[RCook]

Appreciate all your time on the review.

I think the new screen and front end design are a personal taste, but I didn't like either.

I went into my local dealer to order a 2022 330e in June. Then found out the trunk would not even hold two suitcases, so we passed. Decided to stick with a 330i. Thought about waiting and ordering the new 23 330i. After driving in a i4 (with essentially the same display/screen) I didn't want to live with it.

Ended up with a fully loaded CPO 330i, just 25K miles for about US$34K. New tires, brakes. New equiv. would be over US$55K. Only option it didn't have was remote start.

Likely the only time in my life where I walked out of a car dealership spending much less than I planned on!

[shawntech]

At this point if you like your 2020 the only way forward in a 3 series is a big sniff.

[tturedraider]

Wow!! That review is just mind boggling. I’ve never preferred the pre-LCI to the LCI, until now.

I’ve been a huge BMW fanboy since before the E30 was first introduced. I was crazy for the E24 635CSi. My friend’s E30 325i was the first BMW I ever drove and will never forget that experience. I was ruined. I didn’t really think I’d ever be able to own a BMW, but 20 years later I finally was. I never imagined in a million years I would say this. BMW has lost me. Hopefully in the spring I’ll find an acceptable deal on a 2020 M340i. Barring a huge turn around with BMW that will be my last BMW.

[Rawhide]

Great write up man, thanks!

Mine was built in the last month or so of pre-LCI, and I'm very happy with it.

[azwillnj]

Originally Posted by Panscan340

Just because there isn't an adaptive mode doesn't mean things aren't the same as they would be without the option.

I played with this a little more today. In comfort mode when you make violent movements the car stiffens a tiny tiny bit but nowhere near as much as sport mode. I have never had adaptive mode on any previous car so I can only go off what I have read but to my knowledge adaptive mode adjusted the throttle, steering and suspension and this definitely does not. Again, I could be wrong because I have only read about the mode.

Originally Posted by Cammy340i

I think that when you choose the sensatec seats you don't get the lumbar support. You only get that when you have leather seats. Im going with leather for that very reason...plus the stitching you get on the door panels.

This is incredibly stupid. My 2020 had Sensatec and I got everything on those seats. This also goes back to my transparency comment, had I known that when I ordered I might have upgraded to the leather.

Originally Posted by TM5

not sure I understand your comments about hvac being tied to heated seats. I drove around yesterday with windows partially down and heated seats on - wasn’t an issue - ac was off - temp set at 72 and fan on low…

I will double check when I get back in car - but believe tach is visible on right side when in comfort mode - might depend on which display you choose

I'll have to play with this more tomorrow but if you disable the system on the left to menu to turn the HVAC off it wont let me enable the heated seats. Maybe it's an order of operations thing? I'll report back.

You were right about the tach! Thanks! I found the option in the dash configuration, you can configure it to use the sport displays in comfort mode, I edited the first post to reflect this.

Originally Posted by TheMaxXHD

I will be going from a 2011 LCI E90 328i xDrive to this. I wonder how much different our experiences will be once I get my m340i LCI this month (hopefully). Mine will have the kick tailgate thankfully.

One of the interesting things I find is the headlights. Like you, I have the infamous xenon's on my E90, so that is a minor concern I have, and is disappointing to hear that they might not be utterly amazing, which I was really hoping for.


As for why a wide screen over tall screen. Technically, it likely is better from a safety pov than a taller screen, because your eyes don't have to change as much on the Y-axis, thus allowing your eyes to be peripherally closer to the windshield than if you had to look down some more on a screen that is tall but not nearly as wide. That said, tall screens are a lot easier to design and navigate.

For your iDrive 7 vs 8 complaints, I feel like some of those depend on how much a driver uses the built in functions over carplay/android auto. That said, I am sure they are still valid. I have driven an iDrive 7 car (an X3), and I gotta say, iDrive 8 looks like a huge upgrade. iDrive 7 looks outdated and lacking of functionality in areas. I think some of it is subjective to software. Some people prefer Apple, some people prefer Android, that type of thing, is the nature of software. Again, no knocks against your review, just that I will be interested to see if I have the same thoughts as you.

