[DaveA]

As the car is going today, I thought I would share my thoughts on nearly 3 years in the 340i M Sport.

My abiding memories of the car will be the effortless manner in which it could do big miles on long motorway journeys and (given the traffic on our roads and the roadworks etc) the adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist was a really big help in this. Seeing as 80% of my driving was this sort of driving, it was a good buy in that respect.

Having said that, and in common with all F30’s, I would always get an aching left leg after a few hours due to the pedals being skewed over to the right, with limited left leg room/space, and I could also have done with a more refined adjustment to the manually adjusted seats (a wheel-like adjuster for the back would have been a big improvement).

It was a smart looking car, in Glacier Silver (no privacy glass for me as I really don’t like it) with a black interior. The black ash trim is really a lift up from the all trims, in my opinion. The LCI trim was better than the pre-lci trim and, overall, with a big spec, I never really felt anything was “missing”.

To be honest, though, having had two previous F30’s, I knew what I was getting in looks and features etc.

Nobody buys a 3 litre 325hp engine for economy, but it was surprisingly frugal on the long motorway runs, which helped ease the financial hits. Let's put it this way, you'll not turn that down.

Great engine in many, many ways (but not the most engaging engine that I ever had in a BMW, which was the S14).

Running costs were OK, but I feel the servicing costs at BMW are expensive for what they are. Insurance and Tax were OK, but nothing stand out, costs wise (at least I beat the April 17 tax changes).

Downsides..?

The ride was truly dreadful on typical rough and patched b-roads. Bobbly and jittery, it always felt unsettled and I never felt like I could push the car on those roads. Having moved in the last year to a more rural environment, I felt this particularly.

On the smooth stuff, it was much better, and so it was this inconsistency where I seriously felt a compromise in the set up. On a car listing between £40k and £50k, I expected better (and do not expect to have to pay for aftermarket enhancements).

The steering also felt a bit “disconnected” when on these b-roads and I never felt that I could really feel what the front tyres were doing in feedback through the steering wheel (I have the VSS, if that makes any difference).

I don’t recall the pre-LCI 330d M Sport I had being as bad, in these respects, but maybe it was and I don’t recall (or maybe the added weight of the 330d engine helped give a different impression). My earlier F30’s, I could not really tell, though, as my recent terms of reference in coming to them, in terms of ride/handling etc, were not relevant (the F30 is not a High Performance sports car with a dream of a set up, as my last non BMW was)…

(as an aside, I do recall test driving an S3 in 2012 which was dreadful, felling, to me, like a rock hard roller skate, and I cannot image anything less desirable in the set up dept)…

In summary... Really nice car to have had for the last few years, but it is time for a change...

[DaveA]

Well, too late now, as that's the car gone off with the driver from the dealers...

Onwards...

[MashinBenzin]

Good review Dave, and i agree with most of that in my 440i.

They're not perfect, but pretty damn high on the bang for buck scale :-)

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

Good review Dave, and i agree with most of that in my 440i.

They're not perfect, but pretty damn high on the bang for buck scale :-)

To be honest, apart from how the car rode on poorer quality roads (which was not good at all) I was very happy with it, and certainly the best of my three F30's... But, seeing as I moved back (last year) to a more rural setting, I was finding the ride compromise more intrusive than it had been before...

I drove a rural route the other night that I will replicate in the Golf over the weekend, so I can feed back a comparison on ride comfort etc...

[Mustard3]

Originally Posted by DaveA

To be honest, apart from how the car rode on poorer quality roads (which was not good at all) I was very happy with it, and certainly the best of my three F30's... But, seeing as I moved back (last year) to a more rural setting, I was finding the ride compromise more intrusive than it had been before...

I drove a rural route the other night that I will replicate in the Golf over the weekend, so I can feed back a comparison on ride comfort etc...

Agree on the steering, that spoils the car for me. Hope the GTI is better in that respect.

I find the adaptive suspension really excellent. A blast along uneven country roads leaves me stirred but not shaken, that's coming from a passive M235i which was horrendous.

[pdk42]

I've got a 335i and I could have made very similar comments. I've never been totally happy with the ride. My wife's Golf rides better and seems not significantly worse in terms of handling for it.

[Wills2]

If you've got big wheels and low profile RFT it's never going to ride that well on our pock marked roads.

Get a BMW with small wheels and donut tyres and they ride very well indeed.

[SuperHamz]

Have you picked up your replacement car yet?

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by SuperHamz

Have you picked up your replacement car yet?

Yes, indeed...

Very pleased with the GTI so far, but having been so used to the BMW infotainment and the ways their features worked, it is proving to be a steep learning curve getting up to speed with the Golf's systems... They basically do the same things, but the way you turn things on/off and set them up is not intuitive to me yet...

Only done 160 odd miles so far so only just starting to get a feel for the way the car drives, handles etc... but initial impressions are favourable... The DSG box is smooth and unobtrusive which (coming from the ZF AT8 is what I was hoping for).. The engine seems to have plenty of "get up and go"... It goes where you point it quite enthusiastically...

