[Aditya]

BMW M340i xDrive

BMW M340i Pros:

• Ferocious 6-cylinder turbo-petrol motor with 382 BHP on tap! Lives for 7,000 rpm
• All-wheel-drive gives the BMW M340i leech-like grip & solid stability levels
• Sporty, well-tuned exhaust note is addictive at high revs
• The ZF 8-speed AT is the best gearbox in the segment. Fast & smooth
• 0 – 100 in 4.4 seconds with 4-door everyday practicality. Go touring with the family!
• Lovely cabin, premium build, very supportive seats & a fab driving position
• BMW’s strong track record for reliability (among the luxury marques)
• 5-star NCAP rating, awesome brakes & a laundry list of safety equipment

BMW M340i Cons:

• Ride is much firmer than a regular 3-Series. Liveable, but you feel everything on the road
• Sad boot space with a spare wheel
• We don’t like the radiator grille, same rim design (as the 330i) and gunmetal-coloured ORVMs
• Rear floor hump is enormous! Car is better as a 4-seater than 5
• Your fuel costs will be a lot higher than say, a 530d
• Runflat tyres come with many compromises, wear out soon & are expensive to replace
• We hate the all-digital instrument console. Also, the rev counter is weirdly inverted
• Some irritants such as the lack of keyless entry (!!!), w-i-d-e 6 meter turning radius & annoying speed warnings

Link to Official Review

Mercedes C43 4Matic Coupe

Link to 2020 Auto Expo Report

Audi S5 Sportback

Coming soon

BMW M2 Competition

Link to Reesnat's Ownership Review

[GTO]

This one is easy for me. The BMW M340i .

- It's the best priced of the lot, thanks to being a CKD. Hopefully Mercedes & Audi respond to this kind of pricing as such cars can be an awesome brand-building exercise.

- 4-door practicality (vs the C43 & M2). I like taking my family along for road-trips. Also a lot more useable in town with family & friends.

Most of all, it is a heck of a lot of fun to drive and very, very liveable on a daily basis. That counts for big points in India.

[veedub89]

According to the recent Car and Bike video review of the S5, Audi plans to price the car somewhere near the 80lac mark. That would make it the second-most expensive car in the comparison. All that for the car with the lowest power output.

The S5 is dead on arrival. It makes absolutely no sense to buy it over the others.

It has average looks and to me it looks very similar to the run off the mill A4/A5. Not that the 340i looks vastly different to a standard 3er but just that if Audi wants me to pay double the amount of an A4, they could make it look noticeably different than an A4.

My pick would be the 340i just so that I can drive it everyday and park it wherever I want with most people thinking it is a standard 3er and just leaving my car alone. I don't want the flash value of the M2 or the C43.

[JohaanTJ]

An interesting take on the M340i vs C43 situation. Its an S4 instead of the S5 sportback here.

https://youtu.be/ru2rDHzCfNM

[CEF_Beasts]

BMW M340i anyday everyday!

BMW has got the price bang on! Good of BMW to introduce it as a CKD and the quickest accelerating car made in India at the moment. It’s a baby M3 but extremely capable. 4 doors like said above just add to it’s practicality since 2 doors is not for everyone.

This is one car in which even your family can enjoy the performance and not the driver and co-driver only (most 2 doors).

[androdev]

I think, in India, it's better to have two cars. A comfortable grand touring type of car for bulk of the touring duties. And a two door car that's high on emotions and low on practicality. I am not a fan of all-in-one performance sedans because it's an unnecessary pressure to fight against the urge to speed on family touring duties and it's low on emotional reward when compared to niche models.

Unfortunately pricing has a big impact on this as many two-door cars are not priced attractively. I would still not buy all in one type of car at these prices. One thing I believe in is that when paying for big ticket items, emotional reward is the most important factor to consider. Fast grand touring 4-door sedan is very low on emotions when compared to niche models.

In that sense, I would prefer either M2,C43,Z4,etc. depending on what else is already in the garage and my primary requirement (speed or social)

[shree_shell]

Mercedes if you prefer luxury.

M340i if you want a FAAST sedan.

M2 if you want to catch a glimpse of what M stood for once upon a time

In either case, none of them will let you enjoy even half of their limits.

My vote goes to M2's simplicity. Not sure about the Z4 though. Last time I heard it had an identity crisis.

[vb-saan]

The M340i without a doubt! Love everything about the car (maybe not the grille). Power, fun, practicality, family-friendly – it’s all-inclusive package. I am sure that the next generation C43 will be compelling package, but I don’t see much competition in this space until that arrives.

[iliketurtles]

I would buck the tide a bit and plump for a pre-owned M2, or M3 (in that order of preference) over this. The full-fat ///M DNA adds a flavour all its own. Yes, the M340i will be exceptional, but I would much rather buy something else for touring the country, and keep a full blown ///M in the garage for all those fun times when I want to roll in the weekend.

