[iulianm]

I just came across this post now and can't believe how much they cut.
For me the part with the seats is a deal-breaker when considering the price of the car.

I would have hoped they would have fixed the numb steering at least to compensate for cost cutting but seems to be there as well: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...y-the-numbers/: the steering has a poor sense of on-center and an inconsistent effort during cornering, perhaps attributed to the variable-ratio steering rack that's standard on all 340s. Brake feel isn't much better, with deceleration being more proportional to pedal travel than pedal effort..

My lease expires in February 2024; maybe they'll add back what they reduced for 2023.

[Dairdevyld]

Originally Posted by prozzi

I bought a 2023 M340 LCi, I too noticed the cost cutting which surprised me since the car now cost more. Then my iDrive 8 screen stopped working on one side and they had to replace the whole screen. The advisor showed me the bill for the new scree, it was around 5,900. Maybe that is why they cut some cost to be able to put that type of screen in, he was shocked how expensive that was. I still love the car even with some features missing, there is not much out there that can beat this car for all around daily driver.

I struggled with getting a car with the options I wanted at retail or less. Everything comparable has some ridiculous upcharge or markup so it was refreshing to be able to option out the car I wanted and get it within a reasonable time-frame at less than sticker. Ironically, someone at the dealer had a new Civic Type-R that he paid just under $50k for. I just can't stomach paying extra for not getting what you want.

[iulianm]

Maybe they'll add back some of this cost-cutting for 2024.
My 2021 lease expires in 9 months and following this to see if I'll do a lease buyout or if they add back some of the stuff they cut, get a new one (purchase/lease).

One such example bellow.

Before:

After:

[RCtennis3811]

Originally Posted by iulianm

Maybe they'll add back some of this cost-cutting for 2024.
My 2021 lease expires in 9 months and following this to see if I'll do a lease buyout or if they add back some of the stuff they cut, get a new one (purchase/lease).

One such example bellow.

Before:
Attachment 3154446
After:
Attachment 3154445

Doubt that’s coming back.

[Gaviatrix]

Originally Posted by RCtennis3811

Doubt that’s coming back.

I fear you're right, which is a great shame - it's where I keep my sunnies as it's a lot easier to access on the move than the central glove box.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Gaviatrix

I fear you're right, which is a great shame - it's where I keep my sunnies as it's a lot easier to access on the move than the central glove box.

It was still in my 2022 4 GC. But, then you have to live with the grille…

[kpdunphy]

Got mine delivered last month. Couldn't be happier. I dont really pick apart trivial stuff like this. I'm just lucky I'm blessed enough to own one.

[Cammy440iGC]

Yes. I'm coming back to BMW...current ride is a 2019 LCI C43 with AMG PE...because the new 2023 C43 lost 2 cylinders and they got the transmission wrong...nit dialed in properly. So i ordered a 2024 M440i XDrive Gran Coupe.

Losing a sunglass box is one thing...losing 2 cylinders...the AMG PE....and adding a poor transmission....that gets you walking out of the showroom!

[GrubTheHedgehog]

Originally Posted by Cammy340i

Yes. I'm coming back to BMW...current ride is a 2019 LCI C43 with AMG PE...because the new 2023 C43 lost 2 cylinders and they got the transmission wrong...nit dialed in properly. So i ordered a 2024 M440i XDrive Gran Coupe.

Losing a sunglass box is one thing...losing 2 cylinders...the AMG PE....and adding a poor transmission....that gets you walking out of the showroom!

Don’t even THINK about getting that M440 without the M Performance Exhaust if you are coming from C43 with perf exhaust system. You will regret it big time. I came from a 2018 C43 with PE and M Performance Exhaust was not available at the time due to shortage, I leased M340 without it and it is an absolute BUMMER.

