few hundred at a suspension specialist is worthwhile or just good money after bad. That said it's not had any time back on the dealer ramp yet, got to sort that out when I'm back from biz trip, though if something is broken how did it get through AUC.

[Vee]

Agree with getting it checked out.
I've had mine less than 48 hours but it is as compliant as I'd hoped - I realise my frame of reference is my old M3 but as the previous poster said there is a big and noticable difference between Comfort and Sport. If you are not seeing that then the car probably needs a look.

[bad company]

2 GKC said:

Quite a few new ones in the dealer network at the moment

I just took a look on the BMW website, there’s a few but nothing like the spec I want when I replace mine. I’m at 3 years and 2 months though I usually change at 3 years so no need for an MOT. Can’t decide what to buy next.

[Vee]

It is daft that a car costing this much new doesn't come with electric memory seats as standard - they're only part of the Comfort Plus pack.
The Head Up display (part of the Live Cockpit Plus option) also seems to be very sought after, meaning the car needs Technology Pack.
This past month I've been watching daily, cars registered last September and used by employees are the ones coming onto the network, only a few come up with both Comfort Plus and Technology Packs, and they go extremely quickly.
Otherwise they have one or other which is a compromise.

Edited by Vee on Friday 26th May 08:36

[HM-2]

I really hate the trend of bundling all options into packs, drives me mad. I know it makes stuff easier for the dealers and manufacturers but I resent the notion of having to pay £3k to buy 3 options I don't want in order to get the 1 I do.

[sunnyb13]

bad company said:

2 GKC said:

Quite a few new ones in the dealer network at the moment

I just took a look on the BMW website, there’s a few but nothing like the spec I want when I replace mine. I’m at 3 years and 2 months though I usually change at 3 years so no need for an MOT. Can’t decide what to buy next.

an MOT is only like £30?

[Vee]

Hassle getting it booked in, then the hard sell on brakes being low, tyres wearing unevenly, etc, etc
Some people just want a car where they have no need to go the dealers

[simonwhite2000]

HM-2 said:

I really hate the trend of bundling all options into packs, drives me mad. I know it makes stuff easier for the dealers and manufacturers but I resent the notion of having to pay £3k to buy 3 options I don't want in order to get the 1 I do.

Exactly! Audi were the worst. I had an S5 in 2017 with a HUD it was £1,250 as an option. Then they moved to trim levels and it meant you could only get a HUD with a Vorsprung that was about another £5k. Stupid.

[bad company]

simonwhite2000 said:

HM-2 said:

I really hate the trend of bundling all options into packs, drives me mad. I know it makes stuff easier for the dealers and manufacturers but I resent the notion of having to pay £3k to buy 3 options I don't want in order to get the 1 I do.

Exactly! Audi were the worst. I had an S5 in 2017 with a HUD it was £1,250 as an option. Then they moved to trim levels and it meant you could only get a HUD with a Vorsprung that was about another £5k. Stupid.

Yep. My M340 has a sun roof that I’ve never used or wanted. It came as part of a package.

[hiccy18]

Vee said:

Hassle getting it booked in, then the hard sell on brakes being low, tyres wearing unevenly, etc, etc
Some people just want a car where they have no need to go the dealers

My experience was end of warranty check report (free), MOT (£38?), minor service (£180-ish). Report said tyres good, brakes good, everything good, work done.

I think I'd rather know if tyres were wearing unevenly and get it sorted, than leave the geometry out of spec and end up replacing tyres prematurely.

[aspender]

Picked up my new (to me) 2020 M340i Touring yesterday. Involved a flight to Aberdeen and a 530 mile journey home.



Very very happy with it. I'm coming out of an Alfa Stelvio Quadrofiglio so still gathering my thoughts but one thing is certain. I wouldn't have done over 40MPG in the Stelvio!

[xcesx]

aspender said:

Picked up my new (to me) 2020 M340i Touring yesterday. Involved a flight to Aberdeen and a 530 mile journey home.



Very very happy with it. I'm coming out of an Alfa Stelvio Quadrofiglio so still gathering my thoughts but one thing is certain. I wouldn't have done over 40MPG in the Stelvio!

I bought mine in Aug 2021. G20. Car is registered Mar 2021, MHT.
Same colour (oxide Grey) and wheels. I like this look over the black wheels and grills.
I regularly get over 40mpg on a run. It's averaging about 33 mpg since I bought it (previous F30 335d was about 38mpg).

Agree the options can be a pain. I had to compromise on the seats. Mine has comfort, tech and visibility.

I've found the ride fine. I suppose this can be subjective.

[ratty6464]

Newc said:

Bought a 2020 saloon recently as a general family car.

Most uncomfortable car I've ever owned. Suspension made out of girders, and none of the comfort / adaptive settings make any difference. And the seats are shockingly bad. Thin hard padding with no give, and can't get the position to be anything that doesn't force my lower back into a 60° angle.

Six weeks in but going to get rid I think, and maybe look at an A6 or a Ghibli.

Main dealer AUC, so I didn't do much more than drive it round the block and press all the console buttons before buying. So it's all on me, but strong recommendation for other prospective buyers: get a long test drive.

I had an M340i. One of the easiest and best improvements to the ride was to ditch the Bridgestone run flats and for Michelin pilot sport ps4s. Then comfort had genuine compliance and sport a decent bite.

For what it’s worth, I found it very comfortable after lots of seat adjustment and was glad to have the electric seats to save the position

[bad company]

ratty6464 said:

I had an M340i. One of the easiest and best improvements to the ride was to ditch the Bridgestone run flats and for Michelin pilot sport ps4s. Then comfort had genuine compliance and sport a decent bite.

I’ve had mine over 3 years now and have absolutely no problem with the Bridgestone run flats.

[d_a_n1979]

aspender said:

Picked up my new (to me) 2020 M340i Touring yesterday. Involved a flight to Aberdeen and a 530 mile journey home.



Very very happy with it. I'm coming out of an Alfa Stelvio Quadrofiglio so still gathering my thoughts but one thing is certain. I wouldn't have done over 40MPG in the Stelvio!

That's lovely

[xcesx]

bad company said:

ratty6464 said:

I had an M340i. One of the easiest and best improvements to the ride was to ditch the Bridgestone run flats and for Michelin pilot sport ps4s. Then comfort had genuine compliance and sport a decent bite.

I’ve had mine over 3 years now and have absolutely no problem with the Bridgestone run flats.

I planned to change to PS4S but the dealer gave me a load of waffle about the alloy being made to suit a run flat tyre. Also front tyres were fine so I just stayed with the Bridgestone RFs. Might look at it next time.