[Aditya]

Exceptional, unbiased & detailed ownership reviews of cars have started going to our homepage reviews box. It's the ultimate stamp of trust from Team-BHP (as a platform) because lakhs of visitors every month check out reviews from there & make purchase decisions.

Your review has also been included here. Thank you so much for sharing .

[mobike008]

Congrats and welcome to the M40i family.

That's nice color and pretty rare, not to mention a welcome change in a sea of blue.

Majority of BMW buyers prefer the Blue (I think I read a report that > 60% of them buy in shades of blue) and then Black, White etc.

This color stands out in sunshine for sure.

Looking at your downsides- The seats are contoured for a reason to keep you firmly in position for taking high speed corner bending. Even I felt the same that they felt like rock in the initial days but, you get used to it later.

I have done multiple super long distance runs and I feel they are quite comfortable (maybe not the best comfort out there but, they never broke my back and after each trip, never had any issues due to seats being firm)

Enjoy the B58 and Cheers !!

[athray9]

Congratulations on the M340i.

Dravit Grey is such an amazing shade !!!

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

What I don’t like:

• The Harman Kardon system - I expected more out of a system that claims to have 400+ watts of power output. The system lacks the depth and punch expected.

I had the same issue with the X3 M40i speakers, but there is a solution. If you go into sound settings and disable the "Logic 7 surround" and then increase the bass and treble, you will get the punch from the speakers. Kindly try that and I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised as to what difference it does to the audio.

[Laks]

Did you not consider ceramic coating? What made you go for PPF?

[Jay_P2324]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Booking & Delivery Experience



Attachment 2504847

Congratulations on your purchase and I wish you many happy miles with this fabulous car!

Quick question
How was the number plate fixed here? Did they drill into the bumper? I do not see any provision for screws or rivets like the rear has.

[Laks]

Originally Posted by Jay_P2324

Congratulations on your purchase and I wish you many happy miles with this fabulous car!

Quick question
How was the number plate fixed here? Did they drill into the bumper? I do not see any provision for screws or rivets like the rear has.

When I took delivery of my 330i MSport, it was terrible to see the dealer drilling 2 holes in the front bumper to fix the frame that is meant to hold the registration plate - ideally, BMW should have provided pre-made holes with thread, like the one made available for the rear registration plate. To add to this, because of our weird rules, 4 more holes are made (2 in the front and 2 more in the rear) to rivet your HSRP. So, by the time you get your HSRP, your front bumper has 4 holes and more importantly, the rear metal portion of the car has 2 holes from riveting the HSRP. They don't even check if there could be an important electricl wire / conduit running behind

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Laks

When I took delivery of my 330i MSport, it was terrible to see the dealer drilling 2 holes in the front bumper to fix the frame that is meant to hold the registration plate

Agree! One alternative is to buy the plastic surrounds and secure them to the bumper with high quality adhesive. You can then easily slide the plate itself into the frame and secure them both (to each other) with a small rivet.

Of course with HSRP now, it is technically illegal for this arrangement, but I have multiple cases like this. In my Q3's case, the technician did not rivet it at all! It was simply slid into the frame and secured at the back with 3M tape.

[Laks]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

When the M340i, I was launched in 2022, I developed a strong interest in the car. The price-to-performance seemed to offer a very good value proposition. The car looked mean and had really nice, sporty interiors. I think what turned me off was the reported dismal fuel efficiency and the fact that I would have to do frequent fuel ups on long-distance drives. However, the car quite never went out of my mind, and I continued to track the BMW India website and drool over the specs and looks of the car.

As something that is topical right now, its interesting that all Team BHPians who have bought a M340i have not had a great experience with the Harman Kardon premium sound system ie., it could have been better for the money and the flagship car the M340i is. However, quite intriguingly, the seemingly same sound system with the addition of a sub-woofer in the boot in the BMW i4 has been reviewed to be a fantastic OEM sound system. There are a couple of YouTube reviews if anyone is interested to get into the details, one reviewer of good repute termed it, "sensational". I wonder if this is a deliberate marketing attempt to ensure you don't get everything you want in one single car

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[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by ex-innova-guy

I L-O-V-E the Dravit Grey Colour and post detailing the M340i looks even more stunning. Congratulations for getting one of the most VFM car in the market. .Wishing you tens of thousands of miles and smiles.

