[vjbox]

Firstly congratulations to our beloved members who got the M340i!

I finally had a chance to take a test drive of the M340i here in Chennai. Thanks to the guys at KUN BMW who were very organized and courteous. I am in the market for a nicer car and have been testing everything under the radar. Having tested the 330Li which was nice, I didn't want to miss out test driving the acclaimed 340i. The car was shuttling between various cities it seems and was available yesterday and I was given a generous 1.5 hrs slot where I was able to take her out in Chennai Bypass stretch. I ensured I took my wife and son along for them to have a taste of it (Wifey wants an S90 for all that creature comfort and Swedish luxury) But I had to do what I had to do, persuade!

Impressions from my drive.

1. The car in Eco Pro transforms its character and behaves like it belongs to several segments below. You don't even notice its a 6 cyl Motor under the hood. I felt its the ideal mode when you need to deal those day to day traffic and you don't need announce your arrival.

2. In comfort it offers the best of both worlds, power when needed but can act sober and sedate too.

3. I waited to clear the Tambaram stretch with the usual city traffic, took a turn towards the bypass stretch which is a nice tarmac. Slotted to Sports mode (didnt do sports+),floored the pedal and unleashed the Kraken. Boy oh Boy, the car roared and shoved us back with that mad acceleration and relentless power delivery. You get that nice feedback every time a gear falls in place. You have no idea how this thing build speeds and masks them. I then had to calm myself down with family on board. Gears fall in place in a flash and taking control via the Paddle shifters was otherworldly. You just say "Eat my dust" to all other cars in the highway!

4. You can take corners, regular highway turns with supreme control and zero braking doing so. The car holds on those turns so tight that you got to work a bit to take it to the next lane and until then she grips holds real tight. Simply put, X Drive was magic! I constantly checked with my wife beside me on how she was holding and feeling and surprisingly she had no issues coping up with the ride, cornering or acceleration (Persuasion Stage 1 cleared)

5. Wind noise only seem to kick in at high speeds but nothing that affects the in cabin conversations.

6. I was able to have casual conversations gesturing with my left hand while holding the steering with the other hand at high speeds. That's the level of control and confidence the vehicle seems to offer.

7. Braking is several leagues ahead and you will be able to bring her down to crawling speeds in no time. They aren't too bitey either and felt just right. I thought the 330Li had bitey brakes.

8. At regular speeds you only tend to hear road noise from the Michelins and nothing from the engine.

9. I wasn't a big fan of all black interiors and wished they offer the Cognac or other good trims seen in 330Li10.

10. Ride quality understandably is firm and you tend to feel a lot of the undulations underneath but nothing that is very bothering. This is definitely one of those cars you can live with on a daily basis.

All in all I walked away mightily impressed and now wondering how can I weave a strategy to convince the home minister. God help me!

A short video from our test drive. Pardon me for the Tamil conversations but I am sure you can feel the excitement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srk1M5bTn-I

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[Dieselite]

Originally Posted by Ess

Also, the occurrence of this problem is quite random. It'll work fine for hours at end and then randomly start stuttering, seemingly out of nowhere. Could this be an Android issue?

This is definitely an Android issue as it is random and unaffected by car settings. The moment it happens I reconnect the phone and it gets solved. But I recommend using purely in Bluetooth mode as that never gets this issue. In any case the navigation of the car is up to date and works well. So unless you are using Google maps I would recommend you to use just Bluetooth for music. Maybe a firmware update on Android phones might settle this. Let me check and revert.

[MrA]

Originally Posted by karan561

Sure!
The 19"ers have surprised me not only in the compliments but also the practicality. The ride quality has been very good for the setup, thanks to the soft Michelin PS4S'. The Ground clearance too is good & haven't scraped the underbelly yet (Tried upto 4 people on board). Also, I have a feeling that with 19s I might have gained a bit of Ground Clearance (1" Increase in Rim Size but 0.45" decrease in sidewall height = 0.55" Increase in Height ?) Don't know if that calculation makes sense.

Congrats! It's a special car.

Assuming you had 225/45/18 and 255/40/18 from the factory your new setup of 225/40/19 and 255/35/19 should be the same diameter, +/-~1mm. You can use something like willtheyfit.com to compare the specs of wheels+tires.
One thing that bugs me about BMW xDrives is the wheel/fender gap, it was driving me crazy and I ended up getting KW Coilovers. Given that your car has adaptive suspension something mild like 15mm drop using Eibach springs will look really good and also retain the adaptive functionality. Will also give it a more sporty and aggressive stance, something to consider Eibachs will also make the ride less floaty, we don't realize it unless we ride in a car with much sportier suspension. A light tint on the windows will also look great

Also, any reason why you opted for more expensive OEM wheels instead of something like HRE or BBS which in my opinion are lighter and better looking, way cheaper also. Might be hard to get hold of them in India?

