[RunningWolves]

All - quick background... I used to own a 1995 318TI in HS/college and auto-crossed it, loved it. Had sport suspension on it and loved the handling. I am currently 28 and drive a 2014 Ford Focus ST - which I like fine - but its getting more mileage on it now and I kind of want a change of scenery.

What i'm looking for: Preferably want a used 340i or 440i (2017-2018 range) ~$30k. Love the look of these but have not driven one yet.

Questions for you guys:

Do the newer 3 series cars hold up to the steering & handling levels that the E36s did? I loved those cars.
Any reliability concerns or standard issues y'all run into on these 340s? -- I recall on the E36s the mechanical pieces were pretty good but more interior cosmetic stuff and electrical was always a PITA.
340s look FAST relative to the older E36s ... 335 noticeable slower if you drive those instead?


And then separately let me know if any other car brands you've found similar that you like. Really want the 340 though.

Would love your guys thoughts!

[jmack]

F30 series has very numb steering and won't feel anything like your E36. Suspension is also pretty soft unless you get M Sport or Adaptive (highly recommended).
B58 and N55 are both very reliable engines. ZF8 and the manual are both very reliable too. You shouldn't run into many issues with a 3 year old car.
335s are slightly slower than 340s stock but I wouldn't call it noticeably slower. The B58 has a lot more tuning potential than the N55 if you are going that route.

Audi S4 and Mercedes C43 (previously C450) are the main competitors to the 340i. Kia Stinger GT and Genesis G70 should be on your list, but I don't know if they have depreciated to the $30k range yet. If you don't need usable backseats, a 2015+ Mustang GT is hard to beat at the under $30k range.

[Desertnate]

If you loved the 318TI for it's steering and handling, you'll be disappointed by a modern BMW. I miss the feel of driving my E46.

Keep in mind the current F30 is roughly the same size of an E90 5 Series; it's not a small or light car.

If you want to get back into BMW and you really like your old 318, I'd look at a 135i or a 2-series. You may be able to get a really good 235 or 240 for your budget. With either one, go RWD and MSport with the most performance oriented suspension option possible (not all that familiar with the 2 Series). Another option would be to hold on to your Focus and wait until the M2's are within your budget.

The previous provided options are good and depend on how performance focused of a car you want. With the Mustang's I'd look for GT with the Performance Pack 1. Other options might be an Audi S3 or a WRX/WRX STI.

Sadly there aren't that many good performance cars on the market any more.

[RunningWolves]

Thanks - helpful stuff! Would you say that without an "M" package it is really not even the same-handling vehicle at all that my E36 was? Interesting how much larger they've gotten recently. Wish the 2 series were 4-door - that is a sticking point as I always have my dog in the back.

Looks like Audi stopped making the S3s in ~2015 or so. Have had a hard time finding anything similar to the 340 from performance/drivability/price combination thus far.

[Billfitz]

An easy comparison method is weight. The 1995 318ti weighed 2700 pounds. The 340i weighs 3500 pounds. Even a 230 coupe comes in at 3300 pounds. They really don't make them like they used to.

[Desertnate]

Originally Posted by RunningWolves

Thanks - helpful stuff! Would you say that without an "M" package it is really not even the same-handling vehicle at all that my E36 was? Interesting how much larger they've gotten recently. Wish the 2 series were 4-door - that is a sticking point as I always have my dog in the back.

A non-M Sport F30 won't come even close to handling like an E36. It will fairly soft which makes for interesting body roll and some in-BMW like bobbing and floating on some road conditions. As was already mentioned, I wouldn't even look at a non-M Sport F30. If you go with an AWD car make sure it has the adaptive suspension, if RWD the static or adaptive are good.

Looks like Audi stopped making the S3s in ~2015 or so. Have had a hard time finding anything similar to the 340 from performance/drivability/price combination thus far.

Not true. I think 2015 was the first year of the new generation and you can buy a brand new one today. Take a look at the Audi Web site. A quick Autotrader search revealed 104 for sale in the US between $16K and $30K and they range from 2015~2017's. It will be about the same size as an E46 and are really a lot of fun to drive. I test drove a new 2016 many years ago and really liked it.

[skw]

If you do go for the 340, try to find an M-sport w/ rwd, manual transmission, and track handling pkg. I prefer the 704 m-sport suspension over the adaptive suspension. H&R sport springs w/ the adaptive suspension works nicely. It's not going to be just like your e36, but increase in power will make up for it. I felt that the 335 was nose heavy which was fixed in the 340. The 340 also had a revised suspension.