Thanks so much! Yes, I do think this is a great VFM car for all that it offers.

Originally Posted by XDriver

Congrats on the M340i. I Did you consider the X3 M40i as an option?

No, the X3 M40i was launched a few months after I got this car. I would probably not have considered the X3 as it is quite late in the current generation and the next generation is round the corner.

Originally Posted by Toni

Sexy color and a fabulous machine. Very comprehensive review with great photos. Wish you many a miles on this great machine.

Thanks very much! Looking forward to do a few long trips in the next quarter.

Originally Posted by Omkar

Congratulations 84.monsoon on this amazing piece of machinery! Changes to the M340i LCI make it look so good! Not that the pre-LCI looked bad, but this one IMO is more appealing to the enthusiasts aesthetically.
Wishing you plenty of happy miles with the M340i!

Thank you! Yes, I do think the LCI made it a neater and slightly more elegant design overall. The M-Sport versions look quite aggressive as well.

Originally Posted by dmaheshkumar

Hi,
Congratulations on your new BMW M340LCI. The color of this car was simply superb. In Sunlight the car color was bit different and the shade was really awesome.

Yes it is unbelievable how different the color is in direct sunlight. The golden specs also make it even more appealing in bright light.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Exceptional, unbiased & detailed ownership reviews of cars have started going to our homepage reviews box. Your review has also been included here. Thank you so much for sharing .

Thanks Aditya and Team-BHP Mods. This is very encouraging indeed!

Originally Posted by mobike008

Congrats and welcome to the M40i family.

Looking at your downsides- The seats are contoured for a reason to keep you firmly in position for taking high speed corner bending. Even I felt the same that they felt like rock in the initial days but, you get used to it later.

Yes, I am getting more used to it now. Since my daily driver is a Thar which has somewhat soft seat compound, every time I get into the M340i in the weekends, I notice the difference too much. I guess if I drove the BMW every day, I will get better used to it.

Originally Posted by athray9

Congratulations on the M340i.

If you go into sound settings and disable the "Logic 7 surround" and then increase the bass and treble, you will get the punch from the speakers. Kindly try that and I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised as to what difference it does to the audio.

Thanks, will try that tomorrow and see. I hope this will improve the audio quality. Fiddled with the equalizer last week and it sounds a shade better after increasing lower and higher frequencies.

Originally Posted by Laks

Did you not consider ceramic coating? What made you go for PPF?

PPF is much more protective. It is a proper hard physical film and has saved my paint a few times. In my understanding, Ceramic is good for aesthetics and water resistance but cannot help from scratches etc.

Originally Posted by Jay_P2324

How was the number plate fixed here? Did they drill into the bumper? I do not see any provision for screws or rivets like the rear has.

The rear number plate is screwed on but the dealer thankfully spared my car from making holes on the front bumper and used 3M tape to stick on the front license plate.

Originally Posted by Laks

As something that is topical right now, its interesting that all Team BHPians who have bought a M340i have not had a great experience with the Harman Kardon premium sound system ie., it could have been better for the money and the flagship car the M340i is. However, quite intriguingly, the seemingly same sound system with the addition of a sub-woofer in the boot in the BMW i4 has been reviewed to be a fantastic OEM sound system.

This is good to know, I wonder if it is possible to retrofit the sub-woofer on the M340i as these two are essentially the same underpinnings with electrification added on in the i4.

[krishnadevjs]

Congratulations once again 84.monsoon! And a wonderful ode to an equally wonderful car. I could absolutely relate to the positives and negatives pointed out by you.

Think our cars are production line siblings - mine's made on 5th Jan - 1 day after yours.

I tried searching for the curved display protective screen that you mentioned, but couldn't find it. Could you post a link to the same?

During my 1st service, the BMW SA here asked me to maintain 36 PSI on the tyres. He said it wouldn't impact the RFTs but give a better ride. I've been maintaining that ever since, and have found the ride a tad better. You can try that as well if you wish. Anyway TN roads are way better than MH - so this might make it better.

The tyres are an absolute nightmare. I myself have gone through 3 of them now - even random undulations on the road damage the sidewall. I know of someone else, who had to replace his tyre, just 500km into the ownership. This is more of a problem in MH, where road quality is terrible.
When I drove to KL last, the difference in road conditions as you cross the border into KA is stark. TN offers the best quality highways though.

