[bmnut]

Originally Posted by Charlie (Wessex)

Problem is, I neither want to drop £60k on one, nor pay £800 a month

Nah!.....Me neither!

[bmnut]

Originally Posted by LiamM340i

So, I managed to get the test drive Earlier than expected!
I’m blown away with how much better the car is than my OLD f31 335d, the tech is on another level, the quality of the cabin and materials again, unbelievable in comparison.

After a 200 mile drive to view the m340i, my 335d achieve 44 mpg sat at 72(not the best)

On the return leg the m340 managed 45 mpg at the same speed! For a car as fast and capable the efficiency is crazy.

The handling/chassis is on another planet, I can only image what the g80 m3/4’s are like in the twistys!

Now to refer to the question I asked in my first post, would I be disappointed coming from a mapped 335d performance wise.
The M340 is undoubtedly a much faster car, which leads me to believe that BMWs quoted figures are very conservative.

Colour wise I went for oxide grey and wow! Maybe one of the best colours I’ve seen on any car, pictures don’t do it justice!

I’ll post some pictures tomorrow when she’s had a clean and I’ll also dig the spec out too😃

Congratulations on the new car!
Sounds like you did a similar journey to me! I travelled 200 miles from the North East to collect mine and coming home mostly motorway saw 44mpg, unreal! Not the best though since had a whisker over 46mpg on a mainly motorway run!
Over 4.5k miles in now and it still returns ridiculously frugal mpg figures on steady motorway runs, the engine note is sounding slightly deeper and louder and it goes like a bat out of hell if necessary! Brilliant for effortless overtakes on the likes of the A68, A697 and a myriad of lesser 'B' roads in the Kingdom of Northumbria!

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by xenon

This was the performance model and a 340i wouldn't see which way it went.

Which is fine but in practice how much of this performance will you be able to use if you want to do more than 200 miles in a day without needing to stop for a recharge?

[marksandygill]

Originally Posted by JNW1

Which is fine but in practice how much of this performance will you be able to use if you want to do more than 200 miles in a day without needing to stop for a recharge?

If you lost say 20-30% of range due to heavy acceleration then you'd still be able to do around 200 miles without stopping

I'd argue that driving quickly enough to do that for 200 miles would be pretty taxing and given the state of our roads nigh on impossible!😆

[beerglass007]

Originally Posted by marksandygill

If you lost say 20-30% of range due to heavy acceleration then you'd still be able to do around 200 miles without stopping

I'd argue that driving quickly enough to do that for 200 miles would be pretty taxing and given the state of our roads nigh on impossible!😆

The Telsa I was in was the 2 year old model 3 and standard. He claims it will do 230 miles to a charge in the summer. During the cold winter can drop to 170 miles. He also said driving it hard will drop the range down to 140 miles

The performance and long range models is different again and this wasn’t what I was comparing the 340i against

[DavidXJ]

I marvel at the fact that we're all giving so much airtime to Teslas (and yes, I'm complicit in this) in a forum that is otherwise devoted to admiring the sound and spirit of one of the best inline 6s produced in recent times... The folks in Whitehall really must be putting something in the water to accelerate compliance ahead of 2030.

[Correction: I should have referred to specific and originating thread topic and conversation, not the 'forum' here.]

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by marksandygill

If you lost say 20-30% of range due to heavy acceleration then you'd still be able to do around 200 miles without stopping

I'd argue that driving quickly enough to do that for 200 miles would be pretty taxing and given the state of our roads nigh on impossible!😆

Well Autocar rated the real world range of a Model 3 Performance at 239 miles and I doubt that would have included making much use of the headline performance figures a lot of people like to quote!

In previous jobs I regularly did business trips of more than 100 miles each way in a day so, if Autocar's figures are broadly accurate, that says to me I'd be struggling to do the equivalent journey comfortably in an EV without a recharge (unless of course I was prepared to drive pretty sedately to eek out the range). In contrast, an M340i or M340d will do way more than that without needing to go anywhere near a filling station....

[beerglass007]

Originally Posted by marksandygill

As much as I hate Tesla, there's a bit of nonsense there

Firstly the Tesla Supercharger network is 28p/kwh so £21 to charge up and get say 285 miles, an M340i costs what £85 to fill up so that means people in M340i's are getting over 1150 miles out of a tank?!

