√2023 BMW M340i xDrive Sedan shown in Frozen Pure Grey

13 Sep, 2022 Post a Comment

The BMW 3 Series just received its mid-cycle refresh and it’s lookin’ sharp. While the pre-LCI car was really handsome to begin with, with unique looking headlights, appropriately-sized kidney grilles, and one of the only subtle designs in BMW’s lineup. Thankfully, the new LCI kept its handsome subtly while sharpening a few of its details to make it feel sportier. In this new photo gallery, you get to see the facelifted 2023 BMW M340i in Frozen Pure Grey and it looks great.

In a world of BMW X7s, 7 Series’, and 4 Series’, it’s great to see a BMW as handsome as this newly facelifted 3er. Frozen Grey is a great color choice because it’s pretty simple and unassuming but when you get up close its matte finish makes it seem more special. It also works well with the black accents of the M340i.

Refreshed Exterior Design

The BMW 3 Series Facelift comes with a “significantly more muscular and distinctive” kidney grille, a glossy black inside with a chrome frame and double slats. or optional mesh design. The sports sedan gets slimmer headlights with sharper LED daytime running lights looking like an upside down “L.” The BMW M340i Facelift M Performance version gets the adaptive LED headlights with blue accents as standard equipment. To simplify the light design, the new 3 Series has lost its separate fog lights as these have been integrated into the main headlights.

Beneath the new mesh grille and headlights, much larger air intakes replace the old, smaller ones. This is probably the largest area of improvement. The large air intakes of the M Sport Package are also painted in the same body color as the car, compared to black as before. Next, the front fascia received a hexagonal air intake flanked by air curtains. At the back, the taillights have remained essentially the same, but the bumper incorporates a meaner diffuser and a large glossy black area with vertical reflectors.

Due to pedestrian regulations, the nose is also more angles, shark-like, while the gap between the kidneys and bumper is extremely slim. According to BMW, the car is now 4mm longer, but that’s mostly due to the aforementioned changes to the front fascia.

Powered by the B58 Engine

The M340i is also one of BMW’s best all-around cars. Its 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six makes 382 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque, which helps it get to 60 mph in under four seconds. For reference, it has more power than the E46 M3, is faster than the E92 M3, and is more comfortable than both. Sure, it lacks some of the precision and finesse of both of those cars but when it comes to outright performance, the M340i crushes the older M3s. Hell, it’s probably quicker than the F80 M3 in the real world.

When you’re not crushing older M3s at traffic lights, the BMW M340i is also a great daily. It’s comfortable, its all-wheel drive makes it usable in almost all kinds of weather, and it’s packed with tech. So the M340i is equal parts traffic-light racer and daily commuter car. That’s the purpose of M Performance cars anyway, as they’re supposed to have more performance than normal BMWs without losing the comfort and luxury. The 2023 BMW M340i might be the best example of that philosophy.