The BMW Z4 Was Bavaria’s Answer To Miata Mania

BMW Z4 Was The “Sexy Math”

The Z4 was designed by none other than Anders Warming who currently heads the design studio at Rolls Royce and is the man behind marques first EV. In his own words, the Z4 took a radical approach to design by using a method called “Flame Surfacing” better known internally at BMW as “Sexy Maths”. 

It involves contouring the body panels in such a way that it creates concave and convex lines that give an illusion of depth depending on how lights fall upon them.

The design has been greatly appreciated by several owners around the globe describing it as timeless and soothing and is the polar opposite of BMW’s current design language which consists of ugly grills and the removal of iconic angel eyes headlamps, a sacrilege indeed!

The Alpina Roadster S Did What Orginal Z4 Could Not

By eliminating the automatic gearbox and replacing it with a phenomenal close ratio 6-speed. The Alpina Roadster S was a rather exclusive take on the original E85 Z4 that featured Alpina’s specific interior in either black leather with black-green stiching, maroon leather with maroon stitching, or red leather and red stitching.

A similar array of exotic paint shades was available like Japan Red, Toledo Blue, and Alpina Blue among others. The changes were much more than skin deep and included a revamped 3.4-litre E5/2 inline-6 which now made 300 hp and 366 lb-ft of torque. It did 60 mph in just 5.1 seconds and had a top speed of 169 mph.

Z4 Was A Prolific Apex Hunter In Japan

Thanks to its compact chassis and taut handling, the Z4 took part in races like Super GT and  Silverstone Britcar 24-Hour. But the real success for Z4 came at the Super Taikyu Endurance Series in which it took 1 and 2 place. Z4’s later versions took part in more famous IMSA, American Le Mans, and European Le Mans. It had a 500 hp V8 6-speed sequential tranny and a low dry weight of 2535 lb.

The Z4 Spawned Gorgeous One-offs like Zagato Coupe and Concept Coupé Mille Miglia  

Designed by Anders Warming the Concept Coupé Mille Miglia was an old-school tribute to BMW 328 Mille Miglia Touring Coupé. It had integrated sidewalls, and a longer body, and featured Lycra fabric in place of leather.

Similarly, BMW collaborated with coachbuilder Zagato to produce a special coupe and convertible based on Z4. The coupe had a special color-changing paint called Rosso Vivace. The convertible had a special double bubble tonneau instead of a soft top.

Toyota Supra And Z4 Share The Same Engine 

As the story goes, the chief designer behind the Supra, Tetsuya Tada, told Autocar’s Phill Truman that he wanted the new Supra to be a pure sports car and to have an Inline 6. The latter was something that Toyota wanted, to be more precise.

BMW was one of few manufacturers around that had “some” experience with making the said engine but its then chairman Herbert Diess wanted the Supra to be more of a mass market machine since sports cars are always been pretty niche.

It was an age-old story of Passion vs Profit with the latter winning in most cases. That is until Diess moved on to VW and the new much more amicable BMW management green-lit Tada’s sports car approach to Supra.

The BMW Z4 Has Been Recalled… A Lot

Earlier BMW was constantly plagued with electrical issues related to the headlight, powertrain, ECM modules, and wiring. At the time of publication, the recall number stands at 22 with the latest one being for faulty transmission welds.

Other common problems include a jerky soft top mechanism likely due to an aging motor, rust, and corrosion under the cowl assembly and rear decklid. Although plenty have owners have since replaced those parts as they are warranted for 12 years by BMW.

Which BMW Z4 Should I Buy?

More than 190,000 Z4s have been made since its inception, the majority of them being roadsters. All Z4s were offered with inline 4 or inline 6 engines ranging making 150 to 382 hp. All generations came with a choice of automatic or manual transmission with RWD being your sole option.

2003-2008 E85/E86(Coupe) Generation– The E85 Z4s are currently around $10,000 to $12,000 but may require significant investment post-purchase as they are generally very high mileage except for rare Alpina Roadsters which in turn command a premium over BMW standard offerings. E85 is the only gen that came with both coupe and roadster body styles. 

2009-2016 E89 Generation– Next are the E89 BMW Z4s (2009-2016) which switched to a retractable hardtop design and marginally increased the curb weight to 3362 lb. Only 1 body style was available. The E89 gen was pretty electronic heavy and featured regenerative braking, electronic parking brake, and adjustable dampeners.

Those equipped with optional Design Pure Traction and Pure Fusion Design packages are pricier than the rest of the lineup in the used car market. Prices for a used E89 BMW Z4 start at around $20,000-$25,000. 

Owners have had their fair share of complaints with the E89 Z4 mainly attributed to body and electronics. There was no M version for this gen, consequently, the most powerful model was the sDrive35is with 335 hp coming from a 3.0 L N54 inline-6 twin-turbo.

2017-Present G29 Generation– The latest G29 Z4 could very well be the last as spending a billion dollars on making it emission-compliant seems extremely unlikely. BMW has extended the G29 Z4’s production till 2026 and has introduced the “Handschalter” package for a proper farewell.

It only comes with a manual transmission, cognac leather with exclusive stitching couple of green paint jobs as options, and comes under $70,000 fully loaded.

BMW Z4 Specifications

Here is a comparison of all generations of BMW Z4 –