[dmunozj]

Originally Posted by azwillnj

I just took delivery of an almost completely loaded M340i xDrive and have some mostly negative thoughts on this g20 LCI. I have never written anything like this before but there are too many shortcuts and omissions in this iteration of the 3-Series that I felt like I needed to write them all down. At this point I have had seven BMW 3-Series cars as my primary vehicle going all the way back to the 2005 E90 so I have a very in-depth view of the features of these cars and how each one is equipped. (2005 E90 325i > 2008 E90 328xi > 2011 E90 LCI 335i xDrive > 2013 F30 328i xDrive > 2016 F30 LCI 340i xDrive > 2020 G20 M340i xDrive > 2023 G20 LCI M340i xDrive) Every new 3-Series I have leased has had a list of things that have been removed or changed that I was unhappy with but there was always a much larger list of things that had improved. That has been true until the g20 LCI arrived, this is the first one that I can say is worse than its predecessor and for a higher price tag.

My car
2023 M340i xDrive
Brooklyn Grey Metallic
Tacora Red SensaTec
Driving Assistance Pro
Shadowline
Parking Assistance
Premium
Remote Engine Start
Adaptive M Suspension
Harmon Kardon
Wireless Charging

Devil’s advocate first
I think compared to other auto manufacturers BMW is doing a really good job of keeping supply up and making cars with most of their features. I know components are much more expensive right now and being an engineer in a tech field I know how hard it is to actually get components on any sort of schedule and how [...]

That’s why we need Bimmercode to get to work ASAP.

[GrubTheHedgehog]

The lack of a proper gear shifter on the center console to change gears is a total dealbreaker. The functionality of the old shifter is huge. They did this to push enthusiast types toward the M3, which of course retains a proper shifter. How the new gear selector is good for the driver is beyond me. Who wants to make a three point turn with that switch thing. Who is that even for?

The 23 is no doubt still spectacular, but there is NOTHING positive about the facelift that I can see. They took every tactile control that connects you to the vehicle out.

I wonder if they will ever reverse this horrible trend.

[TheMaxXHD]

Originally Posted by GrubTheHedgehog

Who wants to make a three point turn with that switch thing.

You get used to it, and you can get really fast with it, potentially faster with it given it’s just a toggle. It has become second nature for me after adjusting to it. Also saves some space which is nice

The only negative thing about the toggle is you can’t manually shift with the shifter anymore. I personally prefer the paddles anyway for that, but I can understand those who like shifting using the shifter, would rightfully be disappointed.

[Montaver]

Originally Posted by GrubTheHedgehog

The lack of a proper gear shifter on the center console to change gears is a total dealbreaker. The functionality of the old shifter is huge. They did this to push enthusiast types toward the M3, which of course retains a proper shifter. How the new gear selector is good for the driver is beyond me. Who wants to make a three point turn with that switch thing. Who is that even for?

The 23 is no doubt still spectacular, but there is NOTHING positive about the facelift that I can see. They took every tactile control that connects you to the vehicle out.

I wonder if they will ever reverse this horrible trend.

It's fine, you adapt to it very quickly. It's flicking a switch to make a 3 point turn. I had a pre LCI G20 as well, never used the gear lever manually anyway.

[EXE46]

Originally Posted by Montaver

It's fine, you adapt to it very quickly. It's flicking a switch to make a 3 point turn. I had a pre LCI G20 as well, never used the gear lever manually anyway.

How are you liking the M340i thus far? Curious since you have the GT4 and also owned a 330i prior, thanks.

[Montaver]

Originally Posted by EXE46

How are you liking the M340i thus far? Curious since you have the GT4 and also owned a 330i prior, thanks.

Only driven about 100 miles and kept it below 4k, then dropped it at the detailer. Will spend some more time in it next week, might do a full review at some point as I really think this is the goldilocks BMW in the range. Initial impressions are it has all the characteristics of the 330i I enjoyed - quiet, good ergonomics, excellent build quality, stiff chassis, great drive drivetrain tuning, tech etc.

On the m340i Idrive 8 seems pretty cool, the instrument binnacle is so much more configurable. Engine feels potent, gearbox similarly refined. Ergonomics are good, however as with the 330i still don't love the seats, it's like you can never sink your lower back fully into them. The new Sensatec feels softer than the previous version, really no downsides versus vernasca at this point (apart from Sensatec loses the adjustable bolsters). Harmon seems better than previous base with more life, but I need to tune it as immediately noticed the top end is overly bright. I'll probably put some Focal speakers in at some point. The adaptive suspension is excellent, very composed and controlled with no harshness. The stock non M 330i suspension is too soft on compression, whilst simultaneously lacking rebound control which can make it quite floaty and has too much motion. The m340i exhibits none of this, very impressed with it. Only thing I can say initially I am not fond of, and likely never will be, is the steering wheel is overly thick and not really round to hold. Will post up some more detailed thoughts once I've done a few thousand miles, got a few road trips coming up.