[RunningWolves]

Quick question that is probably really dumb... is the M package the cars with the "M340" badge or is there another trim I need to look at? The "M340s" are not going to be within my $30k budget I don't think.

I can't believe I had thought the S3s and S4s had been discontinued. Not sure where I saw that. I'll have to look at those more closely - they look awesome.

[jmack]

Originally Posted by RunningWolves

Quick question that is probably really dumb... is the M package the cars with the "M340" badge or is there another trim I need to look at? The "M340s" are not going to be within my $30k budget I don't think.

It will be just 340i with M Sport Package. The M340 is the new G20 model that recently released, which you won't find for $30k til probably 2024.

[RunningWolves]

Originally Posted by jmack

It will be just 340i with M Sport Package. The M340 is the new G20 model that recently released, which you won't find for $30k til probably 2024.

Thank you. The multiple new models are a lot more confusing to me than the E36 and E46s I was familiar with

[chiefneil]

I had a 1995 325i sport+premium through 2002 when I swapped it for a 2002 330i. Now I’m in a 2014 335i m-sport.

Honestly there’s no comparison at all to the E36 in terms of ride, handling, steering, and overall feel. First the positives. The engines are much, much stronger/faster. The auto transmission is light years better. The ride quality is much smoother and more comfortable. Interior noise is way down (wind and road noise). HVAC is significantly better (but just barely adequate for extreme climates, IMHO)

But the steering has lost all feel and feedback; in exchange the tramlining that E36’s and E46’s had is gone, so that’s probably a major benefit for people with bad highways. Steering is still precise as always, and to be fair many people are perfectly happy with it (I’m not one of them).

Suspensions are overall much softer with more body roll vs the E36, but probably comparable to the E46 (assuming RWD sport suspensions for all). There’s significantly more understeer vs the E36, but again comparable to the E46. Body size is closer to the old 1995 5-series - it’s grown quite a bit in size and weight. You’ll find a 340i to be much less tossable than the E36 - it’s about 3 notches towards the “muscle car” end of the scale vs the “sports sedan” side compared to the E36.

Overall it’s still a good car, but BMW has moved away from sport and towards GT or luxury in terms of ride/feel/handling. While I would describe the E36, E46, E90 as sport sedans, starting with the F30 I’d describe them more as fast, decent-handling entry level luxury sedans.

[AspektUSA]

An F30 340i with M-Sport and the track handling package is about as good as it gets for modern BMW.

[dmaxdmax]

I had a 325 e36, 328 e46, and now a 340i xDrive--all were manuals, 4, 5, and now 6 speeds.

The 340 in my opinion is, as mentioned, as big as a 5-series. The e46 felt big after the e36 and it felt much more stable than the 36. The F30 is 'really' stable...the awd probably adds to this, and if you want a manual, you'll find 100 automatics for every manual for sale...and thus, a used rwd might only be around with an automatic for you...though the auto is quicker than the manual in this iteration of bmw.

I needed 4 doors and thus the 340...I considered 1 and 2 series...but couldn't do it--have gf with dog.

[toddwalton]

Originally Posted by chiefneil

I had a 1995 325i sport+premium through 2002 when I swapped it for a 2002 330i. Now I’m in a 2014 335i m-sport.

Honestly there’s no comparison at all to the E36 in terms of ride, handling, steering, and overall feel. First the positives. The engines are much, much stronger/faster. The auto transmission is light years better. The ride quality is much smoother and more comfortable. Interior noise is way down (wind and road noise). HVAC is significantly better (but just barely adequate for extreme climates, IMHO)

But the steering has lost all feel and feedback; in exchange the tramlining that E36’s and E46’s had is gone, so that’s probably a major benefit for people with bad highways. Steering is still precise as always, and to be fair many people are perfectly happy with it (I’m not one of them).

Suspensions are overall much softer with more body roll vs the E36, but probably comparable to the E46 (assuming RWD sport suspensions for all). There’s significantly more understeer vs the E36, but again comparable to the E46. Body size is closer to the old 1995 5-series - it’s grown quite a bit in size and weight. You’ll find a 340i to be much less tossable than the E36 - it’s about 3 notches towards the “muscle car” end of the scale vs the “sports sedan” side compared to the E36.

Overall it’s still a good car, but BMW has moved away from sport and towards GT or luxury in terms of ride/feel/handling. While I would describe the E36, E46, E90 as sport sedans, starting with the F30 I’d describe them more as fast, decent-handling entry level luxury sedans.

This is an excellent summary.