[Godzilla]

Hi Reesnat, Amazing thread! Glad to see you enjoying your drives. I wanted to know more about your impression on the M340i and saw that you have responded in your earlier posts, thanks. I saw an video about the M2C with a NICE ending, I wanted to share that here.

https://youtu.be/CuiujPC8cmo

[Amsdoc]

Originally Posted by Godzilla

I saw an video about the M2C with a NICE ending, I wanted to share that here.

Super video! Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed it!

[Reesnat]

Originally Posted by Godzilla

Hi Reesnat, Amazing thread! Glad to see you enjoying your drives. I wanted to know more about your impression on the M340i and saw that you have responded in your earlier posts, thanks. I saw an video about the M2C with a NICE ending, I wanted to share that here.

https://Youtu.be/CuiujPC8cmo

Watched this video when it come out, what incredible production value! Thanks for sharing and reminding.

Glad you enjoyed the thread

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by Reesnat

Attachment 2124626

This car has brought me a lot of joy and pushes me to work harder at work and keep my passion alive. Every time I enter this car and start it, its an occasion! Every time I walk past it, can’t help but stop and get another look.

Those words have a very deep meaning & highlights the connection to your beauty. I really loved the way you linked getting motivated at work through one's passion...i could related to it

[Reesnat]

With the lockdowns all behind us (hopefully for good!), I've been back to driving the car over the weekends diligently. Another friend who owns a vRS245 also loves his drives as I do and we make it a point to drive either Saturday or Sunday mornings.

The ODO is now at 11,700 which would have been more, had it not been for the lockdowns. This ain't no garage queen and is being used, loved, and taken care of!

Here are some pics:

After my usual Sunday routine of washing, it still looks as good (if not better) than delivery day! This is where the PPF helps to keep swirls and minor scratches away.



On our way back stopping for some roadside tea after a beautiful drive through some village roads (well laid) that connect the Tindivanam - Pondy stretch to ECR (bypassing Pondy city).




The M-DCT Gearbox:

Having recently driven the ZF on the 340i and the refreshed 530D, its no doubt the smoother gearbox and is the right choice for a luxury/do-it-all car. The M-DCT is a bit fidgety in the city at times and not as smooth at slow speeds. But, this is a sports (or sporty) car right? and when driven like it's meant to, that M-DCT is such a blast! Every gear change is so satisfying, there is this mechanical sensation and kickback from the gearbox that begs you to take control. The ZF gearbox is smooth but lacks any sort of drama. Considering even the new M3/M4 is coming with the ZF, and as mentioned by almost every review, we will sorely miss the M-DCT. This is surely the kind of gearbox that suits the personality and engagement of an M car.

The MSport seats:

Another mention for how superb these are, they are on the firm side but never tiring, perfectly contoured, and hold you in place properly through any sort of driving. Importantly, unlike a super luxurious seat with tons of padding, this allows you to feel the chassis and what it's doing, this is super important for a car like this. It's not like the incredibly comfortable nappa leather seats on the 530D, the 530D seats feel like a sofa compared to this (and are perfect for what that car is). But a sofa won’t let you feel anything, so a balance is needed in a sporty car. This is a highly recommended option for the car, and worth the extra money.

Brakes:

The stock brakes on the F series M cars are the one paint point in maintenance! They are notorious the world over for developing deposits resulting in brake shudder, many times even with good cool-down practices, and I can confirm the same, unfortunately. This is annoying to keep this in mind always even for spirited street/highway drives. BMW has covered this under BSi+ for me once, but I shouldn't have to be so worried about this and have to baby it on a car of this nature, not experienced this on any of my other cars. Switching to Endless Pads would be a highly recommended solution. In terms of maintaining the car, this is the only thing to be careful with, other than that it’s been trouble-free so far.

Oh and I hear BMW India has stopped taking new bookings for M2C as production for this model is now officially over :(. Will surely go down as one of the favorites from BMW in the past decade!

[silverblue]

Hi Reesnat! Amazing thread. The M2C will go down in history as one of the best M cars ever made. The M2 has always been on my radar, but ended up with a 530D instead. It’s more practical, but the boy racer in me still dreams about experiencing this car as a daily driver. How is it around the city?

BTW, recognized you from one of the photos posted. I was your classmate from school, and we used to play cricket together in your street

[Reesnat]

Originally Posted by silverblue

Hi Reesnat! Amazing thread. The M2C will go down in history as one of the best M cars ever made. The M2 has always been on my radar, but ended up with a 530D instead. It’s more practical, but the boy racer in me still dreams about experiencing this car as a daily driver. How is it around the city?