Secondly the Model 3 Performance is £60k not £70k, once you've added a few options (not that you can at the moment! ) to an M340i it's going to be around the same price

Build quality isn't where it needs to be for a car of that price, I hate the touch screen only approach and it looks like a frog, but they are cheaper to run and faster around a track than the old M3...

Performance is £66K with similar spec


Also charging on Tesla network for example £13 gave him 130 miles which is roughly the same as a diesel and not super cheap like people say about EV. Charging at home is totally different, my point again is its not everything people bang on about

The other day I saw a 3 hour queue on the M5 for the EV chargers. Thats enough to put me off at present

[marksandygill]

beerglass007 it would make sense to compare the Model 3 Performance to the M340i though on price and performance?
Also oddly that £66,790 figure is exactly the amount if you include full self driving, which I'm not sure the M340i has?
Fair play, my 320d would cost about £19 for those same 130 miles but then he can charge at home and it would cost £5 and hit 60mph twice as fast as me

DavidXJ I'd rather ignore Tesla completely, however not everyone on this forum owns an M340i, we aren't all devoted to it's engine, as good as it is...

JNW1 Carwow's test on motorways got to 285 miles, and the average commute in the UK is about 23 miles so for 99% of people I'm sure they'll be fine!

[Charlie (Wessex)]

Lord Bamford hits a very relevant point (in the Harry's Garage video). The average electric car is used 300 hours a year so range & recharging isn't really an issue for most (while it is with big commercial vehicles). I look at the number of 250+ mile journeys that I do in a year and it's probably about 20 (ie 10 there and 10 back). I asked my wife what the longest journey she'd ever done in her car, and it was sub 200. So I suggested to her that she should go electric, but she rather likes her Scooby Outback for the size (son's wheelchair + other bits). I've also got a pickup truck, so I'll very likely go full electric for her when the time comes to change her car. She's not interested in performance models, so cost should be somewhat less.

[xenon]

It's not necessarily a case of giving air time to Tesla - or any other marque - it's just the blind refusal of some on here to see any merit in any vehicle that's not an M340i. It's tiring.

[paulockenden]

Originally Posted by xenon

it's just the blind refusal of some on here to see any merit in any vehicle that's not an M340i. It's tiring.

Abso-effing-lutely!

[xenon]

Indeed, given the name of the forum one would have expected it to cover a broad range of subjects on G20 and G21 cars but in fact it is "a forum that is otherwise devoted to admiring the sound and spirit of one of the best inline 6s produced in recent times". So I stand corrected: it's for owners of S54 engined-cars only.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by marksandygill

beerglass007 it would make sense to compare the Model 3 Performance to the M340i though on price and performance?

An M340i post-discount is around £47k which seems to me more in line with the price of a LR Tesla Model 3 rather than the Performance version? Ok, a lot of M340i buyers will add extras but I doubt many would spec one to over £60k!

Originally Posted by marksandygill

JNW1 Carwow's test on motorways got to 285 miles, and the average commute in the UK is about 23 miles so for 99% of people I'm sure they'll be fine!

I agree entirely an EV like a Tesla is absolutely fine for those who can charge at home and do less than 200 miles a day (which to be fair is quite a lot of us).

However, there's also a lot of people who can't charge at home and for those who do longer trips on a regular basis you could easily be doing over 200 miles in a day. For example, in one of the jobs I used to do I attended a monthly meeting in North Wales which entailed a round trip of around 270 miles; starting with a full tank of fuel I never needed to think about stopping to fill-up but I wouldn't be comfortable undertaking a journey like that in a Tesla (or any other EV) without recharging, especially in colder weather in the winter.

So, while I agree EV's will work for a lot of people, at the moment I don't think they'll work for everyone (or at least they won't be as convenient as an ICE vehicle). But I also think that will change quite significantly which is why I'm of the view stick to your ICE for now unless you have to change it; in four or five years I think the EV choice will be much better than it is today so I'll sit on my hands for now and see how things look in about 2025!

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by paulockenden

Abso-effing-lutely!

Maybe you chaps need to read what people are actually saying rather than what you think they're saying? I can certainly see the merit in cars other than the M340i (whether Tesla, another EV or indeed another ICE car) but that doesn't mean I'm going to swallow all the EV propaganda at face value; EV's certainly work for a lot of people but, at the moment, IMO they're not as convenient for everyone as an ICE vehicle.