The power difference jumping from a 328 to the m340 is going to absolutely blow you away, there is no way you wont smile every day. The laser headlights were amazing, especially when you unlocked the glare free stuff, these are just plain bad. The wide screen point is a very valid one and likely the exact reason that BMW went in this direction, great point. Also a good point about Android vs iphone, id7 was more android and 8 is more apple. I am an android user and an engineer so maybe thats why I enjoyed id7 more.

[Sandpiper]

This is the type of info we need more of. All the corners they cut are stupid and could of been avoided. The worst is the climate control, heated seats, and shortcut buttons. They really took the basic stuff and ruined it. It sucks, but I don't an option for another car as this is the only one I like. I'm hoping they resolve some of those issues through software. If all the heated seat logic is in the software then it's easy to update it so allow independent control of the heated seats and the rest of the climate controls.

[CrownRoyal79]

Wow, this makes me want to hold on to my 2020 for a while longer. I'm surprised by everything that's missing from a fully loaded 2023. Mine has everything yours is missing except maybe the ventilated seats, which were never an option. I'm especially shocked about the headlights. Laser lights that swivel and follow your turns are no longer available?

[Blubaron79]

I can't believe the removed so much stuff from the LCI. I'm buying my 2021 out of its lease.

With the LCI you lose:

Laser lights
Door and cup holder lighting
Shifter
Power trunk
Adaptive mode
Shortcut buttons/heated seat buttons
Lots of power seat options

[TTG]

Great review and I am glad I bought my 2020 off of lease.

With the direction BMW is going, I sure hope this is not my last BMW.

[azwillnj]

The journalists are starting to feel this too, check out this article posted yesterday. This is how I feel about this car, with the caveat being that the driving dynamics in this car are still amazing. I'm worried about their direction.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...arket-anymore/

[TxAg98]

I love my 2020!

[azwillnj]

Originally Posted by TxAg98

I love my 2020!

I miss my 2020.

[TheMaxXHD]

Originally Posted by azwillnj

I played with this a little more today. In comfort mode when you make violent movements the car stiffens a tiny tiny bit but nowhere near as much as sport mode. I have never had adaptive mode on any previous car so I can only go off what I have read but to my knowledge adaptive mode adjusted the throttle, steering and suspension and this definitely does not. Again, I could be wrong because I have only read about the mode.

Okay so, there is common confusion on what the adaptive M suspension does and what the adaptive mode does (or used to do), and the confusion is likely one of the reasons why they got rid of the adaptive drive mode. I will attempt to explain, but the short version is, them getting rid of the adaptive drive mode isn't really much of a loss because all it was effectively doing was switching between comfort and sport drive settings automatically in the background silently based on road and drive conditions.

Here is the more thorough explanation. If you have the adaptive M suspension, as long as it isn't actually broken, you are already getting the functionality of the suspension. What it does is adjust the dampers based on what mode you are in. It does not change the dampers while in the mode (to my knowledge). The changes in dampers happens when switching manually between sport and comfort modes. Sport is a more stiffer suspension damper setting, comfort is a more comfort damper setting.

This is in contrast to the base non adaptive m suspension, which has only 1 damper setting that cannot be changed, regardless of in comfort, sport, or eco pro. The non adaptive m suspension is generally considered to have a stock setting of stiffer than comfort on the adaptive suspension, but more comfort than sport on the adaptive suspension.

This is different than the adaptive drive mode, which used to be a mode on adaptive m suspension equipped cars, but in recent MY's BMW has started to get rid of quietly. What this setting did was in the background it would adjust essentially between comfort and sport drive modes (and possibly eco pro, not sure) automatically based on how the road was and what the driver was doing. It did not do anything more than that. It was essentially no different than manually toggling between the modes, just that the car did so behind the scenes, adjusting the transmission, dampers, and steering between the three modes. This mode added confusion to people who thought they had to be in the mode to get adaptive m suspension benefits, which is not true.