BTW, recognized you from one of the photos posted. I was your classmate from school, and we used to play cricket together in your street

Thank you! it’s shorter wheelbase makes it fairly usable around town, but of course require a little more care with steep ramps.

530d is a great all rounder indeed. But if you can get the M2 as your fun machine, that’s where it really shines, the car will bring you tons of joy.

Don’t leave me hanging saying we were schoolmates, please DM me and let me know who

[GTO]

Just had to share this super-cool ad series with BMWs here, especially with the M2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr9aGXXB0OM

[Reesnat]

Sorry for the lack of updates, been really busy so haven’t had the time to pen down all the experiences. With almost 18k kms on the ODO and 3 years into the ownership experience, let me try and share some of my experiences and thoughts so far.

First, how does it look 3 years in? Still as spectacular as it did to my eyes on Day 1:




Where and how often do I drive the car?:

The M2C is mostly my Sundar fun car, I end up driving the ECR route till Pondy or the GST Road route, so inevitably every time I take the car out, its usually 200-300 Kms of mostly highway driving with some spirited sections to get the juices going! Go to MMRT about 3-4 times a year and even then don’t drive it hard for long and very cautious about the stints as the car is completely stock, and on stock brakes, which are very sensitive to pad deposits when hot, and don’t have a high limit on the track for extended sessions, so need to limit this to a couple hot laps per session, before a break.

What mods have I done to the car?:

Nothing besides the Akrapovic exhaust system (link pipe + axle back). While Akra’s are ridiculously expensive, for a special car like the M2C, for me, they were worth it.



Why did I pick Akra over the rest?:

1. Perfect fitment, this is a 100% bolt on with no cutting whatsoever, and is easily reversible if ever needed for warranty purposes or something.
2. Uses the factory valves and doesn’t need the ECU to be touched or any coding to be done. Retains stock valves open/close behaviour.
3. Significantly lighter than stock (about 17kg)
4. Fixes the horrible looking oversized udder that sticks out at the bottom of the stock exhaust, making the rear look odd.
5. Adds a small performance bump (about 12hp or so), nothing significant or something you’ll notice, but still.
6. Most importantly - the tone - very sophisticated sound that doesn’t completely change the stock character but has a beautiful tone once you get past 4k rpms, that’s where the titanium character starts to come through and howls in an addictive way! Not brash like some of the other exhausts I considered, this was very important to me. Louder than stock in sports/sports plus but as quiet as stock in efficient/valves closed mode. I needed something that’s liveable but not too loud that makes it uncomfortable on long drives.

Other than that, nothing else mechanically, yet. I’ve got a very strong itch to upgrade the suspension and make it an ever sharper tool, but I’ve been holding off on this as if I go down this path, I need to do it holistically - suspension, link arms, sway bars etc. The one thing I did do, is try out a slightly more aggressive front toe alignment which has made a big difference to how the front end of the car feels, its a lot more pointy and sharp, this was reflected on track too, helping me shave off a second easily. So there is a lot of potential still left with the platform from a handling point of view.

Cosmetically, on the interiors, got the M1/M2 buttons changed from the stock black to red ones, this adds a nice pop to the steering wheel and helps differentiate these two critical buttons vs the rest. These two buttons get used a lot and is a big feature on these M cars that allow you to quickly change character at the flick of a switch.



Service/Maintenance/:

Touchwood, nothing to report of here. Car has always been serviced and maintained by the dealership under Warranty/BSI Plus, which has worked out great so far. Only gripe being the stock brakes leave a lot to be desired and require a lot of babying to take care, ideally, I shouldn’t have to think about them so much.

Other than that, the ownership experience has been very enjoyable so far.

So with all that said, what has it been like this past 3 years?:

Amazing. This car has brought me so much joy and has truly pushed me to learn and become a better driver. Every single time I get into it and drive, it’s an occasion and memorable. Its not the easiest of cars to get in and drive hard due to its rowdy nature, but that is also the charm of the car, and why it has been so incredibly popular. Now for some, this may not be welcome, but for those with some experience and driving skill, this is a very endearing character of the car. In fact, I would say after 3 years of driving it all over, I am now starting to get to fully exploring this car’s capability. And, of course, still such a gorgeous looking car in my opinion, especially in light of what BMW is putting out these days (but that’s a topic for another day).

[Reesnat]

2023 Garage Update:

Sold my vRS245 and bought a M340i Jahre Edition in September of last year, and ever since, many have asked me about my thoughts on this vs the M2C. After all, how many crazy people are there in the world who own both the M340i and the M2C?



