The M340i is dead, and its replacement has a name change
BMW has confirmed the M350 xDrive as the range-topping combustion model in the next 3 Series. It replaces the M340i, and the naming change is the smaller story.
The car is still in camouflage. BMW released the figures alongside prototype photography from its proving ground at Miramas in southern France, which is an unusual way to confirm a car and tells you the company wants the specification talked about before the shape is.
What BMW has confirmed
- Engine: 3.0-litre TwinPower Turbo straight-six with 48-volt mild hybrid
- Power: 326 kW, 443 hp
- Torque: 580 Nm
- 0 to 100 km/h: 4.1 seconds
- Top speed: 250 km/h
- Transmission: eight-speed Steptronic
- Drive: xDrive all-wheel drive
- Body: saloon
- Production: second half of 2026
Our page has the outgoing M340i at 386 hp and 540 Nm. The torque gain is 40 Nm, and on power both Autocar and Jalopnik put the step at about 50, though BMW quotes German hp and the M340i figure is US hp, so the two are not the same unit. Either way it is a real gain rather than a badge exercise, and BMW says the M350 is the only six-cylinder in the new 3 Series range.
Drift Moment is the actual news
BMW is putting Drift Moment on an M Performance 3 Series for the first time. It sends the engine's drive fully to the rear wheels, which is the function that until now has been reserved for the M3 and the cars above it.
Two things about it are worth holding onto. It is not available at launch, and it arrives during 2027 through a Remote Software Upgrade. A hardware-defined behaviour shipped later as a download is a different proposition from one you buy on day one, and BMW has not said whether it will be free.
The chassis work
BMW quotes a double-joint spring strut front axle and a five-link rear, improved torsional and vertical stiffness, an upgraded integrated braking system, an adjusted steering ratio, adaptive M suspension on the options list and new 245/35 R20 and 275/30 R20 sport tyres.
What is not published yet
WLTP consumption figures, pricing, and any body style beyond the saloon. BMW has also labelled the performance numbers provisional, since they come from development prototypes. We will update the 3 Series page when the production car is shown.
The take
The M340i has spent two generations being the 3 Series most people should actually buy, and nothing here changes that arithmetic. Fifty-odd extra horsepower and a drift mode do not move it closer to an M3, they make it a better version of what it already was. The interesting question is what it means for the M3 when the car below it can uncouple its front axle on command.
Sources: BMW Group PressClub, "The new BMW 3 Series: camouflaged prototypes in Miramas", 8 September 2026; New BMW M350 confirmed with 437-hp straight-six and a Drift Moment function (Jalopnik, September 2026); BMW 3 Series M350 brings 437bhp straight six and drift mode (Autocar). Photographs: BMW AG.