My Personal Z4 Experience

[Sterling Roadster]

Just a heads up, this is a ridiculously long post. But it's a perspective from someone who had no intention of ever getting a Z4 and ending up falling in love with it.

Looking at the used market I could either have a M3 or a Z4 for the same money. So the Z4 went to the back of my mind. I felt that if you tear apart all of the non-M Z4's components, nothing is really that cutting-edge. But this car is more than the sum of it's parts. It shares quite a few important components with the 3-series. But with the Z4, it's the application of these parts into a car with a much different philosophy than the 3-series.

The 3-series is a car you can drive every day, take to the track or just on a spirited drive and it will tick every box in the options department. The Z4 has no rear seats, a little trunk and pretty much no gadgets or tricks. The Z4 I ended up with has a manual transmission, a manual top, manual seats and manual climate control. I like where this is going. While the car looked fancy in advertisements and on screen, it actually is one of the most simplistic and minimalistic modern BMWs to date. While also being more expensive than models with much more equipment and usability. When you see the Z4 in person you notice how simple it really is. The exterior has some nice shapes and curves but no scoops or buldges to speak of. The interior follows with no wall of buttons but a wide plate of curved aluminum following the length of the dashboard.

The steering wheel hosts no other inputs, it turns left, right and sounds the horn. That's all. Sure you can pay much extra and add in whatever luxuries you'd expect, but BMW made a bold statement by selling an impractical car for well over $50,000 with no options. You either enjoy driving, or don't buy this car. The only luxury my car has is a rarely used radio and air conditioning which I would've opted out of. The interesting thing is how this car can change the way you drive. My first cruise was a planned back road carving experience with all aids off, but resulted in a swoopy road drive at the speed limit. I have had some experience in convertibles before, a Z8 actually, but the Z4 is so small and nimble that I immediatley understood the bizarre Miatas, S2000s, Z3 and vintage roadster communities. I wasn't craving power at all, the numbers just don't matter when you have that much wind and sky.

A little backstory on how a fell into one. So after much lack of financial consideration I bought a bottom tier E46 M3 which as always been and will always be my dream car. It had some cosmetic issues and a few mechanical requirements. But I needed one for a while, and I don't regret that decision. I'm no perfectionist but when you think of your dream car, it looks pretty close to perfect in your day dreams and I wanted mine to look that way in reality. This one would need a few thousand to get up to spec and even though I only paid $8,000 for a well mainained M3, it had high mileage and I knew I would never see that money again. Frankly if you're counting all the dollars and cents you put into you car and stress about it, you probably can't afford it.

So I got to put a few thousand kilometers on my M3 and I had a card which showed for a brief moment in time, I had her. After watching money hemmoraging from my bank account and feeling it was no where near complete I thought I should tap out and go back to saving. So almost as if I was an adult I put the car up for sale. I got the typical, "i'll give you a pineapple and 30 dollars CASH TODAY!!!" responses with a couple test pilots and tire kickers. One way or another it would sell, they all sell. Until I eventually got an email I almost dismissed, "consider a trade?". Ah what the hell I'm already selling my dream car who cares how sketchy this sounds. So after telling me he has a manual Z4 we meet up and drive eachothers cars. It looked great, no rust, no weird noises aside from an obnoxious exhuast and the only light was for a bulb.

He drives my M3 seemingly unimpressed until I tell him to get it up to 8,000 RPM at which point his jaw dropped, siginifying that I screwed this guy into the world of expensive and high-maintenance M cars. At this point i'm still doubtfull he'll go through with it so I didn't even think about it for days untill he called to give me the go ahead. Weirldy everything goes smoothly, and mechanically the car was in great shape. But something about the Z4 feels as if it would be as high maintenance as the M3 until I realize, this a 3-series powertrain and everyone I talked to seemed to agree this was one of the most reliable sports cars BMW has ever made. After insurance and plates go through, I took it for a late night drive, and I fell in love with it.

