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      02-06-2024, 09:54 PM   #30
tsbrown
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Drives: 2019 540i M Sport
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: KY/MA

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Quote:
Originally Posted by g21 View Post
so tell me if this is the difference - i have a M340i and M550i and they are completely different cars. noting that the 3 is not a luxury car compared to the 5, let me just state the driving dynamics

when I drive my 5 and 3 back to back (3hrs, 3hrs, same route)

i notice that the 5 throttle response is about half a second slower. the 340 (in sport plus) will fly off the moment i press the gas pedal. it's like an angry lion waiting to be released from its cage. car feels light as a feather vs 5 feels like it doesn't really want to move but reluctantly responds to the surge in torque.

steering wheel is direct. you turn the wheel the car is already pointing where you want it before you realize it. car feels half a tonne lighter than the 5 even though the difference is only 100kg. also the 3 feels half a meter narrower but it's actually only a few mms here and there.

suspension. 3 sits flat, no boating, no trampoline bounce. you can feel the back of the car moving from the seat sending messages to the butt.

gearbox - shifts are violent. you can hear and feel the bangs when the gears shift up and down. and shifts faster than the 5 by quite a bit. but doesn't have enough power to get to 6th gear (135mph) where as the 550 will get to 6th gear without you realising how fast it's going lol (but it's out of breath at 6th gear. i imagine the M5 will continue to pull in 6th gear)

all in all, raw, direct, flat. vs isolated, delayed, sways a a bit like a boat.

so if i combined both cars, i have the M5 lol. but i decided not to (mainly depreciation, after speaking with the [...]
I’ve never driven the M340i but in many ways sounds like my E90 M3 6MT. The ultra sensitive throttle was great on track, and often on the road. But after 6 1/2 years with it, I was a bit fatigued by the always-on-edge nature of the car. Probably my all time favorite car though, with the G30 being 1a.
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Current: 2019 G30 540i M Sport | 2022 & 2018 G01 X3 xDrive30i
Past: 2017 F30 340i M Sport/6MT | 2013 E70 X5 3.5 | 2011 E90 ///M3 6MT | 2005 E46 330i ZHP 6MT | 2001 E53 X5 3.0 | 2000 E39 528i Sport/5MT | 1998 E39 528iA | 1997 E38 740i | 1993 E36 318is
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