TLDR; If you have the adaptive M suspension equipped, you are already getting the full benefits of it. The adaptive drive mode was more or less the car switching automatically behind the scenes between the different drive modes. It did nothing more than that.

[azwillnj]

Originally Posted by TheMaxXHD

TLDR; If you have the adaptive M suspension equipped, you are already getting the full benefits of it. The adaptive drive mode was more or less the car switching automatically behind the scenes between the different drive modes. It did nothing more than that.

That's what I thought, and its a pretty big deal. The feature in this car should be called "Adjustable M Suspension". There is a very notable difference between sport and comfort and that is very cool, but I wish the system would be adaptive, like it has been forever.

[LousyShot]

Heated seats may not have a dedicated hardware button (like the rest of the HVAC controls) but if you deselect the Auto program on the left side of the menu, you can adjust the seat heating independently

[TheMaxXHD]

Originally Posted by azwillnj

That's what I thought, and its a pretty big deal. The feature in this car should be called "Adjustable M Suspension". There is a very notable difference between sport and comfort and that is very cool, but I wish the system would be adaptive, like it has been forever.

Pretty big deal is fairly subjective, and you can look at the forums here and elsewhere to see that some people loved it, some people hated it and/or never used it. My guess is most people never used it. In theory it sounds great, but in practice sounds like it was a hit or miss. Personally imo, you are getting the most out of the car when you can chose the drive settings manually, because then it's exactly what you want until you tell the car otherwise. Steering in particular people are sensitive to, and adjustments to that on the fly beyond the control of the driver seems to be one of the weaknesses of the adaptive mode.

I don't disagree that it had some value, and a nice to have for those that did like it, but my guess is most people didn't use it.

[RIneuron]

*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.

On my 330ix there is a button on the center console to do this. You don't have it? Anyway it is still necessary to push that button or select Sport each time you start the car. It should be possible to select the default you like without hacking with 3rd party software, but it is not.

[azwillnj]

Originally Posted by TheMaxXHD

Pretty big deal is fairly subjective, and you can look at the forums here and elsewhere to see that some people loved it, some people hated it and/or never used it. My guess is most people never used it. In theory it sounds great, but in practice sounds like it was a hit or miss. Personally imo, you are getting the most out of the car when you can chose the drive settings manually, because then it's exactly what you want until you tell the car otherwise. Steering in particular people are sensitive to, and adjustments to that on the fly beyond the control of the driver seems to be one of the weaknesses of the adaptive mode.

I don't disagree that it had some value, and a nice to have for those that did like it, but my guess is most people didn't use it.

Good point, adjusting steering on the fly does seem pretty intrusive. But its still an option that they removed. They could have added a third option when configuring sport individual for adaptive suspension instead of just comfort and sport.

[TheMaxXHD]

Originally Posted by LousyShot

Heated seats may not have a dedicated hardware button (like the rest of the HVAC controls) but if you deselect the Auto program on the left side of the menu, you can adjust the seat heating independently

I think the main complaint here is the AUTO climate is preferable in most cases, but people would like to control the heated seats on their own without turning AUTO climate off.

Seems like a strange design to keep heated seats bound to AUTO climate because that is something people might find a bit more subjective in terms of how they want it when compared to a thermostat general temperature for the cabin, which is much easier for more people to set and forget once they find a temperature that suits their comfort and the car keeps to it well.

For example, some people might not like heated seats on at all, or don't like how AUTO program handles when they turn on or off, regardless if they find the rest of the AUTO program perfectly acceptable otherwise. Having to take off AUTO just to have a finer control of heated seats then removes the benefit of AUTO in the first place.

[azwillnj]

Originally Posted by RIneuron

*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.

On my 330ix there is a button on the center console to do this. You don't have it? Anyway it is still necessary to push that button or select Sport each time you start the car. It should be possible to select the default you like without hacking with 3rd party software, but it is not.

The button is blank now and does nothing. The guy at the performance center said that all the models with the mild hybrid have gone this way. His suggestion was if you wanted comfort mode with ASS disabled you should configure all the settings on sport individual to comfort and that would disable it, haha.

