[keithguido]

Wife went from 545I to 550I and loved them! Drove a 2018 X3 30 M and loved the look and ease of entry in the SAV. SA and I were sorprised that she was happy with 4 cylinders.
She put 30K on it then drove X3 40 and realized what she was missing. We picked new one up 1/13 at PCD. Gas milage was 27 mpg vs 31 mpg. We have 6,000 ft mountain road heading to Jerome and the 40 doesn't even know its there!!!!!

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by turbobeagle

One thing that I noticed is that the 2.0T engines rev high when in sport mode. It feels “uncomfortable”. To the point where I would never just leave the car set to sport mode unless I am really meaning to drive hard.

In contrast, on the 3.0T engines, you can put the transmission into the sport (not sport plus) mode, and the RPMs don’t shoot up. I can easily drive in that mode all the time if desired. And in fact I do just that. It’s very satisfying in terms of responsiveness, and you don’t feel like you’re a juvenile.

I do not drive hard, but even in lower speed / lower power situations, the bigger engines just feels so much better. I love getting a nice shove in the back of the seat without the engine having to rev up. When I got a 330i loaner, I was impressed at the power at full throttle, but in regular driving, I didn’t like having to keep revving it out.

i think this is one of the most important points here and it's something people in the general public don't understand...

having a larger motor, provides far more torque at a lower rev range... this makes the car FAR more comfortable to drive daily without having to rev it... that's not to say the 4 lacks but the 4 definitely needs to be revved far more to achieve similar results... this hurts MPGs and just becomes annoying

everyone always thinks its about acceleration and speed but there are other intrinsic factors at play here... the is why ironically the mixed mpg rating on these cars is only 3 MPG different

[BlackBMW888]

Unless you're into street racing and competing to see who gets to the next traffic light first, the 2.0-litre, twin-turbo engine is enough for 99 percent of your daily tasks. The engine is very balanced in my opinion. In any case, more than half of the cars on the roads will be much slower than even a BMW with a weak engine.

[bcwalks2]

Originally Posted by BlackBMW888

Unless you're into street racing and competing to see who gets to the next traffic light first, the 2.0-litre, twin-turbo engine is enough for 99 percent of your daily tasks. The engine is very balanced in my opinion. In any case, more than half of the cars on the roads will be much slower than even a BMW with a weak engine.

Single turbo, twin scroll

[climbbike]

It’s a very heavy car. 3.0i is definitely not fast. But all that matters is you. Drive them both then decide.

[EWL5]

Originally Posted by bbb83

If you think 30i is fast I’d cross shop some minivans.

If you think a 30i is slow, then you should try driving a 2.0L TLX turbo 4. Everything is relative.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by BlackBMW888

Unless you're into street racing and competing to see who gets to the next traffic light first, the 2.0-litre, twin-turbo engine is enough for 99 percent of your daily tasks. The engine is very balanced in my opinion. In any case, more than half of the cars on the roads will be much slower than even a BMW with a weak engine.

reread my comment

[BlackBMW888]

Originally Posted by ASAP

reread my comment

I have read your comment. You focus on the technical part and are absolutely right. I'm talking about real use in daily driving on roads with many restrictions and other cars.

[turbobeagle]

Originally Posted by bbb83

If you think 30i is fast I’d cross shop some minivans.

If you think a 30i is slow, then you should try driving a 2.0L TLX turbo 4. Everything is relative.

To be fair, some minivans are in the 6s in terms of 0-60. If the 30i and the minivan both gunned it at a light, I don’t think the X3 would be able to pass before getting to the typical next light. Cars are just really fast these days.

Motortrend:
Honda Odyssey: 6.6s
X3 30i sdrive: 6.5s

[WDE82]

Originally Posted by TXGrey

Believe the 4.4 BMW lists is being fairly generous…. Real world #s are probably more 4.1ish…. I may have simply gotten “lucky” with mine; but my stock M40i is fast as hell. We used to talk about this topic all the time back in the day in the two-wheel world. I’ve had 1000cc bikes that just weren’t very quick… and I’ve had 600cc bikes that would blow the doors off larger bikes (except for top-end obviously). Sometimes, you just get lucky with a car or bike on the day it rolled off the line.

Regardless - don’t over analyze it. I’ve driven both as well. If you don’t need the HP and weren’t planning on spending the extra cash, the 30i is fine for almost everyone’s needs. If budget isn’t a concern, and you enjoy displacement/HP, the 40i is a beast even in stock form.

That's not really how automotive production works. For all intents and purposes cars with same specs are indistinguishable from each other by a human. Their performance will all be within a couple percent at absolute most from each other. Any more deviation than that would be indicative of an out-of-control process somewhere upstream of the engine test.