Like you rightly said, swapping to the 18 inchers might be the only permanent fix. That or switch to non RFTs, that aren't as brittle or as expensive to replace.

Wish you many more miles of spirited driving in this truly wonderful beast!

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by krishnadevjs

Congratulations once again 84.monsoon! And a wonderful ode to an equally wonderful car. Think our cars are production line siblings - mine's made on 5th Jan - 1 day after yours.

I tried searching for the curved display protective screen that you mentioned, but couldn't find it. Could you post a link to the same?

During my 1st service, the BMW SA here asked me to maintain 36 PSI on the tyres.

Thank you! This is starting to feel like the long lost siblings Amitabh and Dharmendra in many 70s Bollywood movies Maybe these M340is will meet one day somewhere!

I must thank you profusely as it was your original post in December 2022 about the M340i LCI's arrival that got me out of my slumber to book the car.

Here is the link to the screen protector:
https://armourguards.co.in/products/...l-screen-guard

Will try 36 PSI and see how it feels.

[krishsreedharan]

Congratulations on the Car! Lovely Colour!

Thanks for the tip on the Screen Protector for the large screen up-front. I ordered mine even before the car was to be delivered, but there was a shipping mess up which meant it reached me a few days after I took delivery of mine. Have already applied it and it's really good.

Wishing you miles and miles of smiles, or should I say, a face full of grins

[balu_tigers]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Thanks so much! Yes, I do think this is a great VFM car for all that it offers.

My car M340i LCI Shadow (Sept'23) came with plethora of manufacturing defect and QC issues and one of those is faulty amplifier and speakers, it is with BMW SARA' case. i think august-October 2023 batch have many QC issues. Compare the audio quality with other HK system back to back in showroom.Actually a properly functioning HK 688 have very good bass.

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[ST7677]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

It is also fairly reliable and there is no dearth of tuning jobs which can make this M3 fast without much effort. I was looking at the same exact car before I went for Model Y Performance.

Hi,
Did you drive both cars before selecting Model Y Performance over 340i?
If so I would like to hear how engaging is MYP compared to BMW 340i. Hardly any comparisons available online.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by ST7677

Hi,
Did you drive both cars before selecting Model Y Performance over 340i?
If so I would like to hear how engaging is MYP compared to BMW 340i. Hardly any comparisons available online.

They are not natural competitors that is why. I compared the two because they were priced very close and I could have gone for either of them. 340i is definitely more engaging in the traditional sense of the word - it has a more gradual power build up compared to Model Y and has gearshifts which change torque delivery and the sound of the engine, a more visceral experience if you will. MYP on the other hand is a scapel - the only noise you get is the whine of the electric motors when accelerating fast which I personally enjoy a lot and its very very effective. Even though their performance numbers are fairly close, in the real world however, there are very few cars would be as fast as a MYP. Most traffic light duels are won by a mere flex of the right foot. Even fast cars.

MYP also has almost infinite variability which is an advtange of its EV powertrain that can be controlled very precisely as opposted to BMW (or any ICE) which is translating literally explosions into forward motion via crank and gears - there is only so far you can go controlling analogue with digital. MYP is almost as fast in wet as it is on a dry because it can manage torque precisely. MYP also comes with a track mode where you can play around with the power bias (50:50 to 100% front or 100% rear) along with traction control. Tesla could if they wanted to add more features via a software update as well.

Coming to the more practical aspects - MYP is a hugely practical car - massive rear boot along with a massive cavity under the boot along with front trunk which itself is 110 liters, the boot opening is like a hatchback as well so it can swallow almost anything which the BMW cant. MYP also does not need an expensive annual yearly service and it costs me literally nothing to run because most times I charge it via my 10kw home solar or via cheap time of use tariffs for electricity at night. There are other advantages as well - the whole sofware/firmware system which can be updated via OTA updates is a huge advantage. In my 6 months of owning the car, I have had almost 15 odd updates which have either improved existing functionality or added new so you car is as up to date as a brand new car rolling out of the showroom.

All of that said, if you can afford a 340i I'd say do go ahead - it is a dying breed and I reckon it is going to keep its value in the long run because it has that stonking inline 6 engine which is BMW's best. In my case I was not just looking for experience, I was also looking at the practical aspects - one car for all seasons if you will. My other car is fastish Lexus RX450h which has a V6 and I do drive it from time to time if miss the noise