BMW M340i (G20)

BMW’s 48 cars in the Dream Car Garage catalogue create a broad picture of the marque, but the M340i occupies a particularly focused corner of it. Its defining contribution is not simply another BMW performance saloon, but a combination that appears in very few places across all 600 cars: an inline-6, turbocharged engine paired with AWD. Only 10 catalogue cars share the inline-6 and AWD pairing, and only 11 combine turbocharging with an inline-6, placing this 2019 BMW M340i in a narrow technical group rather than a crowded category.

The wider numbers explain its appeal. With 369 bhp, the M340i sits at 454th for power among the 600 cars, yet its 0-100 km/h time of 4.4 seconds places it ahead of 227 cars in the catalogue. The balance between outright output and accessible performance is central to its character. Its 500 Nm of torque comes from a 3.0-litre, 2,998 cc inline-6 turbocharged engine, giving the car the ingredients expected of a super-saloon without making the specification the entire story. A top speed of 250 km/h places it 414th in the catalogue, reinforcing that its appeal is found in the complete package rather than a single headline figure.

The M340i also sits in an interesting financial position within the collection. At a used price of £38,000, it ranks 495th by price, meaning 105 cars in the catalogue command more. Its cost per bhp is £103, a figure that frames it as a performance-focused choice where the relationship between capability and expenditure matters. From Germany, a country represented by 197 catalogue cars, this BMW brings a particular interpretation of the super-saloon formula through its four or five seat sedan body style and AWD drivetrain.

For a collector building a garage from 600 possibilities, the M340i creates a decision around character rather than statistics alone. The catalogue numbers show a car that is not defined by being the most powerful or the most expensive, but by a rare blend of layout, drivetrain and everyday usability. Whether that blend deserves a place alongside more extreme choices depends on what role a super-saloon should play in the collection: a measured performance tool, or a machine that must make every journey feel like an occasion.