Here's a picture of my 435i xDrive with a bunch of M Performance goodies:
_DSC2931 by X Z, on Flickr

[ajmat]

Last night, I met up with an ex-colleague who also picked up an M340i. He had been about to sign up for 330i last year and I suggested he hold off. He took delivery last week, we had a quick meet with RobiMahanta, Dr AD, Vid6639, other BMW owners.

Drove very briefly, the exRobiMahanta 328i. Very nice and really pure steering. My colleague then asked me to drive his M340i, it had barely 350km on it so I needed to be respectful.

The ride was firm but far from a showstopper. The decision to stay with 18" is well worth it. It took speed breakers with ease. The car is very easy to drive, not at all frantic, you can drive in normal stop-start traffic without an issue. Put your foot down and it wallops with slightly violent downshift. Brakes are reassuring, progressive and no last minute bite. The engine note is addictive.

Did not get to test handling in extremis but steering is not a pure as the 328i, partially due to the 4wd (which also affects the turning circle). However, it is a small price to pay to put the power down cleanly.

I am totally spoilt. Its all the car you need except for that small boot (wish they sold the estate car here!).

Now to start saving

[evil_grin]

Originally Posted by Dieselite

Android Auto is really acting up quite a few times when streaming audio. Songs suddenly stop streaming smooth and there is a buffered playback which is driving me nuts !

Originally Posted by Ess

Hi Dieselite, any chance you've been able to find a fix for this problem?

Also, the occurrence of this problem is quite random. It'll work fine for hours at end and then randomly start stuttering, seemingly out of nowhere. Could this be an Android issue?

I had a similar problem with Bluetooth, not Android auto on my Octavia. Songs would stop playing after a few mins and wouldn't resume. Switching from using Gaana to Spotify solved the issue. Doesn't make sense at all but try switching your streaming app and see if that helps.

[Dieselite]

Originally Posted by evil_grin

I had a similar problem with Bluetooth, not Android auto on my Octavia. Songs would stop playing after a few mins and wouldn't resume. Switching from using Gaana to Spotify solved the issue. Doesn't make sense at all but try switching your streaming app and see if that helps.

I use YouTube Music and it works like a charm when using a cable in other cars. Will have to check if it is possible to use in wired connection with the M340i .

I am pretty certain it is due to the wireless connection as even Maps becomes jerky when Android Auto acts up.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by vjbox

Firstly congratulations to our beloved members who got the M340i!

Thanks vjbox for your wishes & also sharing your test drive experience. Its clear from that video that your really enjoyed your test drive

Originally Posted by MrA

Congrats! It's a special car.

Thanks MrA !

Assuming you had 225/45/18 and 255/40/18 from the factory your new setup of 225/40/19 and 255/35/19 should be the same diameter, +/-~1mm. You can use something like willtheyfit.com to compare the specs of wheels+tires.

Such calculations weren't required as both the wheels and tyres came with BMW Part nos. and were matching with my VIN. Not only that 792M wheels with these tyres are offered globally so fitment was never an issue. But thanks for sharing the relevant website, I'm sure will help others on the forum contemplating aftermarket upgrades.

Given that your car has adaptive suspension something mild like 15mm drop using Eibach springs will look really good and also retain the adaptive functionality. Will also give it a more sporty and aggressive stance, something to consider Eibachs will also make the ride less floaty, we don't realize it unless we ride in a car with much sportier suspension. A light tint on the windows will also look great

The Indian spec M340i doesn't have Adaptive suspension. Also I intend to keep it stock height as this is ideal for my usage. Any lower will cause trouble with speed bumps / bad roads. Also tints are banned in India.

Also, any reason why you opted for more expensive OEM wheels instead of something like HRE or BBS which in my opinion are lighter and better looking, way cheaper also. Might be hard to get hold of them in India?

I like the 792M design hence opted for OEM.

Here's a picture of my 435i xDrive with a bunch of M Performance goodies:

Thanks for sharing.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by vjbox

I finally had a chance to take a test drive of the M340i here in Chennai.

Impressions from my drive.

1. The car in Eco Pro transforms its character and behaves like it belongs to several segments below. You don't even notice its a 6 cyl Motor under the hood. I felt its the ideal mode when you need to deal those day to day traffic and you don't need announce your arrival.

2. In comfort it offers the best of both worlds, power when needed but can act sober and sedate too.

3. I waited to clear the Tambaram stretch with the usual city traffic, took a turn towards the bypass stretch which is a nice tarmac. Slotted to Sports mode (didnt do sports+),floored the pedal and unleashed the Kraken. Boy oh Boy, the car roared and shoved us back with that mad acceleration and relentless power delivery. You get that nice feedback every time a gear falls in place. You have no idea how this thing build speeds and masks them. I then had to calm myself down with family on board. Gears fall in place in a flash and taking control via the Paddle shifters was otherworldly. You just say "Eat my dust" to all other cars in the highway!

