BMW M240i xDrive review – a cut-price M4 or a Golf R rival?

The five-cylinder Audi RS3 hatchback starts at £62,805, and the most affordable six-cylinder Cayman, the GTS 4.0, listed at £75,000 before production ended in October 2025. So what price do you think is attached to this straight-six, M-badged BMW coupe?

Would you be surprised to learn that it’s the right side of fifty grand? We certainly were. The surprise is amplified if you’ve driven the M240i before checking (and then double-checking) its price, for while it’s easy to dismiss these three-digit M models as cynical marketing exercises, a way to enhance the appeal of mainstream models to customers who probably wouldn’t enjoy living with a ‘proper’ M car anyway, this one proves that sometimes there’s substance to back up the presence of that letter.

The G42 M240i first arrived in 2022, and an updated version followed in the second half of 2024. You can identify the latter externally by the switch from black to body-colour paint around the car’s lower quarters, while some new paint options, including the striking Zandvoort Blue first seen on the G87 M2, were introduced. The more significant changes are inside, where BMW’s large twin-screen instruments-and-infotainment arrangement now dominates the dash, while the upright gear selector that once sat atop the transmission tunnel has been replaced by a small fore-and-aft switch. 

There are no changes to the drivetrain, however, so the single-turbo 3-litre B58 engine still produces 369bhp at 5500-6650rpm and a matching 369lb ft of torque from 1900 through to 5000rpm. With help from the xDrive four-wheel drive system, that’s enough to tick off 0-62mph in 4.3sec, while top speed is limited to 155mph. (A further update to the G42 is due in early 2026, incidentally. The introduction of mild-hybrid tech will lift power by 18bhp and torque by 29lb ft, and promises a marked improvement in mpg and reduction in CO2 emissions, but it will also add a substantial 65kg to the car’s kerb weight. Depending on what you’re looking for from your M240i, this may be a reason to grab a pre-mild-hybrid version while you can.)

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The G42 M240i’s 1690kg kerb weight caused some raised eyebrows around the time of the model’s launch, but in the intervening years we’ve learnt to relax a little about BMW’s escalating kerb weights and instead see how the car in question behaves before deciding whether or not to be up in arms about it. Thankfully, the M240i is one of the good ones. There is a sensation of mass, certainly, a sturdy feel to its movements, but traverse a typical British B-road and, rather than thumping its way along the tarmac and generally seeming uneasy in itself (hello, G90 M5), the M240i rounds off smaller imperfections and deals with awkward undulations without violently rocking its occupants from side to side. It’s almost as if the car has been set up to work on real-world roads, rather than idealised ones that rarely materialise, or the circuit you might drive around twice a year. It’s a novel idea.

As a result, the M240i is not as hyper-alert and agile as an M2, but nor is it sloppy. There’s real control here, which can be enhanced further by nudging the M Adaptive Suspension (a £550 option) up to Sport mode (there’s just this and Comfort to choose between). Configured thus, a personal-favourite rapid-fire right-left sequence with a tricky crest in the middle is all handled with aplomb. Unless you’ve just stepped out of something significantly lighter, you’re unlikely to spend much time thinking about this car’s mass.

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If you’ve just stepped out of an M2, however, you might be thinking about how you’re experiencing the onset of understeer more often than you’re used to. The M240i doesn’t have that wide-tyred, ultra-grippy front end that’s characteristic of modern M cars, but take this as an invitation to balance the car better through the phases of a corner, rather than lazily letting the nose do all the work, and suddenly it all clicks into place. Steering feel isn’t the greatest, but the front end is easier to read – or at least quickly gain trust in – than an M2’s, simply because of the more progressive way that the 245-section Michelins lose their hold on the asphalt. The lower grip levels also mean you feel the rear-biased four-wheel drive system doing its thing more often than in a full-fat M car with xDrive, not least because it’s called upon more often, the front end taking up the strain as the rear tries to edge wide on corner exit, then all four wheels firing you out onto the next straight.

And this is where you’ll be glad you didn’t spend your £49k on a four-cylinder hot hatch. The B58 straight-six may be close to inaudible at low revs, but under more committed acceleration you get a delicious, silky-smooth note that’s reminiscent of BMW sixes of 20 or 30 years ago. It’s partly enhanced by the switchable ‘IconicSounds’ system, which masks any slight harshness to the engine’s real note with a subtly weightier sound, but you could happily drive without this. Meanwhile, what is heard outside the car is on a different level to anything a four-pot could muster, sounding rich and muscular rather than like it’s using volume to compensate for lack of character.

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And there’s performance aplenty, too. That 4.3sec 0-62mph time bests a Cayman GTS 4.0 by two-tenths, while a broad spread of torque ensures there’s generous mid-range flex once the single twin-scroll turbocharger is on song. You can’t specify a manual gearbox, but it would be churlish to complain about the eight-speed Sport Automatic Transmission: its shifts are quick and reliable, slotting home with a gentle thump (rather than an irritatingly exaggerated one) in certain modes and circumstances, while the wheel-mounted shift paddles offer the kind of substantial feel that’s often missing at this price point. Again, it’s a fit for the rest of the car.

Weak points? The brakes can feel a touch glassy underfoot when slowing hard from higher speeds, lacking the confidence-inspiring extra bite you might appreciate – a little bit like BMW stoppers of old, in fact (perhaps there’s an ‘IconicBrakes’ setting I didn’t notice). The basic seats also fall short in the lateral support department, although for £890 you can upgrade to M Sport seats, aka the entry-level ones from the M2, which are first-rate chairs and would solve that problem.

Price and rivals 

So the M240i is a very fine package at a very appealing price. It’s a car you could happily use every day without feeling like you’re being punished, but one that won’t feel like it’s out of its depth when you take the interesting route to your destination. If you can resist the addictive, instant-hit buzz you get from the faster reactions of an M2, it’s a superb all-rounder. At £49,225 before options the M240i isn't much more expensive than a Mk8 Golf R or Mercedes-AMG A35, and an awful lot less than an Audi RS3. 

Traditional coupe rivals include the Ford Mustang GT, which is more expensive (£58,470) and characterful, but less deft and agile than the BMW. If its agility you want, Alpine's A110 remains on sale until mid-2026, starting from £55,160. 

BMW M240i xDrive specs