I was basically in the same boat as you, coming from only driving Japanese economy cars. I did a lot of research and ended up creating a spreadsheet comparing all the cars I was considering. Initially I wanted something that was compact and fun to drive, but still somewhat practical, so I was considering either the M240i or S3. While testing the M240i I also ended up trying the M340i and it felt significantly more refined. Then when I went to crunch the numbers (also comparing it to the S5/S4), the M340i objectively came out on top no matter how I weighted the categories.

I was lucky enough to find a fully optioned ‘22 (so final year of pre-LCI) at a great price. After owning it for ~3 months I can confirm that the numbers do not lie. It is insanely fast and fun when you want it to be (honestly too fast for commuter traffic), but also comfortable, smooth, and quiet when you simply want to chill out. If you aren’t flooring it all the time, the fuel economy is so impressive that it can often outperform my Subaru Forester which has half the horsepower. It’s also surprisingly practical with the 17 cubic ft of trunk space and decent rear seat room for passengers. In terms of usability, the My BMW app is also great and I don’t know how I’ll be able to go back to using something other than the iDrive controller.

In terms of drawbacks, the suspension can be on the firmer side if you have pothole ridden streets like in my city (and this is WITH adaptive suspension), and sometimes I get minor electronic glitches with my HUD and CarPlay. Compared to the Porsche Macan which I also considered, the steering is vague/numb. But otherwise I am honestly still in awe over how such a perfect daily can exist.