[xenon]

I agree with regard to EVs but there are undeniably some on here that think the M340i is the only thing worth bothering with, even wrt ICE vehicles.

[marksandygill]

Originally Posted by JNW1

An M340i post-discount is around £47k which seems to me more in line with the price of a LR Tesla Model 3 rather than the Performance version? Ok, a lot of M340i buyers will add extras but I doubt many would spec one to over £60k!




I agree entirely an EV like a Tesla is absolutely fine for those who can charge at home and do less than 200 miles a day (which to be fair is quite a lot of us).

However, there's also a lot of people who can't charge at home and for those who do longer trips on a regular basis you could easily be doing over 200 miles in a day. For example, in one of the jobs I used to do I attended a monthly meeting in North Wales which entailed a round trip of around 270 miles; starting with a full tank of fuel I never needed to think about stopping to fill-up but I wouldn't be comfortable undertaking a journey like that in a Tesla (or any other EV) without recharging, especially in colder weather in the winter.

So, while I agree EV's will work for a lot of people, at the moment I don't think they'll work for everyone (or at least they won't be as convenient as an ICE vehicle). But I also think that will change quite significantly which is why I'm of the view stick to your ICE for now unless you have to change it; in four or five years I think the EV choice will be much better than it is today so I'll sit on my hands for now and see how things look in about 2025!

Probably right, the Model 3 Long Range is around the same price as the M340i and similar performance levels, I do 1000 miles a month so I'd save around £1300/year switching to electric which adds up!

Just not a Tesla, maybe an i4 when I can, but then I'm lucky I don't have to buy my cars

I completely agree that EVs aren't for everyone and probably won't ever be, I'd like to see BMW develop it's hydrogen cars more, but that's even further from the topic of conversation!!

[Scottish0177]

Originally Posted by JNW1

An M340i post-discount is around £47k which seems to me more in line with the price of a LR Tesla Model 3 rather than the Performance version? Ok, a lot of M340i buyers will add extras but I doubt many would spec one to over £60k!




I agree entirely an EV like a Tesla is absolutely fine for those who can charge at home and do less than 200 miles a day (which to be fair is quite a lot of us).

However, there's also a lot of people who can't charge at home and for those who do longer trips on a regular basis you could easily be doing over 200 miles in a day. For example, in one of the jobs I used to do I attended a monthly meeting in North Wales which entailed a round trip of around 270 miles; starting with a full tank of fuel I never needed to think about stopping to fill-up but I wouldn't be comfortable undertaking a journey like that in a Tesla (or any other EV) without recharging, especially in colder weather in the winter.

So, while I agree EV's will work for a lot of people, at the moment I don't think they'll work for everyone (or at least they won't be as convenient as an ICE vehicle). But I also think that will change quite significantly which is why I'm of the view stick to your ICE for now unless you have to change it; in four or five years I think the EV choice will be much better than it is today so I'll sit on my hands for now and see how things look in about 2025!

Agreed, I have no problem really with moving to EV’s when the time comes, but for me the infrastructure needs to be more robust and accessible.I agree that technology will improve in the next few years and hopefully cars will become cheaper to buy.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by xenon

I agree with regard to EVs but there are undeniably some on here that think the M340i is the only thing worth bothering with, even wrt ICE vehicles.

If there are people who think like that about the M340i then I'd agree they're wrong; it's a very good all-rounder - especially in Touring form - but it's not perfect (not that any car is!).

[DavidXJ]

Originally Posted by xenon

Indeed, given the name of the forum one would have expected it to cover a broad range of subjects on G20 and G21 cars but in fact it is "a forum that is otherwise devoted to admiring the sound and spirit of one of the best inline 6s produced in recent times". So I stand corrected: it's for owners of S54 engined-cars only.

My fault entirely--and my apologies. It was a terminological slip: I should have referred back to the basis and impetus of the original 'thread' topic, not the 'forum' itself as a whole. I have infinite, impartial admiration for all G20s (and their descendants); and anyone who might have seen my previous posts will know that I have much to say about the brilliance of other models (and engines) in the line up. I certainly did not mean to elevate the 40i (or somehow regard it as perfect) over anything else that this forum covers and allows us all, as it should, to have a chance to deliberate.

[xenon]

Fair enough, David. 😎