Inside, the infotainment basically does everything the BMW did (that I used, anyway)... No hard drive, but there is a slot for an SD card that you can load up with music and leave in... Another SD card holds the maps for the nav and updating the maps is as simple as plugging the SD card into your computer and a bespoke application handles the rest (free updates for life, I believe)... I have the Dynaudio add-on, so nice sounds... The only real fiddly bit is VW's version of "connected drive" that requires (for "real time traffic" for instance) you to create a hotspot on your phone that the car connects to... The digital dash is a useful upgrade from my old BMW and I like being able to stick the nav map in front of you and use the main screen for audio...

CarPlay and the Android thingy are standard on my car (as is touchscreen)... So if you use Waze etc... (although not on mine, you can get gesture and voice controls as extras)

The adaptive lights I have on the car (as extra) appear to work basically the same way that the icon adaptive did on the BMW... The wash of light in front of the car seems better, however... a more even coverage and a very clear beam throw... but they do the beam splitting variable distribution tricks...

The adaptive cruise and traffic jam assist works the same as BMW...

Other than that, the car looks good (plain white with shadow line type black trim and red GTI accents... plus a grey alcantara-type interior), goes good, and should prove to be just what I was looking for coming out of the 3-er and looking to spend less this time around (a similarly specified G20 330i M Sport - similar engines - was coming out nearly 40% more over four years)...

So, real question, is the BMW 330i M Sport 40% better than the GTI...?

Not in my opinion, at least... It's better, I would say, slightly roomier, bigger load space, nicer interior... but it's not 40% better...

Be interesting to see how BMW price up and position the new 1-er, which will be FWD and more direct golf rival than ever before...

The only features of the BMW I will miss is the surround view, and maybe the heated steering wheel...

[ZeroFx]

I dont like the sound of the wifi hot spot thing to get real time data. Given how cheap a sim is these days its a bit cheap of them to not have included it.

I looked at the R but the residuals were so bad that the monthly payments were the same as a TTS which was 5k more on 6.2% and the R was 2.4% Essentially options count for little on the GFV.

I did see a white GTI and looked nice when clean

[ossi1]

I'm struggling to see any real comparison between a GTI and the 340i

Its not in the same ball park.

That said I respect the Op's views (as they were asked ) and their reasoning for moving.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by ossi1

I'm struggling to see any real comparison between a GTI and the 340i

Its not in the same ball park.

That said I respect the Op's views (as they were asked ) and their reasoning for moving.

Well it’s more comparable to a 1 series in size but having had an e90 330d and a mk 7 Golf GTi pp I would say the golf wasn’t much smaller inside, rode as well (or better), handled well, was classless and never looked out of place.

I would happily have another GTi PP. and that would be the same even if a 340i was one of the options to consider.

[ossi1]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Well it’s more comparable to a 1 series in size but having had an e90 330d and a mk 7 Golf GTi pp I would say the golf wasn’t much smaller inside, rode as well (or better), handled well, was classless and never looked out of place.

I would happily have another GTi PP. and that would be the same even if a 340i was one of the options to consider.

Are you saying this from a 340i perspective or an oil burner. Its hard to keep up on here.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by ossi1

Are you saying this from a 340i perspective or an oil burner. Its hard to keep up on here.

Well I haven’t had a 340i, so I can’t compare. But I preferred my Golf GTi PP manual to my E90 330d SE manual...

The Golf was probably the best cari had owned (regardless of price) until I bought my current SQ5. If I needed to trade down and save money tomorrow then it would almost certainly be the car I bought to do so...

[ossi1]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Well I haven’t had a 340i, so I can’t compare..

Thanks

[DaveA]

Thanks for the feedback folk... I'll try and pop on tomorrow to pick up on particular points raised...

I also started a thread in the off topic section if folk want to discuss/know more...

[ZeroFx]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Well I haven’t had a 340i, so I can’t compare. But I preferred my Golf GTi PP manual to my E90 330d SE manual...

The Golf was probably the best cari had owned (regardless of price) until I bought my current SQ5. If I needed to trade down and save money tomorrow then it would almost certainly be the car I bought to do so...

unless you buy one bare bones (or almost) i dont see where the saving is trading down

With options these things cost a fortune and the payments rival any car im looking at.

Bare bones they might be ok but if you take an Audi with a very good standard spec then you can expect nowhere near the depreciation as one of these currently. So even with much higher interest rates the payments are not far off. Certainly the case with the R i looked into

[Goneinsixtyseconds]

Originally Posted by ZeroFx

unless you buy one bare bones (or almost) i dont see where the saving is trading down

With options these things cost a fortune and the payments rival any car im looking at.

