BMW 340i (F30) manual | Spotted
Craving the six-cylinder, manual drivetrain modest BMW saloons no longer get? Here's just the thing...
As a car buying nation, we British tend to be quite overt in our spec choices. Even with the smallest engines, we tend to plump for the big wheels, sportier trims and fancier options. Look at how popular the M Sport, S Line, AMG Line and R-Design models are over here; in other markets the obsession with a sporty aesthetic is much less prevalent.
Which is what makes this 3 Series stand out. It's a flagship car, but in white with the standard, fairly small, 18-inch wheels. Not bad looking by any means, just not how you'd typically expect a £40k 3 Series - as it would once have been - to look.
There's further intrigue, too, as this is a manual 3 Series. A manual 340i, no less, flipping expectation completely on its head. Our motorways are full (it seems), with all manner of BMWs on big wheels and less potent engines, yet here's the black sheep (or white, really, but you get the point): the biggest engine, the smallest wheels possible, the standard manual gearbox. With around five per cent of facelifted F30s (from 2015 onwards) expected to be 340is, the proportion of manuals must be tiny.
This particular 340i is a nice reminder, too, of the classic 3 Series recipe. Just two years after this car was registered, buyers who now want a six-cylinder 3 Series have to have all-wheel drive and an automatic gearbox. But ever since the E30, there's always been a six-cylinder, rear-wheel drive, manual car at the top of the 3 Series range just below the M3, and this car represents the end of that line. For a few very dedicated BMW fanboys, that makes it quite significant.
In fact, this might be well one of the last manual, six-cylinders 3 Series there was. While there have been subsequent M2s and M3/M4s registered with three pedals, the regular models, from the 1 Series upwards, have gradually transitioned to automatic transmissions. Registered in 2018, this must be one of the final BMWs with six cylinders and six manual gears.
On top of this fact is just how good the F30 3 Series was. The 340i was introduced in 2015, replacing the 335i with a new, modular straight six (this 3.0-litre essentially being two of the 1.5s used in the 318i.) The PH review that July spoke highly of it (optional Variable Sport Steering notwithstanding): "digging down reveals the charisma that we know and love from a 3 Series", was the verdict, along with praise for new, lag-free, tuneful 3.0-litre.
Furthermore, there's a worthwhile saving on offer here, the 340is' list price of £38,125 now down to £21,679 after two years and 15,000 miles. There's surely a deal to be struck, too, given how undesirable (to most) the spec will be.
There's really nothing else like the 340i if it tickles your fancy; all the obvious rivals from Audi, Alfa, Jaguar and Mercedes will have automatic gearboxes, after all. Those wanting something from 2015 onwards with a manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive and more than 300hp for less than £30k that isn't a BMW will be looking at a Mustang or a 370Z - there just isn't anything else on the menu.
Of course, the fact that this 340i is so rare is indicative of the market and buying tastes, with big engines and manual gearboxes simply not in demand as they once would have been. So the decision of this car's first buyer to go against the grain deserves recognition, because for just a few this will look like the ideal compact exec express. And for those that don't, it's going to be just another 3 Series on the motorway...
SPECIFICATION | BMW 340i M SPORT
Engine: 2,998cc straight-six turbo
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 326@5,500-6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 332@1,380-5,000rpm
CO2: 179g/km (NEDC)
MPG: 36.7
First registered: 2018
Recorded mileage: 14,925
Price new: £38,125
Yours for: £21,679
And funnily enough, I've been half eyeing up that car in the OP for a while
Main things that put me off are that its white, it has that awful blue line across the dash, and it's a saloon. A manual F31 335i with 18s would be perfect though!
There’s a few Jag XF and XE round our way, all with the big wheels.
One turned up on a driveway last year with the standard wheels. He knows, I thought, he knows. (Shame no manual option though. That is special. )
If it’s the same unit used in this car, I’d see very little reason to choose it over the ZF8 auto.
I occasionally wonder if I should have grabbed that manual. The big appeal to me was actually how old fashioned the car is, the killer app of these cars over the dearer competition is arguably that it has an actual hand brake, a proper, old fashioned, backward, retrograde, handbrake.
It’s an ugly car, it’s a common as muck car, it’s from a brand that some irrationally despise and some others irrationally adore but the 340i is a cheap way to get something that really doesn’t exist too much any more and is set to disappear in coming years. It’s a more than fast enough, 6 cylinder, 3 litre, rwd, front engined mid sized car with a good rev range and a nice but subtle sound. And you can find them without all the optional extras as loads were shoved out on leases where they stripped everything out so as to get that engine and performance for as little as possible.
It’s an ugly car, you’re not going to stand out as a winner down at the supermarket or the office car park and the competition from the likes of Jag, Merc and Audi have all caught up in terms of driving dynamics but if you don’t want to make that big jump to the V8s of the XFR, RS4 or C63 of the same era and you aren’t emotionally ready yet for the exciting world of 4 pots where there was once 6 and 8 pots then I think that the 340 at the £20k mark is a hidden gem and I think pips things like the C43 or S4 because it’s a straight 6 not a chopped V8, has a handbrake from the last century and can be found in manual.
God knows what the awful colour piping in the seats and the blue metal band across the dash is all about though!! The Germans do some properly weird stuff when it comes to their perception of what looks refined or elegant. But at least they’ve moved on from sticking plastic wood effect bits in weird places that wood would never have been.
So, in short, it’s not a car to use to impress anyone, it’s not a pretty thing and the interior has a whiff of regional nightclub limousine to it but as a present to yourself that few will probably appreciate its a real bargain and maybe even the last of its kind, the last car clinging on to what is disappearing fast and has long gone from many marques.
If it’s the same unit used in this car, I’d see very little reason to choose it over the ZF8 auto.
I wonder what premium (if any) this manual example commands over the same car with an auto?
Are those really the small wheels??
If it’s the same unit used in this car, I’d see very little reason to choose it over the ZF8 auto.
Always had manual BMW's and always had the CDV removed as the gearboxes are notchy enough anyway, but with the delay valve it just ruins it even more (and I'm a massive BMW fan).
This time I went for an auto M140i, and I am so glad I did, the ZF 8 speed auto is as brilliant as the B58 engine.
It is a shame for me(hardly anyone else though it seems) that the love for larger engines and a manual gearbox has died a death. I do applaud Porsche though for bringing back the 4 litre NA engine mated to a manual gearbox in the current Boxster/Cayman.
However I am shocked by the performance figures.
The E92 335i:
302 Bhp
295 lb ft
F30 340I:
326 bhp
332lb ft
The 'biggest difference' is the co2 and mpg
E92
Co2:231
Mpg: 29.4
F30
Co2:179
Mpg:36.7
E92 weight: 1600kg
F30 weight:1605kg
I know new to old isn't fair, and coupe to saloon same same but I'm not sure there's 12 years of improvements here at least on the surface.
If it wasn't for the arbitrary Road tax bands, running costs and performance are more than close enough. Clearly if one wanted the figures if the f30 a very light touch of tuning would release such ( not that I am inclined in the slightest)
Makes for interesting pondering on bmws upper 6 cylinder ranges development
Which makes the whole point of having it completely pointless (aswell as this delay valve thing mentioned). So not really much fun to be had
However, if it were fun to drive, the blandness could be overcome with a carbon fibre roof panel wrap and some decent (but subtle) wheels. Maybe something in titanium grey.
Shame it looks mundane and boring.
It's like the BMW guys looked at the bonnet shutline on a 2002 Megane and thought "Mmm, yes! That's it, that's the look we want"
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