[Dieselite]

My vote is for the M340i X Drive, obviously !

The car is a compelling buy for an entry level performance sedan. BMW has loaded it to the brim with features and priced it extremely well making it extremely difficult to ignore.

Audi is fast becoming a brand of the past thanks to its weird pricing policies. The one thing it has over the M340i is the ride is comfort mode I guess. In all other areas the BMW outshines it!

The M2 would definitely be the superior performance sedan but loses out only on the practicality count being a 2 door. The 3 being a new generation model has all the luxury trappings giving it a broader appeal for me.

Mercedes AMG coupe is not a practical 4 seater but it runs the BMW close in most other aspects. It does have a better soundtrack though.

[Axe77]

I am trying hard to decide which one of these will be the most fun to drive at 80 (100?) kmph on the Mumbai / Pune expressway. LOL!!

Just kidding. I think the BMW has this one hands down. Great price, 4 door practicality, switch to tubeless and hopefully the ride quality will be a tad more tolerable and finally of course, the explosive power - all combined in one stellar package.

[akash_v12]

Simple.

If I had all the money in the world, the likelihood of me spending that money would be on the M2 Competition and buy another Sedan/SUV. Since it is probably the last of the greats from BMW's M division, I'd directly pay up for it.

But, since I don't, it'll be the M340i. The 4-door practicality with that ballistic B58 is sure to be one hell of a package for people on a budget. Add to that the fact that we have multiple tuners who can extract so much more from the engine and we'll have this Sub-M competing with actual M cars.

I did recently get to see and hear a C43 AMG, but it really doesn't sound good. (no offence to any 43 AMG owners).

[ShivWason17]

Going against thr tide here, Voted for C43.

Not saying that I dont like the nee M340i xdrive but if I have this kind of money to spend I’ll rather go for some uniqueness rather than practicality. Have an Octy for those runs with the family. Anyway, its just wifey and me for our trips usually.

I have always been fascinated by 2 door cars and coupes as well, lately. The C43 brings some bragging rights as well, ofcourse because of the 3 pointed star and the styling. This coupled with the performance is a perfect match for me.

[Dr.AD]

For me, the M340i is the clear winner here. If I had that budget, I would definitely pick up an M340i.

Talking about performance alone before anything else, this car has all the power I would dream about in Indian context. A six cylinder turbo-petrol with 382hp! What more would I need in India? I know, as many pointed out above, the M2C has 410hp. But practically, again in Indian context, I would not even notice the difference between 382hp and 410hp. Maybe a race track is a different story, but I would not take my car on a track anyways. So even from performance point of view, and assuming non-track, regular roads as the playground, this car has all I would need in India. The xDrive makes it an amazing handler too.

And as if that performance alone was not enough to make this car so desirable, it has all the other qualities - practicality with 4-doors and comfortable space for 4 adults, gorgeous styling and great looks, loaded with technology and gizmos, and above all, BMW's stellar reliability! For my limited requirements (I mean non-track use), if there ever was a perfect car, this is it :-)

In fact, I was discussing this with some close friends and we were expecting it to be priced around Rs. 85L on road in Bangalore. Even that would have been a good deal. But they priced it at Rs. 78L on road in Bangalore, and that just makes it an irresistible deal.

Only if I had Rs. 78L to spend on a car, I would be in the waiting list for this car already.

Regarding the competing cars mentioned in this thread, they are all great cars in their own rights. However, regardless of any other factors, they lose out to M340i on at least one major factor - reliability! Leave aside the historical aspects of reliability based on old modes, but if we look at reliability of new cars over last 5 years, BMW beats others hands down. In fact, why just the luxury segment, BMW even beats many mainstream brands such as Hyundai, Kia, Skoda, VW, Mahindra, Tata, etc on reliability!

[Santoshbhat]

The M340i is really a mouthwatering product from BMW. An almost 'buy with your eyes closed' kind of product given the fantastic pricing that they've come up with. But strangely it does not fit into any car roles for family guy + enthusiast type of guys like me.

The M340i is a bit different from say a 530d or an X3 30d that I have. The latter are primarily a 5 series/ X3 with bigger diesel engines under the hood. They are luxurious touring cars that have a bit more to offer for the power hungry types. The family won't feel any difference sitting in the passenger seat or the back seat. Whereas the M340i will make you feel the difference.

I have a Polo GT TSI and a Polo GTI. Ask my wife and she'll tell you that sitting in the passenger seat is an entirely different experience in both cars. And I don't mean just in terms of the ride quality. The GTI brings out a different animal in you as a driver. The sharp handling, the fantastic braking, the sweet exhaust and all that power just makes you drive hard, brake hard and redline at the slightest opportunity. Fun for the driver, punishment for the family.

So if have to the get the M340i, it'll have to replace the GTI. In that case the full blown M2 just makes more sense.