New BMW M340i! All the BMW you'll ever need? Full Review!

Seven generations have led to this video today guys. Welcome back to RBR, I'm your host Raz. Now the 3 Series, since its inception in 1975, has been pretty much the cornerstone of BMW. Its best-selling model in totality. It's the car that introduced us to this idea of the small sporting sedan and has irrefutably led the way in that segment ever since. And today we look at the brand new model, the G20 in its first exciting M-powered version and that is the BMW M340i xDrive. So first guys, let's take a look back at the cool history of the 3 Series. I'm a bit late to the new 3 Series party but that's because I wanted to bring you at least the first exciting M-powered version. So the origins of the 3 Series can be linked back to before the 3 Series actually came into series production. Now there used to be a BMW called the New Class Sedan which was essentially their main sedan car, so I guess like a 5 Series. Now their most infamous designer, Wilhelm Hofmeister, designed a car that was based on that New Class but slightly smaller and designed to be sportier. This was the 02 Series that you see before you. Why was he infamous? He came up with what is now known as the Hofmeister Kink that you found in every single BMW roofline ever since. It's on the C-pillar, it's even on today's car and that is known throughout car design standards now regardless of being a BMW or not, as the Hofmeister Kink. Now this 02 Series was originally designed only as a two-door sedan as they called it back then, basically a coupe but it set the idea for this smaller, sportier, everyday usable BMW. After this came the first one to actually be known as a 3 Series and that was the E21 3 Series. The E21 still with that kink on the rear C-pillar, you can see similarities to the 02 Series and to the car that followed it which was the better known E30 Series. Again, this started as a two-door sedan but later spawned into four-door sedan and estate options and of course this was that generation that brought across the legendary E30 M3 that we covered back in our M2 Competition review. What an absolute legend that car was. A little known fact of the E30 was it also had an all-wheel drive variant known as the 325i X model and it kind of links nicely to the car that we're looking at today as well. After this came the E36. Again, a handsome looking sedan, Hofmeister Kink check as well but this brought some great changes dynamically with the multi-link rear suspension. After this came one of the best though, E46. I certainly think it's probably the best design 3 Series ever. Just look at it, it's got such muscular and masculine proportions to it. A real sports sedan that people long after even today. This series brought a lot of luxury enhancements like sat-nav and LED lights etc. It also brought back all-wheel drive with the 325xi and the 330xi kind of linking to our car today and bar none had the coolest looking M3 ever with those lovely wide arches. I absolutely love that car. After this came the E90. Now this was the first ever 3 Series family with a turbocharged engine. It was also the first and only time that the M3 4 went the inline 6 and went for a V8 creating a very different car for an equally cool one in my submission. After this came the F30, so the modern one. Now we start to see the design look a bit more familiar in this predecessor. We've got the lights linking to the kidney grille, still got the Hofmeister Kink of course. This was the series where Coupe and Cab separated into 4 Series as its own family and it's the first time we also had a hybrid within the 3 Series which was the 330e kind of signaling the future if you like. Then came today's car, the G20. Now you've seen the 3 Series grow as we've gone through the history. This G20 of course it's longer by 3 inches, it's wider by half an inch but despite that it's actually 55kg lighter than the predecessor and that's in part thanks to it being based on the new Klar platform. Now this uses a mix of high tensile steel and aluminium in order to achieve that. We'll peel back the skin and you can see that here now and it also achieves a perfect weight distribution of 50-50 on this car which is very very impressive. A lot of effort has gone into making this even more rigid and sportive for undoubtedly models like this and the M3 to follow later. Even the base version should be very very sportive indeed. The underbody of the car is completely covered and panelled to help with aerodynamic efficiency and you'll see the aerodynamic rating is actually very very high. There's also quite a few design trims available on the G20 so you've got Advantage, Sport, Luxury, M Sport and then of course our M340i today has got a few bits of its own that we'll go around and look at in a second. The grille is not as offensive in size as many recent BMWs and the Hofmeister kink is to be found absolutely everywhere. So join me now as I do a quick little walk around and show you some of the highlights of this, the 340i. So guys if we begin with the bonnet you can see some very strong character lines here at the top. It's a little bit hidden by the blue colour but still very visible. Now I quite like the fact that the grille and the lights match together because like with the E30 