First, why did I sell the vRS245 and get the M340i?

• The itch for a change
• M340i’s driving dynamics and 6Cyl engine/gearbox combo with BMW tuning
• Made the mistake of stopping by the showroom when the Dravit Grey M340i Jahre was there
• My family is still relatively small and I can fool them for a couple more years with a 4-door sedan to serve as a family/multi-purpose car.

The vRS is a very tough act to follow as it does so many things well and is unbeatable as a value proposition. It was the gateway drug for me into the world of performance driving and will always be a special car for me (as I’m sure it is for many).

The M340i takes everything about the vRS up a notch or two, except the practicality.

Onto the main topic, M2C vs the M340i:

I’ve done about 6.5k kms with the M340i already and feel like I know it well.

First thing I would say is, this is a very unfair comparison and is an apples vs oranges situation. The mandate for the M2C is to be a usable sports car with some practicality built in. The mandate for a M340i is to be a do-it-all family car that can do some spirited/performance oriented driving. We’ll come back to this point later.

Lets start with some performance numbers that I’ve recorded with both my cars:

0-100:

M340i - 4.1 secs
M2C - 4.2 secs

1/4 Mile:

M340i - 12.2 secs
M2C - 12.3 secs

100-200:

M340i - 10.7 secs
M2C - 9.5 secs

Looking at the 0-100 and the 1/4 mile times you’d think the M340i is quicker, right? Off the line upto 100, yes it is. Thanks to XDrive, it launches much harder due to better traction. The M2C is RWD only and traction is in an issue off the line. But once you’re rolling, the M2C is quicker.

So from a straight line numbers perspective, there isn’t much in it, but how does it actually feel when in the car? Completely different! The M2C feels raw and exhilarating, granted, the Akrapovic exhaust makes a difference but the car feels more edgy and you do feel as fast as your are going. The M340i on the other hand is heavily insulated and while the launch is brutal, on the move, its quite numb in comparison (remember, this is meant to be a do it all car). The gearbox’s between the two are very different feeling as well and this adds massively to the character of the car. The M2C in its aggressive shift modes is hard hitting and thrilling, the M340i on the other hand, does its job in a far less shouty manner and isn’t as sharp. M340i’s gearbox is the better choice for city/comfort driving, M2C’s by contrast is far more aggressive and grabby at low speeds.

Now let’s come to the aspect where the differences are much wider - Driving Dynamics:

On the streets/highway, the difference is obvious, the M340i is a great driving car in isolation, but the M2C is just so much more engaging and fun to drive. The chassis, gearbox, engine tuning all come together when you are ‘on it’. If you are driving sedately the M340i is obviously a much better place to be. For outright driving thrills, the M2C is far more of a thrill machine, but that comes at the cost of usability and practicality that the M340i offers.

To exaggerate this aspect of the car and push these cars hard, you need to be on a track, and that is where we were a couple of weeks ago with a whole bunch of like minded enthusiasts (had a fantastic day). I got to drive my M340i (for the first time) and my M2C on track.





My best lap time with the M340i around MMRT was 2mins flat. With the M2C I managed a 1.56 that day with another passenger on board for a taxi lap. The quickest I have gone around the MMRT with the M2C is 1.55. Granted, the M2C was on Michelin Cup2’s and the M340i on PS4S, even if we factored in a couple seconds for the tyres, a nearly 5 secs gap is huge.

On track this lap time gap is felt even more, the M2C feels a lot more lighter, agile and sharp, its lighter weight, shorter wheelbase and stiffer chassis setup really comes alive. The M340i on the other hand felt heavy, was heat soaking after just one hot lap, and you could feel the weight putting a lot of stress on the tyres and brakes. The M2C changes direction, turns in, grips, stays flat all a whole lot better than the M340i. While this wasn’t unexpected, the gap between the two did surprise me, I secretly hoped the gap would be small and I could keep one car, but that wasn’t the case.

The M340i is designed to do a lot of duties well and hence it has to make some compromises (cooling, softer chassis). Having said all that, the compromises that BMW have made are spot on for what the car is, it is very practical for 4 people and some luggage on trips, handles and drives great, as long as you get rid of those awful RFTs and go tubeless.

Sidenote - If you want to learn about your driving and your car, go to a track and do a casual few laps, that should teach you tons more than 1000’s of highway miles.