[EXE46]

^
Awesome! I am looking forward to the more thorough review once you rack up more miles.

[Skip_bot]

This is a great review. I have a 2021, and it seems like the only thing that improved with the LCI was the seats being perforated (actually this apparently was introduced in 2022, so if I would do it again I would look for a 2022). I really like still having physical buttons for climate control, I hate how car manufacturers keep integrating HVAC into touch screens now.

Another thing you didn’t mention, that I was curious about, is the removal of the shift lever? I use mine a lot in manual mode, when starting out on an intersection turn, to shift since the paddle shifters are usually upside down and not accessible when going through that turn and wanting to immediately shift from 1st to 2nd or even to 3rd (I lazily cruise in manual mode sometimes).

[EstorilVic]

I am selling my 2023 tomorrow and getting a fully loaded 2020

Originally Posted by azwillnj

I just took delivery of an almost completely loaded M340i xDrive and have some mostly negative thoughts on this g20 LCI. I have never written anything like this before but there are too many shortcuts and omissions in this iteration of the 3-Series that I felt like I needed to write them all down. At this point I have had seven BMW 3-Series cars as my primary vehicle going all the way back to the 2005 E90 so I have a very in-depth view of the features of these cars and how each one is equipped. (2005 E90 325i > 2008 E90 328xi > 2011 E90 LCI 335i xDrive > 2013 F30 328i xDrive > 2016 F30 LCI 340i xDrive > 2020 G20 M340i xDrive > 2023 G20 LCI M340i xDrive) Every new 3-Series I have leased has had a list of things that have been removed or changed that I was unhappy with but there was always a much larger list of things that had improved. That has been true until the g20 LCI arrived, this is the first one that I can say is worse than its predecessor and for a higher price tag.

My car
2023 M340i xDrive
Brooklyn Grey Metallic
Tacora Red SensaTec
Driving Assistance Pro
Shadowline
Parking Assistance
Premium
Remote Engine Start
Adaptive M Suspension
Harmon Kardon
Wireless Charging

Devil’s advocate first
I think compared to other auto manufacturers BMW is doing a really good job of keeping supply up and making cars with most of their features. I know components are much more expensive right now and being an engineer in a tech field I know how hard it is to actually get components on any sort of schedule and how much the price of things has gone up. The majority of the shortcomings in this review are likely a direct impact of parts shortages and supply chain difficulties and I think BMW as a whole is doing a great job to produce what they are. I think they should have been more forthcoming on some of the omissions and allowed the consumer to know the whole story before ordering a car. Knowing all the omissions on this car may have impacted my decision to lease this 2023 vs. buy the 2020 from the previous lease which is why I am writing this.

Pros
Let’s start with the pros. The driving experience is absolutely sublime. The powertrain is silky smooth and the new mild hybrid system has made an enormous difference in the drivability of the car. There is almost no discernible turbo lag because the hybrid system kicks in to give a little boost as the turbo spools. The sound is also improved, the exhaust sounds throatier and still has a bit of a burble, not as crackly as the 2020 but from my understanding that was the only model year that had those crackles on the B58. The hybrid system also makes the auto start stop system operate much faster and smoother as it uses the powerful 48v motor as the starter motor. However, you can no longer turn the ASS system off unless the car is in sport mode, more on that below.

The interior is also very nice, I got the Tacora Red Sensatec interior and the color is just beautiful, dark enough to look elegant but bright enough to add a little flair to the interior. The sensatec also seems to have improved, it feels much more like leather now, much more premium. The perforations will be nice in the DC swamp summer too.

Cons
This started as a list of things missing from the car but blossomed into more. I am going to keep it as a list and elaborate on things in bullet form. Organized in no particular order.