where you used to have that black bar that goes across it it was all kind of one unit which is really nice. Then when we move on to the grille itself you've got something a lot smaller than the new M3. You've also got active air panels here behind the grille to allow for active aerodynamics. This grille is finished in a cerium grey which is actually more like a champagne gold type look like you'd find in an iPhone or Apple product and this mesh design here as they call it is unique to the M340i as well and you'll see that cerium grey continue on an aero feature just on the lower part of the bumper here. Of course it's an M car so you're going to find M badges absolutely everywhere. Now you've got this nice character line that goes along the side of the car and that hockey stick like design like you have in the 5 series and the 7 but it's all quite hidden by the blue. The side profile there's unmistakably 3 series of course and you've got the Hofmeister kink there as you would expect it to be. As for the rear you've got the L-shaped rear lights which are coming across a lot of models now but I think the rest of the rear really links nicely to E90 and F30 and I like the M2 like character lines on the lower part of the rear bumper. The exhausts look a lot like the 8 series that we tested a few years ago as well and the nice thing about these exhausts they're different in style compared to all the other quad pipes that you'll find on the rivals exhaust systems. Now the Hofmeister kink as you can see as usual you always find it here but it's in a few other places in the car as well as inside as I'll show you later. Here in the lights you can see that exact shape as well it's very very obvious. What I love about the rear is how you haven't got black plastic but a nice glossy grey for your diffuser which is a much better look. Customer choice is something that really stands out for me in the 3 series looking at its rivals you have so much choice. For example the 320d and this M340i can be configured in either rear wheel drive or x-drive depending on the customer's tastes which is great. But let's get to the meat of the situation now and the best part of this particular car and that is the engine I absolutely love it. The B58 is already award-winning it is another great inline six from BMW and in this car it produces 374 brake horsepower 500 newton meters 0-60 in 4.4 seconds. I can tell you now it feels a lot faster. This 3 litre engine features an aluminium crankcase it's also got aluminium cylinder head it uses twin scroll turbocharger technology which as we know more efficient better power delivery as well. Now that great engine is also paired to a really good gearbox which is the 8-speed Steptronic. Wait to see later how that goes through the gears in conjunction with this. Now of course this is x-drive but it's very much rear biased x-drive and it comes standard with limb slip diff the M sport differential as they like to term it internally. Now of course there has been changes for example to the suspension to make this car even more rigid versus it's already very rigid and sporty base so you've got unique elastic kinematics and suspension specifically made for the 340i. You can even get a further M adaptive suspension with electronic dampeners which will help it react even faster. I do feel the car though sits very high on its wheels which is pretty normal in class but I feel that if you wanted a more sporting look you need to get that fixed so maybe someone like Motec Performance in the UK could just drop it just a little bit have it set better on its wheels. There is something called variable sport steering but it's really anything but but I'll get on to that later. Now as I said I really don't like these wheels. There is a better option available from factory and that finishes the wheels in the same shade as the grille and the other bits I showed you in the cerium grey. That looks a lot better and makes the wheels not look about three inches big as if they came from a 1975 E21. So that's a really good option or you can go to M Performance parts and they will sell you these which look very similar to the ones coming on the new M3 from what I've seen. Now for me the interior has always been a weak point for 3 Series versus its rivals and I feel that's really been addressed very well here in the G20. So come inside with me and let me try and convince you why I think this is probably best in class for interiors. Now when I posted this car first on Instagram the response to the exterior was overwhelmingly positive despite those wheels that we all don't like. But everyone seemed to comment that they didn't really care for the interior and they thought that the C-Class and other cars were better and really I respectfully disagree with everyone. Either they've not sat in a properly specced 3 Series and they're just thinking of the old 3 Series or frankly they must be blind and I want to kind of justify this. Now I've never been a fan as I said of 3 Series interiors because well if we look over the past as we have before they're really quite bland. Yes all of them had a driver-centric centre console where your middle part kind of faces towards you and in the specific degrees that BMW customers expect etc but really there wasn't any great change. Where