My BMW M340i LCI ownership review: A case study in YOLO!

While the Tiago EV is a great car, it's understandably nowhere near as engaging or fun as the M340i.

BHPian HillMan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

25,000 km up in the blink of an eye!

Post the Mount Abu trip, long trips took a bit a of a break, mainly because of work and either my daughter having school or wife and me having work commitments.

To compensate, I started taking the M340i out regularly to office and back.
And of course that meant much more of this:

She at her favourite place

This also meant that the Tiago EV, which we bought solely for city commutes lay dormant, accruing just 5,000km in one year.
Much to the annoyance of my wife, who is now convinced that I'm mad.

I must be, because against all good sense, I did go through with this:

The longest 10 minutes of my life!

We went to SoBo one day and parked near Rustom & Co. Some twat stole the 4 from the M340i logo.
Thankfully, a friend and fellow Mallu from the M340i Owners' Group had a spare 4 to lend me. And my M3 0i became an M340i again.

Come July, it was monsoon time in full fury again.

Now I understand when pilots say near zero visibility.

While many folks romanticize about the monsoons in Mumbai, I absolutely hate it. For two reasons:

1. ISRO and BMC seem to be competing with each other. While ISRO tries to make vehicles to run on craters in the moon, BMC is trying to bring said craters to Mumbai roads. So far, the BMC seems to be winning this match.

2. Our country is so efficient that the richest city in India gets flooded if it rains overnight. And a flooded road is not somewhere you want a low GC German sports car going through.

Due to above said reasons, the tables turned and the M340i stayed indoors most days, while the EV bravely ventured out.
This decision did pay off, as I realized while driving the Tiago effortlessly past a 5 series that got stuck in water. IP67 rated battery and motor pack FTW!
The M340i would've surely gotten stuck that day had it been out on the roads.

While the Tiago EV is a great car, it's understandably nowhere near as engaging or fun as the M340i. And so, last weekend, I decided that we simply have to go out somewhere on a road trip.

Given we didn't plan much or book anything in advance, there were only limited options.
Since being stuck in traffic isn't the best use of 380 HP and 500NM, common options like Karjat, Lonavala etc were weeded out.
The road works on the Gujarat side of Mumbai meant only destinations to the south were viable.
I literally sat in front of Google Maps, looking at places and destinations where we could go - which is when I chanced upon Tamhini Ghat and Mulshi.

A few checks on Google as well as our M340i owners' group confirmed that roads were good all the way.
However, there was nothing to do there. This would just be a drive for the sake of driving.
We'd go there, have lunch and come back!

After a lot of cajoling and convincing, the better half finally agreed to this insane plan of taking 2 kids (including a cranky 1.5 year old) on a 200km drive, just for the sake of driving!
My madness must surely be rubbing off on her, 10 years into our marriage.

And so we set off. While I've done quite a bit of driving in Maharashtra, I must say this one was the ABSOLUTE BEST!
Smooth tarmac, twisty roads, no traffic and green all around us!

Shifted her into Sports Plus and pushed her hard into every corner I could find. The roar of that straight six hushed out the music we were playing inside.
Even my 1.5 year old daughter was squealing with joy, as the G-Forces pushed her side to side. (She surely does take after her father!)
The pre-tensioned seatbelts wrapped themselves snugly around us, as we blasted through that empty stretch of tarmac.

Green fields and meadows, twisting windy smooth roads, forests at some places and then a winding ghat with waterfalls along the way - I was in driving heaven!
The X-Drive system made it feel like understeer was a term that wasn't meant for this car.
But of course, I had the last laugh, as I was able to throw out the back a couple of times. That too, only cos the tires were the ones to lose grip!
Man, what a car!

You'd think her looks are her most attractive feature. That's just until you hear her voice! <3

When we started the trip, the M340i was showing a range of some 250km. I had planned to fuel on the drive back.
But we were having so much fun in Sports Plus, that the range quickly dropped to 100, then to 80 and finally when we were half way up the Ghat, to 50.
Since it'd be quite the scene to be pushing an 85 lac car into a petrol pump, we decided to turn back, refuel and then come back up again.
Eco-Pro + downhill rolling meant the range was back at 85 by the time we got to a BPCL pump.

Sufficient fuel in the tank, we drove the way back up to Mulshi Dam.
Unfortunately, by then, it started pouring - so there was no way we could step out anywhere.
Made our way to a restaurant there, and had our lunch.
Thank God the drive was amazing, cos the food definitely wasn't!

By evening we were back home. Thanks to our near-tryst with an empty fuel tank, the entire journey took close to 8 hours.
Of course, my takeaway from this was that if we could sit for 8 hours now with the kids, we could do a Goa road trip in August, as well.

Somewhere along the way, the 25,000 milestone came and went. I was too engrossed in the amazing drive, that I didn't even realise it.
And that's what this car does to you - it's something normal folks just won't get. It engages you and connects with you in ways, few other cars can!
You forget the worries of the world, and think only about pushing into the next corner, or rocketing past everyone else.
It inspires you - to push boundaries. It gives you confidence, it makes you feel invincible!

For now, she's back in the garage, waiting out the flooded roads and the craters. I've already booked hotels in Goa for August - so that's another amazing 2k trip hopefully.

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