Largely the reason is my first experience with it was on a perfect summer night and I got star-gazing. And like a great first date, it left a permanent smile on my face. You get to see things so differently with no top that it changes how driving feels entirely. This is really what's so appealing about the Z4 overall. There's a lot of converitbles and roadsters out there but as BMW fan, this is perfect. It's built on one of the best platforms the company has ever produced, excellent build quality and materials, with a very capable and reliable powertrain. It's aging like wine and enjoying it is as simple as looking up at the sky.

[dschultz]

Yep. Well said!

[Asianoak]

Well said, enjoy the new Z and put lots of miles on her!!!

On a similar note to your story, I took mine out today for the first time in several months. I'd forgotten how much fun it was to drive and just how engaging it was. Granted I have a coupe and don't get to look up at the open sky but the overall experience is similar. Funny thing was a dad and his kid were pulling out of a car lot and sped up to take a picture of the Z. Always feels good to know that a nine year old car gets new car shoppers to whip out their camera phones and not the cars on the lot. Lol.

[deemo319]

Very nice.

[Sterling Roadster]

Originally Posted by Asianoak

Well said, enjoy the new Z and put lots of miles on her!!!

On a similar note to your story, I took mine out today for the first time in several months. I'd forgotten how much fun it was to drive and just how engaging it was. Granted I have a coupe and don't get to look up at the open sky but the overall experience is similar. Funny thing was a dad and his kid were pulling out of a car lot and sped up to take a picture of the Z. Always feels good to know that a nine year old car gets new car shoppers to whip out their camera phones and not the cars on the lot. Lol.

Thanks, i'm addicted to it and i'm dreading putting it away for the winter. I think these cars are aging incredibly well in all aspects. Like I said it has nice contours and side profile but both the coupe and roadster are not over-styled. If history taught us anything it's that simplicity ages well, take the basic shapes of the 911 or 250 GTO for example.

While I like the Z3 coupe, I just couldn't get used to it's shape. The Z3 coupe is a love it or hate it type deal, but I have yet to speak to someone who dislikes the Z4 coupe. When the coupe version came out, I saw it first at the Toronto autoshow and it looked borderline exotic to me. Z4 coupes are incredibly rare in my area though, the only ones ever see for sale are Z4M coupes, and I can now admit I can't afford one just yet, can't I have both?

[Asianoak]

Same thing here. I've seen two, maybe three coupes in the two years since buying mine... Very rare. And typically only ones I ever see listed for sale are the Ms. The price increase since I got my Si is insane on the Ms. Had I known I probably would have bit the bullet and bought one then, now I really can't justify the extra expense. Although in all reality the Si has more performance than I can ever legally use on any road in Oregon so it's probably the smarter, saner, choice for me.

[Z4Bh]

well said.... i bought mine when it was already 5 years old. it felt new!

and you know what really makes my day, when cars next to me by a stop sign ask me if its for sale.

mine is 11 years old now and i still get that.... what an incredible feeling.

[Sterling Roadster]

Originally Posted by Asianoak

Same thing here. I've seen two, maybe three coupes in the two years since buying mine... Very rare. And typically only ones I ever see listed for sale are the Ms. The price increase since I got my Si is insane on the Ms. Had I known I probably would have bit the bullet and bought one then, now I really can't justify the extra expense. Although in all reality the Si has more performance than I can ever legally use on any road in Oregon so it's probably the smarter, saner, choice for me.

That's the funny thing I learned with the M3, 333 horsepower doesn't really blow anyones mind when it comes to numbers anymore. Because of the on going horsepower war. But in order to really wind out the engine i'd be doing at least double the speed limit. I just enjoy being in the high end of the rev range and slipping in and out of gears, making noise and getting the back end out a little. That said I wanted more toqrue and material build quality than a miata. And for that I feel this car really is perfect for me.

[Sterling Roadster]

Originally Posted by Z4Bh

well said.... i bought mine when it was already 5 years old. it felt new!

and you know what really makes my day, when cars next to me by a stop sign ask me if its for sale.

mine is 11 years old now and i still get that.... what an incredible feeling.

Not that I would ever buy a car for appearance sake, but the first time I had someone yell NICE CAR! I probably had a weird smile on my face. I wonder when they'll start to show the age in their design. It doesn't seem to be anytime soon.