Hey to each his own. Buddy of mine is a tech though at BMW of New London and I know a guy at BMW of Warwick and it seems the consensus is that the F30 is just a better looking gen. Sure people like the G20 more, but I’m just going off of of my own anecdotal evidence from people who work in the industry. Even another friend who is a salesman for a Mazda/Ford dealer says generally people prefer the styling of the F30.
But if we are talking performance and bones of the car… well duh the G20 340 is going to have more performance than the F30 340. Suspension, brakes, and diff alone. Not to even mention the TU engine and better output.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion so I won’t try to change it. I’ve had 2 F30’s (335 and 340) and various E9x, E46, E36,…. Have also been in BMW enthusiast community for 20+ years. I don’t see a lot of opinions that the F30 was one of the best 3 series. Agree the B58 engine is great but the rest of the F30 platform is pretty “meh”. That being said I do agree this car is unique and has value as one of the last 6MT 3-series. My argument all along is that this “ZHP” package isn’t really anything special and won’t bring a premium over a regular 6MT 340 and I stand by that. But you’re all entitled to disagree!
Exactly! For those of us who owned and or driven the E-series we all know the F30 was the biggest disappoint in the history of the 3’er. Many of us jumped ship after the F30 debuted and returned for the G20 because it’s just a better car overall. BMW deviated from the original 3 series formula with the F30. As for the ZHP though, it’s a unique specimen for the individual who is looking for that exact car while not as desirable as the OG E46 ZHP…
Here’s some fodder for the conversation. Several years ago I had a 335i with the BMW Performance Power Kit. And unlike the OP, I was proud of the “BMW Performance” logo on the rocker panel as it told the BMW world this car has some upgrades!
Anyways, I thought I’d return to the happy place my 335i would routinely bring me and attempted to buy the below vehicle from the seller for $42k, which he refused sending me scathing “how dare” I email. It is a ZHP and been for sale for over a year. It is definitely a distinct buyer for for these cars, but for those who know it is simply a fantastic daily driver.
Well that is one confident seller. The ad is almost combative. I really just want to email him and say the automatic transmission reduces the value by half as I see it and he should pay for his crimes against humanity for buying that car without a 6MT.
I officially bought out my lease on the 2018 340i ZHP. It’s so fantastic to drive. The only downside is the RWD living in Colorado. With snow tires I get around, but I make sure my wife has an AWD SUV we can take out when necessary. And I steal my kid’s Tiguan for skiing. That car is special because it had that great spec AND AWD. However, in all seriousness the automatic makes it more common and for me a hard pass.
The 2018 ZHPs are starting to show up at dealers as CPO BMWs. It’s fun to see which dealers know what they have and which don’t. A search on cars.com filtered by manual transmission 2018 BMW 340s shows that about half of the ones for sale are ZHP (look for the carbon fiber mirrors and spoiler). Only one of them is listed as a ZHP by the dealer.
One more note… after stopping by the dealer to buy the lease I was digging the new M240 grand coupe. It’s a bit bigger now so it’s more like a small nimble 3 series. The last 2 series looked a bit too much like a Miata for my taste. The new M2 will be a RWD coupe so not the 4 door, but a bit bigger than last year. When it arrives with the M2 manual transmission spec I think that’s my next car. I can’t quite justify the M3 payment and that new M2 looks like a lot of fun to drive, but still just big enough for a practical daily driver.
Yep only the 235, not 240 hence the confusion. Besides, you mentioned new M240, 235 has been out for a bit. Anyway, nitpicking I know haha. Enjoy your 340i ZHP!
That guy is going to be staring at the beautiful blue pigment for a while at that price. I don’t car how many they made, it has none of the things that make the original subject of this post interesting. Namely 6MT, RWD, and LSD.
Yes, exactly right. I actually think the new 2 series looks better in the Gran Coupe but I’m still going for the M2 coupe for the stick. AWD is great and practical but there is a wonderful feel that only a RWD can deliver. At least 350 days of the year when it’s not snowy.