I think this car really kills it versus everyone else is the fact again that you have choice to make it a high quality interior that the other brands just simply won't give you. Now I'm not going to count Audi in this I'll count specifically C-Class and C43 as the car that most people mentioned. Now when you look at C43 you can only option a very brittle type of leather which is the very textured one and you get three different shades that is it. With this car you've got a whole host of options in that normal leather but you can also get merino leather with this lovely stitching and just that by itself allowing you to have leather like you'd find in something like a 7 or an 8 Series elevates 3 Series well beyond the C-Class where you can't even get the option okay. So that is the first part then you start to see other things within the interior that link directly to flagships like the 8 Series and I don't think that pulls a flagship down I think it elevates the car below it. So for example you've got these vents here which again they are in the shape of the BMW grille and in the Hofmeister King. I really like the look of these they've got these kind of chamfered edges that you would normally find in an Apple product and they look just as luxurious and high-end as one of those products and that reminds me directly of 8 Series. Then you've of course got the driver's zone which is the first time digital in here you've got the same displays as you would find in the 8 Series they're not as customisable and that's where I think the C-Class takes some points away from the 3 Series because you can completely change the design three times over and all the information. On this you can not even change the information in front of you but I have found that some of the displays in this screen are absolutely brilliant. I want to show you some of them that I found while I was driving for example when you've got the driving assistance function on and the car is self-driving you will note in Lane Assist how the car is able to pick up in the screen in front of you whether you're next to a lorry or a car and you can even see cars creeping up to you in your blind spot. Not only is it really safe it's super easy to understand in the screen in front of you and it looks very very good and this screen is all dynamic depending on what you're doing in the car. Another good thing about the steering wheel is again with driving assistance when you take your hand off it for long enough you have these little lights in here that'll start blinking either orange first or red later when it's squeaky bum time and they tell you of course to again grab the steering wheel. So this area is quite dynamic. Speaking of the steering wheel again from 8 Series the same shape as you find in M5 etc. I'm not a fan of this shape at all I think it's as I said before very fat it looks like it belongs in something like a 7 Series not in a sporting car. In usage it's great because it's completely round the paddle shifters are okay I don't like the black plastic on the back of them but again it links to the flagship so if you like the flagship steering wheel you'll like this steering wheel as well. The other thing is simply interior quality if you poke around in a C-Class you will hear a lot of rattling and clanking and creaking you won't hear that in this it's more Porsche-like in that sense it's the better side of German interiors where nothing is moving nothing is creaking you know I can push everything but it's built like a tank which is great. The only bit I don't like and reminds me of C-Class is this floppy cover here and just as you find in C-Class inside you've got two cup holders USB slot and wireless charging mat for your phones as well. The car has been designed for more shoulder and elbow room in the front and better rear visibility though I do note the sad omission of the analogue handbrake that many of us will miss though it's great that the gear selector is still here of course this entire drive unit as you would find in your top and modern BMWs I love the fact that the gear selector is here rather than the silly stalk that Mercedes has on this side. One thing that makes no sense to me in a modern BMW though are the numbers here I know people use them as shortcuts but they look like parts have been straight out of a 1980s car it just doesn't deserve to be on what is otherwise a really well-finished interior. Operating system 7 is fantastic as we've covered in the past takes a little getting used to if you're used to some other systems but once you get in the flow it's very good. I think the hand gestures are absolutely infuriating I think the voice control needs a whole lot of work versus the Mercedes one but generally using it because you've got the good iDrive system here it's really easy to use you've of course got touchscreen as well you can customise your home screen you've got great sport readouts as well it's really quite easy to use this and I really like the fact that you get for example your car's colour in the system as well I know it's a small thing but I think it means a lot like when you're reversing and you've got 360 camera on speaking of which I could not find any way to turn on 360 camera while I was going through a drive-thru and just show me the surroundings I went through all of these systems camera picture etc and I could not find a way without going into reverse gear which I'm not going to do in the drive-thru to activate the 360 cam maybe I'm a retard it's entirely possible but I've gone up I've gone left I've gone right and I cannot find it which means that this is not intuitive as far as I'm concerned I'm sure there's a way and someone's going to chime in the comments tell me how to do it I couldn't find that way to do it again seating position brilliant and what I mean by that is you can get really low if you want you can get high if you want you can go forward, back, bolsters etc you can make the seat and the entirety of how you're interacting with this driver zone your own which is great now of course when you go into your drive select mode you get the option of individual and you can actually configure your individual mode here for what have we got dampening, steering, engine, transmission and then you can reset it to the standard setting as well so you even in this M340i you've got some customizable options for your own individual driving as well in the rear the aperture to get in has increased in size as has the legroom which of course it should because the car has increased in length by three inches but we found it really comfortable and I'll get into that daily driving bit later on and I was not expecting that of 3 Series because it hasn't had it in the past so generally again the interior I just find because you have options to make it plusher because you've got the absolute latest operating system in the car because you've got cues from the flagships in it it's just head and shoulders above at least C-Class areas that need to be worked on these buttons need to be gotten rid of that screen needs to be a lot more customizable in my opinion and we need a much sportier looking steering wheel to make this look more exciting boot capacity is good as you would expect though I do feel the aperture to actually get stuff in is quite narrow and reminded me actually of some hatchbacks now Hofmeister kink has just been copy pasted everywhere in this interior we've got it up here over here around the vents around the weird number things around this drive unit the gear lever looks like it was made in that shape you've got it in the digital display as well in the actual shape of the dials of course I said that the door handles have it as well I feel like your storage compartments have that same shape it's literally plastered everywhere so I really hope you like that shape now before we set off I want to show you what the startup sound of the M340i is like for that we should put it in sport mode and then start the engine you can see you get a really quite excited startup once the car is warmed up though and you need to have it in sport mode it sounds really quite good this is a brilliantly sweet sounding engine and it's even better on the road let me show you now so here we are in the first M sport version of the new 3 series generation M340i xDrive having been exceedingly complementary of the interior having lived with it there's a lot else that I've found in this car particularly versus rivals that has really pleased me and there's some things that left me a little bit cold as well so we're going to go through all of those I want to start with the bits that I love and I think we have to start with the award-winning engine that is the B58 BMW just know how to make really good in-line six engines don't they engines that have excellent response really good engine note nothing too artificial nothing that makes you wish the flaps were closed just really pleasant in this car yes there are some fake pops and bangs but they are few and far between and you can coax them when you want them if you do want them if you happen to be a convert C43 driver coming into one of these but it's more how this turbocharged engine has been so well designed that it never really feels turbocharged you know there's nary a hint of turbo lag in it and then you pair a really great engine to a gearbox that simply just does its job really really well you've got a real winner and I think for daily driving those two aspects are really important to the buyer of this car for a BMW M car even an M light you want a really good engine which you have here a decent soundtrack which I argue you do have and a really good gearbox to support you along the way now if you ask me to comment against something like the V6 in the C43 I've always commented how that engine felt like it was bunny hopping down the road all the time kind of over strained over eager the gearbox software too eager and you have to have a really light foot otherwise you feel like you're constantly juddering along the road and that's not a pleasant experience this however a. the gearbox software itself is very clever but b. the power feels more natural it feels less turbocharged whereas in a C43 you might pine after the V8 in the C63 I don't think that's the case here with the 340i this inline-six is so good at what it does for this particular product that you don't sit here wishing that you had an M3 engine in it as a tool for a purpose it really does its job phenomenally well so top marks for the B58 engine top marks for the gearbox I feel as well then we must come on to the handling which is the heart and soul of any car from the brand that touts ultimate driving performance and the chassis in the new 3 you can immediately see the rigidity changes versus the older car I mean it is definitely more sorted it feels completely unfazed by exaggerated corners like this which is what I expect of the BMW and I mean really let's be honest this is a much longer car you know three inches is nothing to sniff at that's what she said but no really it hides its size really well in that regard again in something like the C43 I think you get a bit more body roll I think the suspension just isn't quite as compliant as what we find here in the 340i nor is it as dynamic on the limit but the one area that the 340i lets me down and it's been a constant theme with extra BMWs of late particularly the M Sport versions it's the steering it's so numb and I've read a lot of forum topics because I did a search because it just didn't feel right that every car was doing this numb might be one word or vague might be a better word I've put the steering in comfort because I feel that reduces that feeling of numbness and you get a bit more of a natural feel but essentially what I'm talking about is when you turn the wheel you're not really sure how much the front end is going to turn until it's too late and that's the vagueness that I'm talking about in daily driving you have to keep giving steering inputs when you're on the motorway even to kind of keep going straight again that's that vagueness that I feel and I've read quite a few forum topics with you guys kind of echoing that you do get used to it after a good few laps but it could be just sharper and the issue that ends up giving you is you start to lose confidence rather than gain it as you're driving faster you won't find that in the C43 as with all of the AMGs in recent times the steering, the electromechanical racks are absolutely spot-on there you know, second only to Porsche if not as good as the Porsche ones and that's one area I'd like to maybe try even the rear wheel drive version of this I know the M4 that I had in the past was brilliant in terms of its steering M5 I found vague maybe it's an extra thing, I don't know if you guys can maybe chime in I'd love to hear from you if anything I feel when you're doing more exaggerated corners you feel that element less because you get used to it and you get into a flow it's more hindersome in kind of daily driving and potentially living over time with the car you might get more used to that as well and honestly the engine is so good and the gearbox is so good that it might just fall into the background anyway and it really does leave a lot of room for then the new M3 to kind of come in and say hey, this is how it's done properly speed, it's okay it's nothing really to write home about but it's very smooth again actually I take that back on the speed the mid-range punch is actually very very impressive for a car that's in this segment you'll have to forgive me because I just drove the Taycan Turbo S on this track not 10 minutes ago and that's got 760 horsepower so this is still feeling pretty good in front of that with these cars for me it kind of comes down to daily usable power even our M3s and our M4s and our C63s are creeping up to the level where they're going to eventually have too much power for the road we'll have to see what the new one is like in that regard but these M-Lites and these mid-range performance sedans seem to really hit a sweet spot of usable daily power and I'd wager you've probably got the best engine in class here in the M340i and you will really enjoy it as a BMW customer especially you will appreciate this inline-six engine you'll appreciate its handling prowess the added rigidity but then when you slow down and you go into comfort mode what surprised me the most living with this car for a good week or so was how good it was just to not do any of that stuff 3 Series has often taken a battering for not being as luxurious as C-Class and as I said in the interior I completely disagree with everyone particularly in this spec that it's not a luxurious car I feel like I'm driving just a reduced smaller version of the 8 Series that we tested last year and really that's I can't give a higher compliment to this in terms of luxury I love the internal finishings I love the way particularly the suspension rides you do feel the texture of the road but if you're buying a BMW I'd be very surprised if you're not getting it for some driver feedback to conclude then great engine great gearbox if you want something with a bit more steering feel and a much louder exhaust system C43 is the way to go but if you're looking for best engine in class and generally a much more modern package then it has to be this 3 Series so guys I hope you enjoyed this full review of the M340i if you have please do like, subscribe hit that bell icon support the channel and next time we meet with new 3 Series it'll be for the M3 see you guys next time thanks for watching guys and today the M-Town passport and stickers giveaway has come to an end so you can find the winners both in the description below and the post on the community page loads of more giveaways coming stay tuned all you need to do to sign up to all of them is subscribe