• The headlights are horrible compared to the previous BMWs I’ve had. I got the shadowline package because that's the only way to get the better 552 headlights, and the 552 headlights are not good. They auto level but they don’t turn at all, in every 3-Series I have driven other than this one the lights turned with the steering wheel, that was a huge feature. It being gone is a massive letdown. The US lights are dumbed down and do not do anything they are capable of, overseas they have active light distribution and can adapt to oncoming traffic but I don't think even that could replace the pivoting lights. I am comparing these to the lasers from the previous generation which were the best headlights I have ever used so it's a tough comparison. I think these are maybe the worst headlights on any of the BMWs I have had, the E90 xenons might have even been brighter.
• The LCI has a plastic key, the 2020 had a metal surround on the M340, this one is completely plastic. Honestly this is a bit of a plus for me as it's lighter in the pocket but it's still much less premium than the previous metal key and should be noted
• Lumbar and the sport side bolsters are missing on the front passenger seat. Every 3 series I have had came with passenger lumbar, even the E90s with sport package had adjustable bolsters on both seats.
• The sport side bolsters are missing on the driver's seat! This is insane, to take this off the driver's seat in the M-lite car is completely unacceptable especially with how expensive this car is above the standard 330.
• Gesture control not available. This is not too big of a deal for me, the gesture control is not something that I used often but it is a large feature omission and should be noted. It also could sense your hand approaching the screen and would pop all the extra buttons out of the sides of the screen before your hand got there on iDrive 7 which was a nice little feature.
• Adaptive drive mode is missing. This is the first car that I optioned the M adaptive suspension, I wanted it for the Adaptive mode.. This car does not have the adaptive mode. The button is blank and it is no longer available on the car. The suspension does change quite a bit between comfort and sport but it doesn't seem to adapt to anything.
• The auto start stop disable button is gone. It will disable the system in sport mode but there is no way to disable it in comfort mode.
• Auto start stop turns the engine off when slowing down under 5mph. This is maybe not a con, just something different to get accustomed to. When slowing down it turns the engine off while you’re still rolling, takes a little time to get accustomed to as the car stops differently without the engine running so stopping smoothly is a little bit of a challenge when it sometimes decides to ASS and not ASS.
• The kick to open trunk was not available when I ordered my car. Some parts shortage thing prevented me from ordering this, I miss it a lot.
• Power trunk not available in the US. This is a huge one for me, combined with the kick to open I think I might be missing this more than anything. Kick to close with hands full of groceries was amazing.
• The passenger side cubby in the trunk is missing the cargo net and the attachment points. If they were going to cheap out and not include a $0.50 net they could have at least left the holes and charged $20 for the net, I would have paid for it. Edit: Got this from Amazon, it fixes the problem but looks like it might be cheaply made, I'll see how long it holds up.
• The little organization area on the door to the glove compartment is gone.
• The small glove compartment by your left knee on the driver side is gone, again they just completely removed the mounting area, if they made it a replaceable panel we could have retrofitted it, and I would have, but instead they just removed it.
• The heated seats are now automatic and they are tied to the climate control. There are 4 levels and the feature seems really half baked, it is never on when I want it to be and seems to turn on and stay on way too long. If you want to use automatic climate control you have to use the automatic heated seats. The only way to get it to go to manual heated seats like every other 3-Series I have driven is to disable the automatic climate control and manually control the temp, fan and distribution. Also, if you turn the air conditioning off you can't turn the heated seats on, they are linked. In all my other BMWs I enjoyed turning the climate control off on a cool fall day, turning the heated seats on and opening the windows, impossible in this one.Edit: I was wrong about this one, you can disable automatic climate control on the left then set fan speed to 0 and you can still have the heated seats on manual, cumbersome, but possible.
• Ambient lighting has been severely reduced. There are no more LEDs under each door when you open them, no more LEDs in the door pockets, no more LEDs in each door bottle holder, no more LEDs in the driver/passenger/rear seat climate vent wheels and the footwells seem a lot dimmer.
• No cooled seat option. There are perforations now, economy cars have had this feature for years, why is this not an option?

iDrive 8 including dashboard and HUD
A few general notes first. The screen is beautiful, sharp, colorful, bright, really striking. The touch is very responsive generally and the animations are smooth. An ultrawide screen is really not conducive to showing a map that you are traveling ‘up’ on. I can see miles to the left and right of the car but only about ½ a mile in front of me, seems like a dumb decision. I could see if BMW maybe intended this screen to be a stop gap while they implemented a taller screen in their new designs but this made it into the iX and XM so I am just confused. The whole system seems so much more dumbed down than iDrive 7, there are so many features missing and the experience doesn't seem very cohesive, it feels like a very beta software experience not like the polish of iDrive 7. I guess this is what happens when software engineers work separately from home during COVID.

