The BMW 3-Series isn’t just a sport sedan. It’s the sport sedan.
That designation may have mattered more when Journey was in heavy rotation on radios, but it still means something. Even though tastes and Steve Perry have moved on, luxury brands are still judged by the strength of their small sedans.
Our first impressions of the M340i were good ones. But after a week of living with the M340i, I challenged my devotion to the 3-Series.
I’ve owned a couple, driven more, and lusted over many. My devotion to the 3-Series isn’t blind and there’s plenty on the car worth fixing—like any relationship. But my fondness for the 3-Series likely will be forever, faithfully.
And I really don’t like Journey.
2020 BMW M340i
Hit: Historic, heroic engine
There are many superlatives to heap on the M340i’s performance and there’s not enough air here in Denver for all the breathless hyperbole I have for it. This year, the M340i’s turbo-6 gets massaged up to 382 horsepower (up from 355 hp last year) and it can spring from 0-60 mph in 4.1 seconds. Carved into the automotive Mount Rushmore in my mind is the BMW B58 engine, a superhero under hoods that’s excellent in every application. Its power and turbos build quickly but surge at 4,000 rpm. The revs race past 6,000 rpm in a blink, but it never feels tapped. I ran out of road well before I ran out of grunt.
2020 BMW M340i
Hit: Smaller driver, big winner
Despite having more inches between the wheels and bumpers—and fewer inches between the ground and my rump—the longer, lower, and wider 2020 3-Series drives like a smaller car. That’s a good thing. The M340i pivots like a halfback in tight esses, and it corners on its tiptoes without much body roll. It’s the perfect mix of a stiff chassis with just enough steering communication to know when the car has settled after every turn. The rear differential that’s standard on the M340i moves the back end around confidently, and when the small BMW breaks grip it works with the traction control systems to give me plenty of rope without letting me hang myself, likely via magic or some other dark art.
2020 BMW M340i
Bonus: DSC Traction
BMW’s stability control program that’s one step from “On” but not completely “Off” is an instant fun button.
2020 BMW M340i
Miss: A game of inches, lost in the feet
The E90 sitting in my driveway has 34.6 inches of leg room, measured from the back of the rear seat to the front of some engineer’s imagination. By comparison, my M340i tester has 35.2 actual inches of leg room, measured with a ruler and not pure fantasy. The 2020 3-Series is big enough that I can comfortably sit behind someone of similar 6-foot-2 Midwestern build, albeit with my knees against the seat. The bad news? My size 12s don’t fit so well in the allotted foot room. It’s not enough for me to proclaim that the M340i can’t comfortably hold four adults, but it’s enough to recommend calling shotgun when you can.
2020 BMW M340i
Hit: Adaptive, reactive, and proactive
The adaptive dampers fitted to my tester cost $700, and at least on the M340i, it’s not shielded in the lineup by frivolous prerequisite options like heated seats or a smoker’s package. The standalone dampers are great for their sport setting—discernibly stiffer than the comfort setting—which tightens at each corner for better handling. What the M340i lacks in steering feel, it gives some back in communicating what is happening at each corner.
2020 BMW M340i
Miss: The price
Nestlé doesn’t have enough sugar to coat the $70,000 pill BMW asks us to swallow with our tester. Even a low-mileage lease with $2,500 down nets a $700 monthly payment, a more likely scenario for BMW’s clientele but still not comfortable. And there’s worse news coming…
2020 BMW M340i
Hit: Everything else
BMW’s 8-speed automatic transmission in the M340i is telepathic. The all-wheel-drive system is butter-smooth everywhere. The sport seats are comfortable and supportive, with a natural seating position that’s better than its competitors. The interior is refined more than the gas it doesn’t drink (I averaged over 26 mpg in more than 150 hard-driving miles). The new 3-Series is pretty again. The trunk is bigger...I could go on.
2020 BMW M340i
Miss: The best 3-Series isn’t an M340i
It’s an X3 M40i. It has the same powertrain, virtually the same performance, more practicality and comfort, more leg room, and it costs the same. It’s just as fun to drive in nearly every circumstance, and it’s even pretty. I love the 3-Series, I’m just running out of reasons to recommend one.
A nearly identically equipped 2020 BMW X3 M40i costs $300 less than the 2020 BMW M340i I drove for a week. (The only difference? Remote start, which is a $300 option on the M340i, isn’t available at all on an X3. The X3 M40i gets 20-inch wheels and the M340i gets 19-inchers, although bigger wheels are available for both.)
The numbers on the bottoms of both stickers are enough to know that it’s not the 1980s anymore. The Tanzanite Blue M340i runs up the score to $69,570, including destination. The staggeringly high price isn’t the only eye-watering number attached to both—the sedan and crossover speed from 0-60 mph in just over four seconds, faster than an M3 from less than a decade ago.
TL;DR? I still love sedans, so I won’t stop believing, but the crossover is just better. And I really don’t like Journey.
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2020 BMW M340i xDrive
Base price: $56,995, including destination
Price as tested: $69,570
Drivetrain: 382-horsepower, 3.0-liter turbo inline-6, 8-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
EPA fuel economy: 22/30/25 mpg
The hits: Superlative performance, great adaptive dampers, great all-rounder
The misses: Astronomically high price, foot room is cramped in the back, the X3 may be better.
