BMW Z4 review
by David Finlay (14 May 2009)
This is probably not going to go down well with members of various car clubs, but I have to be honest: I'm not sorry that the first-generation Z4 has gone out of production. I particularly disliked the high-performance M versions, but even the more subdued (and better) models never struck me as being anything like BMW's best work. I would not, on the basis of that Z4, have been sorry if BMW had announced that its long history of building two-seater sports cars was coming to an end.
Instead, the company has produced a new Z4, and since I laid my cards on the table in the first paragraph I may as well do the same thing now: this car is so much better than its predecessor, it would make your eyes water. For the first time - and believe me, this is not something I ever thought I would have cause to write - I think I would rather like to own a Z4.
There are four main reasons for this. First, I think it looks more handsome than the previous car. Second, it is considerably larger, so that I don't have to fold myself in half before getting in. Third, it is outstandingly more comfortable to drive. And fourth, its handling is hugely superior, to the point where you can push on quite hard without, as before, frightening yourself silly.
So that's basically it. What? You want more detail? Oh, okay. No problem.
As well as being (definitely) bigger and (I think) better-looking than the old Z4, this one combines what were previously two body styles. You used to have the choice of the fixed-head Coupé and the drop-top Roadster, but now BMW has created a folding metal roof, not least because several potential Z4ists made it clear that they were not going to make a purchase unless this happened. As is conventionally the way of these things, raising or lowering the roof involves nothing more than pressing a button and keeping it pressed until the process is complete, and you get a choice between open-air motoring or a structurally helpful solid roof.
I prefer roofs myself, but I tried the Z4 alfresco for research purposes. Even with a mesh windbreak between the headrests there is still a fair bit of air circulation when the roof is down, which isn't really my thing, but it's not too bad and you might like it that way. If you like reading about strange acoustic phenomena, here's one for you: at high speed with the roof down the wind noise masks the lower tones of the engine but not the higher ones, so instead of being all deep and purposeful in those circumstances it actually sounds a bit like a Mazda RX-8.
I'm assuming that applies to all Z4s, but I can only really speak for the top-level sDrive35i, which has a twin-turbocharged three-litre six-cylinder engine - a former International Engine of the Year award winner - producing a maximum of 306bhp. The other possibilities are the equally oddly-named sDrive23i (2.5 litres, 204bhp), which I also drove, and the sDrive30i (non-turbo three-litre, 258bhp) which wasn't available for testing.
The choice you make, if you decide to buy a Z4, will depend largely on where your budget lies in the price range, which extends from £28,645 to £37,060 (not including optional extras, of which there are several thousand pounds' worth). The sensible decision would of course be to go for the sDrive23i, since it's the cheapest and will, in real-world conditions, get you from A to B about as quickly as the other two.
But I must say I do like the sDrive35i. It feels just slightly more purposeful on the road, and of course it provides stirring straightline acceleration if you want it. I can easily see why someone might decide to hang the expense and go for that one.
All of the engines come with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, but a conventional automatic is available as a £1765 option on the two lower models, while the 35i can be specified (as BMW believes at least 70% of them will be) with a seven-speed manual with two clutches but no clutch pedal for £1810.
That transmission, known as DCT, will look after the gearchanging for you if you wish, but you can also do this yourself using either the gearlever or a set of rather peculiar levers on the steering wheel. I didn't like these at all at first, and spent my first mile in the 35i composing a very witty description of how I would never get used to it, only to realise after 1.1 miles that I already had.
Every Z4 is fitted as standard with a Drive Dynamic Control function which gives different settings of the throttle, steering and stability control response, and (where applicable) the DCT gearchange speed, and as a £930 option there's Adaptive M Sport suspension, which sets the damping in three modes called Normal, Sport and Sport+.
This kind of system doesn't always work as well as manufacturers like to say it does, but BMW has done an excellent job. The settings in the three modes are quite distinctive but at the same time not ridiculously different from each other, so the Z4 will still handle well in Normal and ride comfortably in Sport+, though it does pay to choose the most suitable mode for the particular road and/or driving conditions at any given time.
Despite all this, I would say that the Z4 is sporting rather than sporty. It's a car for drivers whose principal hope for any journey is that it should be as enjoyable, not necessarily as rapid, as possible. Even the 204bhp version is quick (and the 306bhp one is very quick indeed) but regardless of which engine you have the Z4 is not a car that feels at its best when it's being hustled.
It's more in the Grand Tourer tradition, justifying its existence most fully when you point that long, domed bonnet - most of which is easily visible from the inside - at the horizon and waft towards it at speed and in comfort, simply for the fun of doing so. In that respect, as in so many others, this Z4 is a vastly more honourable part of BMW's sports car tradition than the one that was but is no longer.
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