Nice review of the test drive. I think there are some similarities of how you described each of those modes to how I felt too and described in my ownership review. Folks who drove this car on an open freeway will know the true potential of this dynamite of an engine

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ml#post4990973

There's also a test drive video on my thread that led me to buy this car without even being in the market for one. And, out here in US some other friends & BHP'ians are biting the bullet just like me- Getting this car even without wanting one. So imagine how just a test drive can drive a big dent into your wallet

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Dieselite

I guess most other countries get Adaptive Dampers with the 19 inch wheels. Online reviews do indicate an excellent ride with that combination.

That may explain why I found the ride to be pliant in the comfort mode here in Australia even on bad roads. I was quite surprised to see many posts/reviews calling out the ride to be not so good even with the smaller sized wheels.

Originally Posted by vjbox

4. You can take corners, regular highway turns with supreme control and zero braking doing so. The car holds on those turns so tight that you got to work a bit to take it to the next lane and until then she grips holds real tight. Simply put, X Drive was magic! I constantly checked with my wife beside me on how she was holding and feeling and surprisingly she had no issues coping up with the ride, cornering or acceleration (Persuasion Stage 1 cleared)

All in all I walked away mightily impressed and now wondering how can I weave a strategy to convince the home minister. God help me!

AWD certainly helps with increased traction which translates to increased driver confidence but also relatively less driver engagement vis-a-vis the same car in a RWD layout. I personally look for exiting the corner at the shortest possible time and I lean on AWD. Whereas some prefer to have a greater degree of engagement.

I can fully understand your excitement on the test drive. The car begs to be driven but IMHO take it easy on recording and posting about the same in the entirety.

Good luck in convincing the home ministry.

Originally Posted by MrA

Here's a picture of my 435i xDrive with a bunch of M Performance goodies:

Love the stance. Very tastefully done mods.

[mobike008]

Folks, interested to listen to the B58 engine models exhaust note, here is one that I took in Sports Mode

https://youtu.be/uUCDbzXQKqc

A few more are posted on my thread

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ml#post5038259

Don't forget to use headphones and turn up the volume

[MrA]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Love the stance. Very tastefully done mods.

Thank you, took some work to get it there I'd say coilovers made the biggest difference in terms of looks.

[robimahanta]

1300kms Update:

The exhaust note has settled in nicely. Sounds amazing now from outside. Inside the car the fake noise being filtered is nothing much to talk about.

The engine and gearbox is a match made in heaven. With combined highway and city driving I am getting 8.5-9kmpl average. The throttle response is simply exhilarating. Waiting to give it the full beans once the run in is complete.

The steering is too thick and doesn’t feel as good as an RWD car in daily driving. The turning radius is a little more due to xdrive mechanicals.

The dampers are stiff but not jarring at all. I am at 34psi front and 36psi rear (cold).

Hardwired a DDPAI Mini 5 4K dashcam (thanks to bhpian SunnyBoi) and got the CF Spoiler from BMW. Its a small duck tail one but changes the look of the rear. I will share more images later with the 2000km update.

[RakishRam]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

1300kms Update:

The exhaust note has settled in nicely. Sounds amazing now from outside. Inside the car the fake noise being filtered is nothing much to talk about.

Congrats once again and couple of questions to you and other 340i enthusiasts.

1. Did you guys get that Budh circuit driving training already? If so, post some pics
2. Any inside info on when next lot of 340i coming?

I have been checking with BMW frequently on next lot and always answer is please keep an eye on the website. And I think they will raise price for next batch :(.

Enjoy and Have fun with 340i.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by RakishRam

2. Any inside info on when next lot of 340i coming?

There are some unsold left or at least that was the case until last week in North. Given the conditions here in North, I don't think BIC program Is going to happen soon.

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by RakishRam

Congrats once again and couple of questions to you and other 340i enthusiasts.

1. Did you guys get that Budh circuit driving training already? If so, post some pics
2. Any inside info on when next lot of 340i coming?
.

Thanks

1. Nope not yet. With the current pandemic raging on, I don’t think any track driving experience is going to happen any time soon.

2. Initial information was that of July. I am not sure when it is actually going to happen. They are taking bookings for the car though. Price hike is for sure as even the 330i got a hike of around a lac.


Coming to the car, I finished the run in of 2000kms on 19th April, which is exactly a month after delivery and a few days prior to lockdown in Bangalore. I got the oil and oil filter changed. It was not within CBS but done as a customer request. Damage:13k.

Luckily the oil was clean without any shavings and even the filter pleats were clean. Maybe it is an overkill but I just want to keep the B58 as happy as possible ☺️

Oil used was 0W30 BMW grade for petrol engines.

New oil and filter going in: