Greetings everyone. Hope you are having a great day...
First of all, I am BACK to BMW after quite some time. Last BMW I had was 2007 335i (That I absolutely LOVED) bought CPO in 2010.
So... ten years!
I've had accords/corvette/Kia stinger in between and I am finally back.
I want to first say that I am a melted liquid to my M340i. I truly love it.
Best daily driver, period. Performance of super sedan and the practicality and a comfort of everyday car. Really well calibrated to be the best of both worlds. Can be tracked and do very well at track. I am ecstatic to get the M340i.
So this is kind of a introduction / comparison. I was in a wonderful car just until now, which is the Stinger GT2. I had it for about 31 months. If it weren't for the M340i, I would NEVER have gotten out of the Stinger.
It was so good. So sweet to drive daily and it was great in so many ways. I was getting looks everywhere. It was unique, , very quick, fast, great handling and wonderful ride quality. True GT car.
I bought the Stinger over the F30 340i in early 2018. At the time, I test drove both, back to back and Kia felt quicker, interior better or just as good, more roomy, more cargo, definitely looked better. AND it was about 11K cheaper (50k msrp for the loaded GT2 vs. 61k for a well optioned 340i)
So it was no brainer. I truly enjoyed the Stinger even until last week (lol), daily commute was always sweet and i looked forward to weekends when we went out for a longer drives.
Went to Vegas few weeks ago and it was even sweeter. Gobs of EASY power, great handling, knowing i am faster than probably 95% of people out there made it only better. I was 100% content with my Stinger. Would have kept it for another 5 years easy...
BUT
Here was the problem... One of my family member has a 2019 540i. And oh man what a creamy smooth, awesome family sedan. I drove it at least once a month when we got together.
On paper, Stinger was a tad (like .2 sec) quicker. But whenever I drove the 540i, the INTANGIBLES got to me.
Kia has done a great job, but in reality it still is just a BIT less tout and honed in like the BMW. Isn't a huge difference. But it is there.
See, BMW has done it for a long time and there is a reason why they are the king of driving dynamics in their price range.
The difference wasn't huge, as like I said the Stinger was an awesome car itself, but that small difference was glaringly getting bigger in my mind each time I drove the 540i.
And I longed for that HIGHER driver satisfaction. That 5%.
And in 2019, I started to hear about this M340i. How this is wayyyy better than the f30 series.
So this made me think: "If a bigger, heavier 540i drives better than the Stinger, how much MORE would that M340i be??"
So I test drove it.
And that was IT. I shouldn't have lol
It was UNBELIEBABLY better in EVERY AREA in terms of driving dynamics. Faster, quicker, more explosive, more planted, higher limit on all performance aspects.
If the 540i felt 5% better, the M340i felt like 15-20%(!) better!! And for it to be that much better against a car that is already a high performance car of the year (in some magazines and places) was just simply, amazing.
I was blown away.
So when I got that call from my fleet manager and he gave me an 58k car / 3 years 12k / 595 a month (tax included) with no down.... I had to take it! I just got it this week and its been a blissful few days.
I can't wait to drive it to work / drive back home. I am especially looking forward to this weekend, i am going to have much fun driving around.
So those who has the M340i, I am happy to finally join you! You bought the best car for the money, period.
I used to say that for the Stinger (50k and less) and it still holds true. But for what BMW is able to lease away these cars, the M340i is the NEXT LEVEL up.
Its like a real good college running back (Stinger GT2) against a NFL star (M340i). Difference on paper isn't so big, but that small amount of performance difference is truly difficult to gain and sets them apart.
And if there are ones like me who was looking outside in, DO IT! You won't regret it. This much speed and quickness, this much handling should bound to make just about anyone pretty happy with this car.
Unless you have a 911 Turbo for a daily. But then you will have to spend an additional 150K to get it.
thank you for reading the above rambling. Everyone enjoy that M340i, and be safe out there on the roads.