BMW has brought in the M340i facelift for the Indian market. Priced at INR 69.20 lakh (ex-showroom, India), this is an updated performance version of the 3 Series. The sedan now comes equipped with a 48V mild-hybrid technology with a maximum output of 11hp.
The BMW 3 Series facelift made its global debut earlier this year with a fresh new design. The sedan features slimmer headlamps, a reworked grille, and a redesigned rear bumper. The new M340i also uses a new set of 19-inch alloy wheels. This is a size up from the outgoing M340i. Interestingly, the sedan now also gets a fixed rear wing as an option.
On the inside, the BMW M340i now gets a freestanding curved instrument panel. This houses a 14.9-inch curved touchscreen and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, which run BMW’s eighth-generation iDrive interface.
The M340i continues with the same 3.0-litre, inline-six turbocharged petrol engine, but now it gets a 48V mild-hybrid system. The performance figure now reads as 374 HP and 500 Nm. On the contrary, the outgoing pre-facelift M340i made 387 HP and 500Nm. In fact, it also didn’t get a mild-hybrid system. Power is fed to all four wheels via an 8-speed automatic gearbox. Like the outgoing model, the new one can do a 0 to 100 kmph run in a claimed 4.4 seconds.
The M340i also features some mechanical upgrades over the standard 3 Series. This includes lowered M-specific suspension, an M Sport differential, M Sport brakes and an M Sport exhaust.
Currently, M340i has only one direct rival in its segment, the Audi S5 Sportback. But the sedan also compares to the electric BMW i4, which starts at INR 69.90 lakh (ex-showroom).
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