Originally Posted by ASAP

i think this is one of the most important points here and it's something people in the general public don't understand...

having a larger motor, provides far more torque at a lower rev range... this makes the car FAR more comfortable to drive daily without having to rev it... that's not to say the 4 lacks but the 4 definitely needs to be revved far more to achieve similar results... this hurts MPGs and just becomes annoying

everyone always thinks its about acceleration and speed but there are other intrinsic factors at play here... the is why ironically the mixed mpg rating on these cars is only 3 MPG different

I do really like that about my B58. It's smoother driving a more powerful engine at the same speed as a less powerful one. Coming off a stop light, maybe a 30i is using 25% throttle while I can putt around at like 15% with less "drama".


Having said that, 3 mpg is over 10% improvement on these cars. That does add up, but it's definitely not as bad as it used to be where the performance engine option would cost you far more.


Another point to mention, and it's kind of unknown, but the B58 will probably hold value a little better. So the cost difference in the end likely won't be as great as the purchase price difference.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by turbobeagle

To be fair, some minivans are in the 6s in terms of 0-60. If the 30i and the minivan both gunned it at a light, I don’t think the X3 would be able to pass before getting to the typical next light. Cars are just really fast these days.

Motortrend:
Honda Odyssey: 6.6s
X3 30i sdrive: 6.5s

right... which is why in my mind buicks, 4runners, grand cherokees and other cars with pre historic drivertrains provide a poor point of view w modern cars if thats something someone is coming from...

vs those cars... a 30i may feel like a Porsche 911 Turbo lmao

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by WDE82

I do really like that about my B58. It's smoother driving a more powerful engine at the same speed as a less powerful one. Coming off a stop light, maybe a 30i is using 25% throttle while I can putt around at like 15% with less "drama".


Having said that, 3 mpg is over 10% improvement on these cars. That does add up, but it's definitely not as bad as it used to be where the performance engine option would cost you far more.


Another point to mention, and it's kind of unknown, but the B58 will probably hold value a little better. So the cost difference in the end likely won't be as great as the purchase price difference.

i will take a 10% mpg penalty for 130 extra hp any day without even questioning anything...

now if one where to take a hemi v8 jeep GC that does like 16 mpg and is still not much faster than the v6 version... thats a different ball game, that just prehistoric tech

[BlackBMW888]

Originally Posted by ASAP

right... which is why in my mind buicks, 4runners, grand cherokees and other cars with pre historic drivertrains provide a poor point of view w modern cars if thats something someone is coming from...

vs those cars... a 30i may feel like a Porsche 911 Turbo lmao

To be honest, most of the cars on the road are not very fast cars, pickup trucks that have a speed of 8-10 seconds. Against their background, the X3 with a 2 liter engine is just a rocket))

[X3rd Time Is a Charm]

People are getting silly now, comparing a 30i X3 to a minivan ??? Like I said before, because of family size I’ve had to own a couple of minivans. I must have missed out , because neither of them even came close to comparing to the ride or speed of the X3 . Really ?

[COM40]

Originally Posted by turbobeagle

To be fair, some minivans are in the 6s in terms of 0-60. If the 30i and the minivan both gunned it at a light, I don’t think the X3 would be able to pass before getting to the typical next light. Cars are just really fast these days.

Motortrend:
Honda Odyssey: 6.6s
X3 30i sdrive: 6.5s

5-60 times are probably a better indicator of real world performance since the X3 will benefit from launch control and AWD from a dig. Car and Driver has the 30i at 7.5s and Odyssey at 6.7s. X3 is also a good bit slower in the midrange acceleration tests.

The 30i would've been adequate, but the purpose of the X3 personally was a 2nd car that was more entertaining. If you try to rationalize it, the M40i (or the performance trim of any car for that matter) makes no sense. I WFH and generally drive pretty conservatively, but the sound, power, and handling make the B58 premium well worth it on open roads and on ramps. Granted I bought mine used so the premium was a bit smaller than buying new.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by COM40

5-60 times are probably a better indicator of real world performance since the X3 will benefit from launch control and AWD from a dig. Car and Driver has the 30i at 7.5s and Odyssey at 6.7s. X3 is also a good bit slower in the midrange acceleration tests.

