Driven: 2022 BMW M340i

The 2022 BMW M340i sits in an interesting spot in the Bavarian brand’s beloved 3 Series lineup. After spending a full week with it, we really enjoyed its ability to be both a mild and comfortable, daily a-to-be cruiser, yet also transform into a fast, athletic, and thrilling sports sedan. It’s not an M3, but we think what you get for our tester’s $55,695 base MSRP makes it a great value, and much closer to the M3 than it is to the entry-level 330i.

One of the main reasons for this is that it possesses BMW’s turbocharged B58 inline-six engine. This unit produces 382 horsepower and 368 pound-feet of torque, 127 more horsepower and 73 more pound-feet over the 330i’s B48 turbo-four. It’s such a brilliant powerplant, and when combined with the 340i’s M Sport rear differential, an absolute joy in the twisties.

The 340i’s not quite at the same level as the base, $70,100 M3, which produces 91 more horsepower and 37 more pound-feet of torque. It also possesses a sharper-feeling front end, bigger brakes, wider tires, more aggressive body work, and a face that… well, we’ll leave that up to the eye of the beholder. Yet, in terms of twisty-road thrills, the 340i comes awfully close.

It gives the base M3 a strong run for its money, and even bests it in some areas. The 340i rockets out of corner-exit, and braking hard and late into turns is a cinch thanks to strong, 13.7-inch rotors and four-piston fixed calipers up front, and 13.6-rotors cupped by single-piston floating calipers in the rear. These brakes are quite touchy and mildly annoying while cruising along during daily fare, but have excellent feel and modulation once they’re warmed up and put to work on fun roads. Then, body roll is very well contained thanks to adaptive dampers tied together by semi-independent strut-type suspension up front, and five-link independent equipment out back. As far as coming close to full-blown M performance, the M-lite 340i isn’t that far off. Finally, the one area where it beats out the M is its power steering: the M3’s  feels light and overboosted at speed, the M340i feels far more confident and weighted down, despite not feeling as sharp.

The 2022 M340i is perhaps the best performance all-rounder in the 3 Series’ history. It’s relaxing yet thrilling, comfortable yet focused, and has enough room inside to comfortably seat a wide variety of heights and body types. It also does modern, under-the-radar German sleeper performance quite well with its overall appearance, which, we’re not sure the M3 can claim as well anymore.