Originally Posted by LousyShot

Heated seats may not have a dedicated hardware button (like the rest of the HVAC controls) but if you deselect the Auto program on the left side of the menu, you can adjust the seat heating independently

I did some messing around with settings this morning..



This is the screen you see with the climate control set to auto. The heated seat controls you see there are automatic, there are 4 settings; Low, Medium, High, Very High.



You can go to manual mode by un-checking "Automatic program" on the left and that will allow you to control the seats from 0-3 like it has been for 20 years or whatever. If you do this you have completely disabled automatic climate control and have to manually control fan and distribution. Of note here is that one of the replies to this thread was right, it is possible to set the fan speed to 0 and have the heated seats on, I am going to adjust post 1 to reflect this.



This is what it looks like when you un-check "All Climate Functions" on the left. Everything is disabled including the heated seats, you cant use any of the controls in the middle, none of the buttons work.

[TheMaxXHD]

Originally Posted by azwillnj

Good point, adjusting steering on the fly does seem pretty intrusive. But its still an option that they removed. They could have added a third option when configuring sport individual for adaptive suspension instead of just comfort and sport.

I agree, and I think this way you mention makes a ton more sense and flexibility for the driver. Just letting the driver chose if they want the car to adaptively change transmission, steering, suspension, independently of each other. I think that would make a far more pleasant experience to the driver as opposed to a one size fits all adaptive mode.

They already have the menus and functionality for users to individually change those as you mention like in sport individual mode, but they could just include an adaptive setting for each option.

[MaxW]

Originally Posted by TheMaxXHD

Okay so, there is common confusion on what the adaptive M suspension does and what the adaptive mode does (or used to do), and the confusion is likely one of the reasons why they got rid of the adaptive drive mode. I will attempt to explain, but the short version is, them getting rid of the adaptive drive mode isn't really much of a loss because all it was effectively doing was switching between comfort and sport drive settings automatically in the background silently based on road and drive conditions.

Here is the more thorough explanation. If you have the adaptive M suspension, as long as it isn't actually broken, you are already getting the functionality of the suspension. What it does is adjust the dampers based on what mode you are in. It does not change the dampers while in the mode (to my knowledge). The changes in dampers happens when switching manually between sport and comfort modes. Sport is a more stiffer suspension damper setting, comfort is a more comfort damper setting.

This is in contrast to the base non adaptive m suspension, which has only 1 damper setting that cannot be changed, regardless of in comfort, sport, or eco pro. The non adaptive m suspension is generally considered to have a stock setting of stiffer than comfort on the adaptive suspension, but more comfort than sport on the adaptive suspension.

This is different than the adaptive drive mode, which used to be a mode on adaptive m suspension equipped cars, but in recent MY's BMW has started to get rid of quietly. What this setting did was in the background it would adjust essentially between comfort and sport drive modes (and possibly eco pro, not sure) automatically based on how the road was and what the driver was doing. It did not do anything more than that. It was essentially no different than manually toggling between the modes, just that the car did so behind the scenes, adjusting the transmission, dampers, and steering between the three modes. This mode added confusion to people who thought they had to be in the mode to get adaptive m suspension benefits, which is not true.

TLDR; If you have the adaptive M suspension equipped, you are already getting the full benefits of it. The adaptive drive mode was more or less the car switching automatically behind the scenes between the different drive modes. It did nothing more than that.

Thank you so much for this write-up. I just bought a 2020 M340i for the adaptive suspension and had no idea what the "adaptive" button (which I now understand is a completely separate feature... though included when you get the adaptive suspension) had to do with the way the suspension operates. I had to go back and read several threads on it, but from what I read, your explanation is spot on. And with all of the confusion it has caused, at least in this forum, it makes sense that BMW seems to be phasing it out.

I've only had the car a week, but personally do not foresee any reason that I would want to have the adaptive mode button... it just happened to come with the adaptive suspension. The one plus I found is that when I was searching for a used car with adaptive suspension, I could easily tell if it had the adaptive suspension with a quick glimpse at the interior photos