Drove the BMW X3 M40i & M340i back to back: My honest observations

One of the issues I felt in both cars is the aesthetics of the interior. Fairly below par for something costing in the 1 Cr territory.

BHPian Ponybha23 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Thanks everyone for your inputs. Test drove the fully loaded X3 M40i and the M340i back to back today. As expected the engine is mind blowing. And the burble, on the X3 especially (I think it’s an older version of the 6 pot?) was to die for. Oh, what aural pleasure!

Chennai roads are not the greatest and wanted to check out the ride which is of great importance to me since this is a daily driver. While the X3 was definitely better, the 3er wasn’t bad either. Was certainly better than my CLA. Took on the bumps relatively well. I am not sure how it would age though (my car is 7+ years old).

One of the issues I felt in both cars is the aesthetics of the interior. Fairly below par for something costing in the 1 Cr territory. I am not saying it’s not put together well but found the interiors or have a lot of hard scratchy plastics. Even the sensatec dashboard was scratchy. Almost like an MG Astor. Can’t even hold a candle to my CLA dashboard, definitely not the upper part. One special issue with the 3er was that it scraped on two speed breakers.

I know I am going back and forth but feel a little shortchanged to settle for a great mechanical car and fairly average interior. This would be worse with the special edition of the X3 (about 15L cheaper).

Waiting to test drive the GLC 300 and the NX 350h. Will probably do another round of test drives of the Beemers as well.

Fairly confused now! I am guessing going to get confused further with the other test drives!

Here's what BHPian nmn.070 had to say on the matter:

I was in a similar dilemma. I thought I wanted a great drivers car. But during the extended test drive for the M340i I realised that it's not even 5% of driving time when I can truly enjoy the b58. The ride to me was quite firm. The car really feels nervous at low speeds due to the suspension setup and the knowledge of having great firepower. I decided I'd rather have a daily which is taller to allow for drives in rains (waterlogging is an issue in most cities) and unknown terrains. X3 M40i would be perfect but for me it was stretching my budget conscience far too much. The other suv mid size options were:

• Audi Q5 - decent power and great comfort. But interior is very boring and outdated.
• Lexus NX - felt too small for what it is. Great materials but the design is too edgy and overall it did not feel exceptional. Unlike the excellent Lexus ES.
• BMW X3 - only offered in diesel now. Had they retained the X3 30i I would have picked it up in a heartbeat. Interior is again a little old but functional and well built. Rear biased AWD and good steering make the sedan-suv compromise more digestible. But I think diesel is very poor residuals if you keep the car for long.
• Mercedes GLC 300 - the power is good. Interior is the most updated but still creaky and not as well put together IMO. But driving pleasure is second only to the X3. Spacious and good looking. I found the ride to be on the stiffer side. Considering that I only explored SUVs for comfort, it was a bit disappointing. Also it lacked some basic features such as keyless go. But this may be the best contender in this price bracket. If you can excuse the chitzy interior and ride quality, this would serve well.
• Volvo XC60 - excellent comfort, simple but ergonomically amazing interiors. Felt it to be better put together than the merc. Only sore spot is the front biased AWD. But the seats, music system, massage function and overall look inside and out won me over. It is understated and elegant. I love the Android based infotainment. Google maps and Spotify in built is a big plus for me. I hate having to connect my phone for anything. I don't take calls when driving anyway. This system allows me to ignore my phone completely when driving. It's a little dated but I believe Volvo will not change it much. They are committed to going full electric and this would be replaced by an all new EX60. So the XC60 will serve for sometime with the ICE powertrain. Even if it changes, I think the interior and exterior will age gracefully over the next 7-8 years. The fact that it saves you close to 15 lacs over the GLC is sweet.

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