Touchscreen climate controls have to be one of the stupidest things I have ever used in a car especially in this terrible implementation.

The HUD is huge, graphics are much improved and presented in a much more beautiful manner. The map view and intersection views are huge and much improved as well.

The ‘instrument cluster’ for the most part is nice, I think the graphics are a little better but there are a bunch of things that are missing (see below). It also feels like configuring the dashboard display with the existing steering wheel buttons is really half baked using buttons that were there to just kinda make it work. You get used to it but it still seems cumbersome. As an example if the low gas notification comes up you can dismiss it by pressing the next song button on the steering wheel even though there is a left arrow on the notification. Pressing the next track button with a notification up will interact with the notification first and not skip the song. It is a little annoyance that just doesn't seem as cohesive of an experience as I am accustomed to in a BMW.

Some more specific thoughts are below.. For the bullets I will refer to iDrive 8 and iDrive 7 as just 7 and 8. Again, these are in no particular order.

• When on a phone call the system locks out the number input with the iDrive dial. They force you to reach up to the screen and tap the button to open the number pad then tap the number. This is so much more distracting and dangerous than just using the dial. This one feels like a software bug that hopefully will be fixed because it makes no sense.
• The sport gauges in 8 are terrible, they are these stupid vertical bars and they only show when you are in sport mode. I really liked the awesome display in 7 that you could keep up all the time and have in a home screen widget.
• Sport gauges in the instrument cluster are missing. There is only a g meter, that’s all you get, again, massive disappointment.
• The tach in the HUD is horrible. They apparently modeled it off a fighter jet or something, all I know is it is impossible to tell what is happening at a glance and it just looks stupid. 7 had a perfect bar graph that actually showed you information.
• The tach in the dashboard in comfort mode is gone. Yes, gone. They replaced it with some dumb power meter that basically shows you the throttle position in percentage. This is an M-lite car! It has the best 6 cylinder engine on any car, Show me the tach! I didn't buy an electric car! Edit: I was wrong about this one, after seeing some comments in the replies I looked a little more and you can change it to the sport dash in comfort mode.
• The 1-8 shortcut buttons are gone! Why why why! They took all the other buttons out, if they had left those you could have solved most of the problems with the new system but instead they got rid of them for cost cutting. You can bump the iDrive controller up to get to 4 shortcuts but that's not the same thing.
• You can push up on the idrive controller to view your shortcuts and some other things like notifications as mentioned but you can’t pull down to go to the climate controls. This seems really shortsighted, if you could pull down to go to the climate controls I think it would make the horrible climate control system a little better.
• Every. Single. Time. I turn the car on Spotify starts from the top of the current playlist. It is incredibly irritating, hopefully this will be fixed in software.
• The map has these 3 stupid settings, that are not configurable, Reduced, Adaptive, and Expanded. In every version of iDrive I have had in all of these cars you could configure what POIs you wanted to see on the map, now Germany decides for you and if you don't like it they don't care. (unless I’m wrong about this one, please correct me if I’m missing something)
• The only way to get the auto-zoom feature from 7 is to select one of the stupid map modes they force you into, Adaptive. That mode dosn’t show the traffic on the map!
• The only way to see traffic on the map is to go Expanded with manual zoom.
• You can't search the contact list by writing letters on the touchpad anymore. I loved that feature.
• There is more than enough room in the bottom bar on the screen for heated seat buttons, why are they not there?