A note on the ride quality, and comfort - with the M2C on Cup2 tyres (softer compound) the ride is even nicer than on Pilot Super Sport and I’d say the ride quality difference between this and M340i on PS4S isn’t massively different. Both are definitely firm (with the M2C firmer ofcoure) but not to the point of being uncomfortable over a long drive. The seats on the M340i while sporty lack lumbar support and has given me severe lower back pain during the first couple months of owning it. I finally had to buy a cheap memory foam lumbar support from Amazon to address this, after which it’s been comfortable. A real shame that lumbar support is not offered in an 80L car.



On the plus, the seating position in the M340i is excellent, you can go really low and into the chassis a fair bit more than the previous F series chassis which were all a bit taller than ideal.

Conclusion:

So what’s the conclusion? I see many comments about how the M340i is 95% of the performance at half the price of an M3 or something to that effect, purely based on 0-100 numbers, I can’t help but chuckle a bit every-time I read one of those. There is so much more to these cars, than just straight line speeds, if you don’t get that, you aren’t the target audience for them. There is no free lunch in life (surprise!). Expecting the M340i to do it all and replace dedicated sports cars is a fallacy. It’s a great car thats a fantastic blend of performance and daily usability, and in that regard it’s probably one of the best ever. But, the M2C delivers a whole lot more of that cliched ‘drivers car’ emotion that we crave, which is so much more than just going fast in a straight line.

I hope this post helped answer some of the questions I've received. Its gone on far longer than I imagined it to and I’ve not been able to cover every single aspect. If there is anything else specifically that may be of interest to someone, feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to respond.

[androdev]

Wow congratulations! Very interesting to read the comparison notes by someone who drives both the cars. To be honest, I am surprised by the pull M340i has in the market. You bought it being an owner of M2C. Another member @84.monsoon bought it after selling 530i.

[Reesnat]

Originally Posted by androdev

Wow congratulations! Very interesting to read the comparison notes by someone how drives both the cars. To be honest, I am surprised by the pull M340i has in the market. You bought it being an owner of M2C. Another member @84.monsoon bought it after selling 530i.

Thanks! Why does its success/pull surprise you? It’s the best bang for buck performance sedan under 1Cr in India at the moment. It’s fast, practical and handles well.

[androdev]

At this price point, personal taste and preferences matter a lot so what I say is just for academic discussion. M340i as the only car is a great choice in absolute terms. Hard to think of another car with such a complete package. But IMHO it would not be an easy decision to buy M340i to coexist with M2 (lot of overlap), or to replace 530i (having used to the quality of 5). Another point I should mention is that I tend to keep cars for 10+ years (individual purchase, no tax benefits, etc) so I am very unfamiliar with the 4-year time frame with lease/company/depreciation advantages - which could be an influencing factor in buying decisions. I hope my post doesn’t come across as something said in poor taste. I genuinely wonder if the amount of overlap between these two cars crossed your mind.

[Reesnat]

Originally Posted by androdev

At this price point, personal taste and preferences matter a lot so what I say is just for academic discussion. M340i as the only car is a great choice in absolute terms. Hard to think of another car with such a complete package. But IMHO it would not be an easy decision to buy M340i to coexist with M2 (lot of overlap), or to replace 530i (having used to the quality of 5). Another point I should mention is that I tend to keep cars for 10+ years (individual purchase, no tax benefits, etc) so I am very unfamiliar with the 4-year time frame with lease/company/depreciation advantages - which could be an influencing factor in buying decisions. I hope my post doesn’t come across as something said in poor taste. I genuinely wonder if the amount of overlap between these two cars crossed your mind.

As I said in the beginning of my post, I completely understand I may be one of the few crazy ones to own both at the same time

But I think I understand where you are coming from, which may be from a place of maximum value. These decisions certainly do not meet any academic justification for that (purely an emotional choice). Ideally, I should have gotten an SUV to pair to my M2. But in my case, I strongly dislike how most SUVs drive and as long as I am driving, I want to enjoy every drive. Right now, I can get away with a car like the M340i for my family duties too, but maybe not for much longer. Im certainly lucky to be in a situation currently to indulge myself.

As for the 530i example, while some practicality and comfort may be sacrificed, it’s rewarded 2X in driving dynamics and driving pleasure. Again, may not be anywhere close to meeting the hyper critical academic justification that is common on TBHP.

[androdev]

You are lucky to be in a position to have two 4 seconds to ton cars to meet your personal and family duties. Probably the best endorsement of appeal and desirability of M340i. Comparison of these cars from the eyes of a long term owner would be a topic of great interest to me. Hoping for more regular updates 👍