BMW M340d xDrive – Good fuel consumption, m-performance and Touring, a recipe too good to ignore
It was expected, but still it races my heart when BMW releases a new performance focused diesel car. In a day and age when diesels are getting out phased by the minute, at least in Sweden, BMW knows their market for these cars and continues the retinue of offering Autobahn crushers.
I will start with this. The car looks already like a true M-car. And with that statement I truly mean an M-car, like the M3. The front looks absolutely bang on. The kidneys are at a decent size and especially the creased and heavily curved bonnet ads to the flair. The rather generic rear is now filled with big chrome exhaust tips, which I do hope are real. Unfortunately, no pictures of the interior have been released yet.
Focus is of course on the technology underneath. Six cylinder engine gives 340 hp, reached at 4400 rpm, and a whopping 700 Nm, from 1750 rpm. That’s good for a 0-100 km/h in 4.6 seconds. Luckily, the fuel consumption is 5.3 – 5.7 l/100 km in average driving (for the sedan). BMW claims that these consumption numbers are so low because of the 48V mild hybrid system found in the car. The electric motor has only 11 hp, but is there to help with response during acceleration and increase efficiency during not so eagerly driving.
Off course, the car comes with all the necessary bits to make an M model. Sport exhaust and suspension, sport brakes surrounded by light alloy wheels, and an optimized eight speed transmission. Further, the xDrive system is rear biased, and the M340d has a rear locking differential, for all you hooligans out there. The brakes are four piston, 348 mm discs, front, and single piston, 345 mm discs, back.
As you can read. The M340d is not just a M badged generic 3 series. It is bespoke, highly capably and probably very expensive. Realistically starting from £55 000.