Final thoughts
The driving experience of the new mild hybrid system is absolutely amazing. They didn't skimp on the powertrain which is very nice in the Ultimate Driving Machine. When you really boil it down that's what this car is all about. It drives and responds like nothing else on the road, it makes me happy every time it roars to life and when it effortlessly zips around a Prius from MD going 15 under the speed limit I remember why I love it. I think I made the right decision to continue leasing because I was very concerned with the cost of maintenance on all the electronics on these cars now. However I still hate the omissions and shortcuts in this car, it’s missing so much. A lot of the experience seems like they are getting ready for electric cars but this is an M-lite car with an amazing engine, give me some engine features. The fact that all these things are missing and there are so many shortcomings but they are charging more for the car and just announced another price hike is really disappointing. I am really hoping the next gen or the LCI2 or whatever it’s going to be in 3 years is better.

Pics

Attachment 3045503
Attachment 3045502
Attachment 3045501

[sikotic]

Originally Posted by kpdunphy

Got mine delivered last month. Couldn't be happier. I dont really pick apart trivial stuff like this. I'm just lucky I'm blessed enough to own one.

Just curious, what was your previous car?

[RT1250Ryder]

I was able to score a used LCI M340i with just 9k miles for a pretty good piece last weekend and overall, I'm pretty happy with it. My GF got a '21 X4 M40i a few months earlier so I guess you can say I got bit by the Bimmer bug after driving hers. Mine is spec'ed similarly to the OP with Brooklyn Gren over Tacora Red with Shadowline, HK sound, and Adaptive Suspension. The person before me asked for the spare (weird ask for a car with run flats) but didn't get the 360 camera package. Honestly, that was the one thing I really wanted but the price was too good to pass up so I can live with the regular camera.

A few thoughts I have:

I agree that the headlights are abysmal for a car in this price range. Coming from a '21 Acura TLX, I find that I'm using high beams on my M340i in areas of my neighborhood where the lows worked just fine on the TLX. The light beam cutoff was a lot more seamless with the Acura LEDs than on the BMW and it gives more of a cheap aftermarket retrofit feel as I can see areas in the headlight beam that don't quite match up. I have an appointment with the dealer to look over the car and I will ask them to check the headlight alignment but I doubt that will resolve the issue.

Although I like the iDrive 8 dash, I think there was a major missed opportunity for customization. Sure, it allows for some personalization but the options are limited. Not saying they should have gone the Ford route and given the option for retro gauges (although it would have been hella cool if they did), I think there could have been a few more choices available.

I'm here to say that the rumors are true that the pre-LCI B58s are louder. My GF's M40i has more presence during startup and while out and about. Hers also "feels" faster but that could be because of x-drive and mine rear wheel drive only.

I disabled the HUD on mine. It is too distracting for me. I have a HUD on my other car and it is as non-intrusive as I've ever seen and I guess it spoiled me. Tach bars, speed limit, upcoming tracks, directions.....I don't need that on my windshield in my line of sight. Thanks but I'll look down to get what I need.

I'm with everyone else on the removal of the buttons for iDrive 8 so I won't beat that horse anymore than it already has. I will say that if you are new to BMW, the transition will be smoother for you as opposed to someone who has had one before. Didn't realize the convenience of those buttons until I was in my GF's X4 and was like, "Yep, they should have kept these...". I will say that I'm still trying to figure out the SiriusXM presets since I happen to like various stations. It is, to say the least, weird how you are locked into the presets and can't go up and down channels unless you scroll to that channel.

The gear shift nub doesn't really bother me. I guess I had gotten used to that in my TLX. I have a manual car for when I want to shift gears on the weekend.

I have it configured to not fold in the mirrors when I lock the car but every now and again, the mirrors will fold. Not a major thing but I wish I knew how I was doing that, lol.

All in all, I like the car and enjoy it much more than my TLX. The gas mileage alone was worth the consideration but the power and performance really sealed it for me. I will probably look at the BMW extended warranty to cover any possible electronic gremlins that may show themselves later on but in the end, I'm happy with it.

[EstorilVic]

Traded my bk grey/red 23 for a fully loaded 20. Couldn’t be happier in every single way possible

[bilbothethief]

Thanks for sharing. I loved every single word in your post and now I'm even happier with mine. Just got it