[SD ///M4]

Our BMW club has a drive on Sunday and one of the fellow club members brought his 2007 Z4 M Roadster so I had a chance to take a look at his. Its Titanium Silver or Silver Gray with a Black Nappa Leather Interior and Carbon Leather Trim with Premium, Nav, and Heated Seats. Unfortunately, we were getting ready to get started so I didn't have a chance to drive it and he had brought along his neighbor so I could ride with him either.

Another club member has a 2006 Z4 M Roadster in Interlagos Blue but with a Beige interior, Carbon Leather Trim, Premium Package, Nav, and Heated Seats. I contacted him last week and he had planned to come to the drive but couldn't make it, so he invited me over to his house to take a look and go for a spin. He handed me the keys and said "Have fun!" I had a good 45 minute drive and really liked it. Similar in many ways to my S2000 but different in other ways. Even though the S2000 has Recaro seats, I found the seats in the M felt better. The engine obviously has a lot more torque, but sometimes it seemed like my S2000 was more responsive in second or third gear around 3,000 RPM. The power delivery on the M is much more linear. The S2000 is reasonably quick up to 6,000 RPM but then all hell breaks loose, especially with my Mugen titanium exhaust and K&N FIPK intake. It definitely doesn't sound like a 4 cylinder! The M has a nice growly exhaust and sounds great all the time. I think that I would be perfectly happy with the stock exhaust. Overall, the M is faster, as I expected it to be. The steering actually felt lighter but tighter on turn-in. I could feel the extra weight of the M and the S2000 might be a little more nimble in some circumstances.

Coincidentally, a local dealer just took in a 2007 Z4 M Coupe on Saturday. Arctic White, Black Nappa Extended Leather and all the same packages/options. I stopped by this afternoon and the technician (the club President) had just finished his initial inspection so he took me out for a ride, then dropped me off at the used car department down the block. They let me take the Coupe out for a spin. I was surprised that the throttle didn't feel quite as responsive as the Roadster. This car has only 40,000 miles on it and is still under CPO warranty for another year. The person who traded it in was the second owner and the problem is that he took off the stock wheels and tires, put on some black 19" wheels with Cooper tires in the front and Toyo tires in the back. He also has a huge amp mounted in the trunk which takes up most of the storage. The dealer is saying that since the tires are mismatched they're going to have to replace the tires and they're going to put run-flats on it! WTF!? Some crap about liability or some nonsense. I argued with the Used Car Manager about that saying why would you do that? It came with non-runflats so what's the liability issue? No enthusiast would ever buy the car with RFTs on it and most wouldn't want the amp in the back. I told him that if I bought the car I would take it as is (it was already CPOed by the previous dealer), and I'd take off the wheels and tires, take out the amp, sell all that crap, buy the original wheels and put Michelin Pilot Super Sports on it. They want $32,995 which is way above what I would want to pay. KBB puts it at $29,300 tops, this car's condition is probably about $28,000, less if they put RFTs on it. They need to get realistic with the pricing.

Tomorrow is the test drive for the car I'm looking at along with a PPI. We haven't talked pricing yet, I'm crossing my fingers!