The end of the Z4

[TexasZed4MC]

I was talking to a member of BMW Germany at the Texas Trifecta this weekend about possible new Z4 M Coupes and updates and he told me no. No matter what the car does with Rahal Letterman or any overseas racing the Z4 will soon be a distant memory.
He stated the dealerships have hell selling them and that BMW looses money on every one of them. The car may stop production soon. Sad to hear.

[Huz-Z]

Wow. Lots of E85s and brand new E89s in my town lately. So they seem to be selling well here at least.

Wasn't there a plan to introduce a new smaller roadster with a canvas top and call it a Z2?

[inTgr8r]

Sad to hear, although I cant say I'm surprised by this.

[Zedfor]

They sold over 3000 of the in the US and Canada alone last year. I don't know what a target for survival would be.

[keepittrill]

Originally Posted by Zedfor

They sold over 3000 of the in the US and Canada alone last year. I don't know what a target for survival would be.

3,000 units in two large countries is pretty bad...

[XMetal]

Agreed...most cars sell 3,000+ units per month and that's on the low end of the sales volume chart.

[The HACK]

For example, Tesla sold 5,000 Model S in 3 month in 2013...

3,000 sold in a year in Canada and US is pretty BAD.

[GriffBrew]

Yeah, these numbers look bad http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Z_Models
I was hoping for a 2018 hard top convertible M, though

[Mirko]

Wonder if it's the styling of the E89, the slump in the economy or other competition making a better product that account for such poor sales in the latter years. Looks like the Z3 and E85/6 were well received, the E89 was not so much.

[philjw]

Simple answer in mind: BMW priced the E89 out of the market. Z3 and original Z4 were huge hits, still see them everywhere. When I drive my 35is, people still ask me if it's a brand new model. The price easily reaches $75k depending on options, and that's just more than people want to pay for what it is. At $50k and less, lots of buyers, but at these prices, everyone either skips the second car, splurges on something faster or more practical or more luxurious (or some combination). Only reason I have one is that BMW was propping up the lease deals to move 2011 inventory. My car stickered at $70k and they let it go for $1500 down and $450/month. Anyway, sad if this is the end of an era, but maybe a Z2 is on its way...

[keepittrill]

Originally Posted by philjw

Simple answer in mind: BMW priced the E89 out of the market. Z3 and original Z4 were huge hits, still see them everywhere. When I drive my 35is, people still ask me if it's a brand new model. The price easily reaches $75k depending on options, and that's just more than people want to pay for what it is. At $50k and less, lots of buyers, but at these prices, everyone either skips the second car, splurges on something faster or more practical or more luxurious (or some combination). Only reason I have one is that BMW was propping up the lease deals to move 2011 inventory. My car stickered at $70k and they let it go for $1500 down and $450/month. Anyway, sad if this is the end of an era, but maybe a Z2 is on its way...

Now you got a STEAL, my friend.

*Edit*
Oh, it was a lease. Still a good lease.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by philjw

Simple answer in mind: BMW priced the E89 out of the market. Z3 and original Z4 were huge hits, still see them everywhere. When I drive my 35is, people still ask me if it's a brand new model. The price easily reaches $75k depending on options, and that's just more than people want to pay for what it is. At $50k and less, lots of buyers, but at these prices, everyone either skips the second car, splurges on something faster or more practical or more luxurious (or some combination). Only reason I have one is that BMW was propping up the lease deals to move 2011 inventory. My car stickered at $70k and they let it go for $1500 down and $450/month. Anyway, sad if this is the end of an era, but maybe a Z2 is on its way...

+1 - sticker shock... you can't look at a Z4 for less than 55K
When they were close to the price of an E36, topping out M3 at 42-45K they sold like hotcakes.

perhaps a Z2 will come along..

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

+1 - sticker shock... you can't look at a Z4 for less than 55K
When they were close to the price of an E36, topping out M3 at 42-45K they sold like hotcakes.

perhaps a Z2 will come along..

I agree, the price of the E89 is silly expensive. And that is seen in both the new and used examples of the car.

[ruscoupe]

Originally Posted by philjw

Simple answer in mind: BMW priced the E89 out of the market....

Completely agree with you. Although it took me a few years to warm up to the E85 (the Roadster specifically, and I'm still not quite there) I liked the E89 immediately.

But it was like BMW just got a little bit too full of themself (actually, I guess I should say "more full"...lol) and priced the car way out of what the market was willing to pay. As you say, you can easily price one above $70k and that's just nonsense for what you get. Just too many other cars out there for less or equal money.

[SgtGigglebox]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

I agree, the price of the E89 is silly expensive. And that is seen in both the new and used examples of the car.

The price is what made me hold off for a few years. It just irritated me that there was such a significant jump and I couldn't justify the move. However, in the end, I realized that almost everything - across most brands had seen a similar swing in pricing. Maybe not as severe, but it looks like the last 4-5 years have been pretty kind to manufacturer pricing.

Still its pretty foolish to raise the price of a car by 50% and wonder why nobody is buying them... hmm... a mystery indeed. It must be the car's fault.

[ricanbandit]

Well I got mine and it aint going anywhere soon

[krusty]

* E85 Total = 180,856 (that's over 6 years, so about 30,000 per year, though higher in the early years, and much lower in the later ones)

* E86 Total = 17,094 (that's over 3 years, so about 5,700 per year)

* E89 Total = about 95,000 so far (that's over 4 and a half years, so about 20,000 per year)


In my view, the E89 was plainly BMW's attempt to unify production of the E85 roadster and E86 coupe into a single model that they hoped would serve both groups. Instead, the procrustean merging of the 2 models probably alienated many of those either in the purist roadster or coupe camps .... and by ending up with a car that is notably heavier and less nimble. I also suspect that the E89 retractable hardtop is probably quite expensive to both design and construct ... and like companies like Apple ... a company like BMW is just not interested in spending all the engineering resources on a model that has low volume ... UNLESS perhaps it has uber cool prestige value. And while I think the E86 had that in spades, ... BMW themselves spoilt the prestige of the Z4 line by releasing the E89 in an increasing array of underpowered 2.x litre / 4 litre engines ...

[Rick Hunter]

I'd be interested in finding out how the sales figures of the E89 compares with the current MB SLK... since BMW aimed their sights at the SLK demographic. I'm assuming they didn't get the numbers they wanted.

And I agree with krusty. They SHOULD NOT have "merged" the roadster/coupe concept. Jack of all trades, master of none.

Glad I've got my

[silverfishZ4M]

I really like the look of the e89, was hoping for an eventual M version without turbo but oh well.

[ColinM]

Should scrap the E89 but stick with the Z4 core. There's nothing wrong with it. Bring the price down and add a coupe version.

[mike519]

I dunno guys, a two seater vert in that price range can't be the reason. Look at the Boxster...same price range, same power, same target audience...I don't know the numbers on these but I am sure its tons more than the E89s.

My theory is that those who are looking for a fast vert will automatically be drawn to the Boxster just because its a porsche and the name alone has cache in terms of high performance. I think most BMW buyers are looking for the sexy but dependable sedan.

Not saying any of this is justified, I just think that the name BMW brings to mind sedans for most and not performance cars whereas Porsche is the opposite. Now, the Ms are a different story but the biggest sales are still 3 series and likely the X1s and X3s.

[dreamingat30fps]

No... manual... buh-bye!