The 30i would've been adequate, but the purpose of the X3 personally was a 2nd car that was more entertaining. If you try to rationalize it, the M40i (or the performance trim of any car for that matter) makes no sense. I WFH and generally drive pretty conservatively, but the sound, power, and handling make the B58 premium well worth it on open roads and on ramps. Granted I bought mine used so the premium was a bit smaller than buying new.

yes and the irony here is that the odyssey has a powertrain from when dinosaurs roamed the Earth

[turbobeagle]

Originally Posted by COM40

5-60 times are probably a better indicator of real world performance since the X3 will benefit from launch control and AWD from a dig. Car and Driver has the 30i at 7.5s and Odyssey at 6.7s. X3 is also a good bit slower in the midrange acceleration tests.

The 30i would've been adequate, but the purpose of the X3 personally was a 2nd car that was more entertaining. If you try to rationalize it, the M40i (or the performance trim of any car for that matter) makes no sense. I WFH and generally drive pretty conservatively, but the sound, power, and handling make the B58 premium well worth it on open roads and on ramps. Granted I bought mine used so the premium was a bit smaller than buying new.

That’s pretty wild, and not surprising. I have learned not to mess with minivans that are darting around (even in my M40i). They are often traveling with purpose (gotta get those kids to practice on time) and when they gun it, they are not slow.

There are so many sleeper cars out there now and power is a broken game. What matters is feel. I used to have a 3.3T Stinger, and that is a perfect example of a checkbox ticker, that falls flat in real world enjoyment. Sure it could get to 60 in the 4s, but it felt like crap doing so. I would much rather have a 2L B48+ZF8 over that.

[X3rd Time Is a Charm]

Originally Posted by ASAP

yes and the irony here is that the odyssey has a powertrain from when dinosaurs roamed the Earth

I just read the links to the Car and Driver posted above and they are posted wrong . The 30i was 6.2 and the Odyssey was 6.5 . I thought the OP asked if the 40i was that much faster then the 30i? The X3 Comp would be faster then the M40i too . How did we get here ?? What’s all of the bashing about Bimmer Brothers ??

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by X3rd Time Is a Charm

I just read the links to the Car and Driver posted above and they are posted wrong . The 30i was 6.2 and the Odyssey was 6.5 . I thought the OP asked if the 40i was that much faster then the 30i? The X3 Comp would be faster then the M40i too . How did we get here ?? What’s all of the bashing about Bimmer Brothers ??

that gentleman was referencing 5-60 acceleration not 0-60... 5-60 is more indicative of real world performance because it assumes you are already moving and in gear hence just mashing the gas when moving

in that test, the odyssey outperforms the x30i... its not bashing, its a real world performance discussion...

also, the X3 M40i hits the middle ground and is actually faster off the line due to smaller turbos that spool up quicker than the X3Ms mighty S58 turbo... lot of real world roll races prove this... now, once we are over say 40-50 MPH... the X3M will absolutely run away and I wouldn't be able to see its tailights as it has another 12 MPH at the end of the 1/4 mile

[X3rd Time Is a Charm]

Originally Posted by ASAP

that gentleman was referencing 5-60 acceleration not 0-60... 5-60 is more indicative of real world performance because it assumes you are already moving and in gear hence just mashing the gas when moving

in that test, the odyssey outperforms the x30i... its not bashing, its a real world performance discussion...

also, the X3 M40i hits the middle ground and is actually faster off the line due to smaller turbos that spool up quicker than the X3Ms mighty S58 turbo... lot of real world roll races prove this... now, once we are over say 40-50 MPH... the X3M will absolutely run away and I wouldn't be able to see its tailights as it has another 12 MPH at the end of the 1/4 mile

What’s the irony of the dinosaur power train about ?

[chassis]

Originally Posted by tom2021

I know it has been discussed in the forum.
I plan to trade in 4 cylinders 2017 F25.
I was thinking M40i as a step up, until I drove a loaner car yesterday: G01 30i.
It is pretty fast all right.
I did test drive G30 540i last year. G30 and M40i use the same engine:B58.
Based on memory, G30 540i with 330 hp engine is not much faster than G01 with 248 hp engine for driving in the city.
I may have to take more time comparing M40i and 30i.
Perhaps, 30i is already a step up. Why spend more money?

M40i is much faster than the 30i. It’s your decision whether the higher price is acceptable to you.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by X3rd Time Is a Charm

What’s the irony of the dinosaur power train about ?

the irony is that Honda's NA 3.5L V6 which is effectively stone age tech - the J series V6 has been made since 1996 just in slightly different versions... but ultimately it's the same engine (most people don't know this)... and somehow it's faster 5-60 than BMWs B48 4 Cylinder which has been made since 2014 and is extremely modern... both engines output similar power but in theory the B48 should have torque far lower due to small turbos hence be far faster but in real world tests, it appears the 5-60 is slightly better on the Honda