1 year with the BMW M340i LCI

It’s just over a year since I got my BMW M340i LCI. As I had gone for an accelerated 1-year lease to maximise tax benefits, I closed the lease at the end of last month, paid off the residual vale and am presently getting the hypothecation removed.

BHPian 84.monsoon recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A quick update on the M340i

It’s just over a year since I got my BMW M340i LCI. As I had gone for an accelerated 1-year lease to maximise tax benefits, I closed the lease at the end of last month, paid off the residual vale and am presently getting the hypothecation removed. This was a chance to think about whether I wanted to keep the car long-term, or sell it and go for a fresh lease on my next car, to continue to enjoy tax benefits. Selling now would get me to get the maximum resale value as the M340i as it is still so fresh. I have driven only 3500 km in the whole first year and the car is still so pristine! But really torn about this as I know it will be hard to replace the driving pleasure of the M340i with literally any car in the market in the same or similar price ranges. Do let me know if you see any alternatives!

I had driven so less for a couple of reasons. It had been a fairly busy year at work and home, and I did not have too many chances for long drives. Plus I still had my Thar, which I used as my daily driver.

Another reason I have not done many long drives is that I got a bit of a scare when I drove my BMW up to the hills and back a couple of months ago. On the way back, the car’s front right tyre went over a pothole at about 70 kmph speed. There was a thud sound but nothing happened immediately and the tire pressure was being maintained as usual, when I called up the appropriate menu option. But a few minutes later, I heard the much feared hissing sound, which clearly meant the tire had been damaged. Fortunately, all else was well and the rims were not impacted in any way. This had happened on my way back from Kodai, just as I had entered the Chennai outskirts. So, I left the car at a fuel station for the leasing company, Orix, to pick it up for tire replacement and made my way home in an Ola taxi. Spare tires are very hard to come by in the OEM spec, and BMW Chennai had no stock. Again, it was my good fortune that the Bangalore dealer had one spare tire available and sent it to Chennai the same day and my car was back the very next day in the garage. Very good job done by Orix.

The M340i comes with a very thin tire profile of only 40 in the front and 35 at the back resulting in very low sidewall height. BMW keeps prioritizing aesthetics of larger wheel sizes, and grip of broad tire widths, with the result that the sidewall height gets lower and lower. Even a large SUV such as the face lifted X5 has just a 35 profile tyre at the rear, given the 305–20R tire size.

Other than this one episode, the car has provided a great ownership experience, with absolutely no niggles. The car is solidly built with not a single rattle anywhere. I am still discovering all the functionality inside that massive iDrive 8 system and am doing a few weekend drives around town to enjoy the powerful punch of the B58 engine in short bursts, on the rare occasions when one can find the runway to do that, in the ever busier roads around Chennai!

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