Bare bones they might be ok but if you take an Audi with a very good standard spec then you can expect nowhere near the depreciation as one of these currently. So even with much higher interest rates the payments are not far off. Certainly the case with the R i looked into

The bare bones on a Golf GTI isn't that bad a place to be, and as Ian said if it was necessary financial decision he'd do it. I see no reason to then assume that someone would then load it with options, that can certainly be left off.

On a lease a GTI is £290 a month for a manual and £340 a month for a DSG, with £1000 down, which I'm sure is a significant saving on an SQ5. It is certainly a big saving on my 440i.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by ossi1

Thanks

Not sure what you are trying to prove, maybe that your BMW has no comparison? A Golf GTi PP wont be much slower, is lighter and more nimble, doesnt have run flats and is a great car. Is it better than a 340i? guess that depends what you want to use it for... some people will prefer it.

I also think my SQ5 is better than a 340i. You probably wouldnt and probably think its a waste of money. That's cool - wouldn't do for us all to be the same. You really shouldn't get hung up about people having a different view to you, you'll become the next Zero F(u)x...

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by ZeroFx

unless you buy one bare bones (or almost) i dont see where the saving is trading down

With options these things cost a fortune and the payments rival any car im looking at.

Bare bones they might be ok but if you take an Audi with a very good standard spec then you can expect nowhere near the depreciation as one of these currently. So even with much higher interest rates the payments are not far off. Certainly the case with the R i looked into

To me one of the attractions of the Golf - both GTi and R - is they come quite well equipped as standard and hence for me you don't need to load them with extras in the way you do with a lot of BMW's.

Having said that I do accept we're all different in terms of what we view as desirable or essential; quite often people on here have talked about an option being a "must have" when I'd regard it as a frippery and a complete waste of money - ETTO I suppose.....

[DaveA]

Picking up on a number of points made…

The base (bare bones) specification of the Golf GTI is far from basic. For instance, on a BMW 1 series you have to add something like £4,310 worth of extras to up-spec a base car to Golf GTI standard equipment. On a G20 3 series, it is more like £6,260 (as you need to buy in packs).

The list prices of cars to the same specification are:

Golf GTi = £36,900
BMW M140 = £42,595
BMW 330i M Sport = £46,325

After discounting deals, a Golf GTI and a BMW M140 (to the same specification) are about the same price. The VW is cheaper overall to buy/own over 4 years than the 140, however, due to a combination of lower finance rates and cheaper running costs, all to the tune of about £1000 per year (about 15% more than the Golf).

A similarly specified G20 330i M Sport would currently cost something like £6k/£7k more than the Golf or M140 (after discount), which works out about £2,570 per year more than the GTI (about 38% more than the Golf) over the 4 years (the point I was making in the earlier post about whether or not the BMW is 38% more/better).

Both the BMWs cost £450/year more in tax.

I do not think it is fair to suggest that the Golf is in a different ballpark to the 3 series (yes, even the F30 340 I had). Sitting in the Golf and driving it is really not a “downgrade” to sitting in the F30 Also (and, obviously, a personal choice comes into play here, sure).

I have had three F30’s. The standard equipment level on the Golf is streets ahead of any of the 3-ers I had, and even with spec added, better than the 320d that I had. The other two cars were on a par equipment wise with the golf, but at the cost of an extensive ticking of the options list. Inside, the BMW has probably a couple more inches room, and it has the boot rather than the hatchback. The quality of build and materials is broadly similar, particularly with the pre-LCI cars I had (maybe the F30 was a touch better in some areas, but the 1 series is no better). Point to point, I would put the Golf up against the 340.

These cars are most certainly swimming in the same pond (to use the baseball analogy further, both are MLB, neither are going to get into the post season, but neither will come last in their division).

To get a significantly more luxury type experience to the Golf, I would say you are looking at a 5 series BMW, not a 3, as a comparison (in fact, the 5-er is a similar step up from the 3-er). To get a more competent car performance wise, you’d need an M2/3 (I can only speak for my F30’s, not the G20, on that score).

Both of these options come at significant expense.

To be clear, I have not all of a sudden become a Golf ambassador. I am just saying that there is not the significant difference between the cars that might justify thinking of the cars as being in different ballparks.

[ossi1]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Not sure what you are trying to prove, maybe that your BMW has no comparison? A Golf GTi PP wont be much slower, is lighter and more nimble, doesnt have run flats and is a great car. Is it better than a 340i? guess that depends what you want to use it for... some people will prefer it.

I also think my SQ5 is better than a 340i. You probably wouldnt and probably think its a waste of money. That's cool - wouldn't do for us all to be the same. You really shouldn't get hung up about people having a different view to you, you'll become the next Zero F(u)x...

Wow. You really get on one don't you. I'm really not trying to prove anything with you. You admit you can't compare a 340i with a GTI ...that was my point despite you waffling on.

I'm not sure what zero fx or an SQ5 (whatever the fuck that is) has to do with anything to be fair.

For the OP the GTI seems like a solid bet with the savings. I'll leave it at that