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I drove a $64,000 BMW Z4 to see if this high-end roadster is worth the hefty price tag - here's the verdict
I drove a $64,000 BMW Z4 to see if this high-end roadster is worth the hefty price tag - here's the verdict
Jun 5, 2019, 19:13 IST
The 2019 BMW Z4 sDrive30i arrived at our suburban New Jersey test center wearing a fetching "San Francisco Red Metallic" paint job. The as-tested price was $64,000, with thousands of dollars in extras adding to the $50,000 MSRP.
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The Z-Series roadsters date to the late 1980s for the Bavarian automaker, but the model that really defined the two-seater for BMW was the original Z3 of 1996.
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A major — and welcome — change for the sixth-generation Z-Series was the replacement of the retractable hardtop with a soft-top.
Yes, this eliminates the Z4's chances to do double-duty as a coupé, but honestly I prefer a proper ragtop on a roadster.
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Plus, I just think the soft top looks right.
It also retracts very quickly, activated by a switch between the seats. The top stows in about five seconds — and takes up essentially no space in the trunk.
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There's a removable windscreen between the protective roll bars.
The BMW Z4 is sharp and aggressive, a far cry from the retro Z3 of the mid-1990s, with its throwback, almost steampunk allure ...
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... see what I mean?
While I rather like the overall shape of the Z4, with that long hood and scrunched rear, the headlights are a bit much.
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They're larger and complicated.
And on my tester, they were LEDs. I can't argue with them at night, but I'd prefer something more low-key.
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The BMW kidney grille is a presence up front. but it's blacked out and stretched, so it sort of loses its kidney-ness.
The Bavarian-flag badge hasn't changed, however.
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The side vents evoke that beloved Z3 of the Clinton years.
My Z4 came with a few BMW M-Sport high-performance goodies, including M-Sport brakes, part of a $2,450 "Track Handling" package. The 19-inch wheels were an extra $600.
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The Z4's rear is something of an optical illusion. In profile, it's out-of-proportion with the front, even with the decklid spoiler adding a flourish. Viewed directly, it's svelte, well-designed, and a credit to the car.
The tail lights, also LEDs, are better than the headlights.
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But I don't care for the scoop coming off the fender flanks.
Somehow, that simple black-blue-white propeller (it isn't, but whatever, still looks like one) redeems everything.
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The seat-back roll bars are a valuable safety feature, in the unlikely event that the Z4 encounters physics that overcome its low center of gravity.
Time to take a peek beneath the hood.
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The 2.0-liter, twin-turbo four-cylinder in our sDrive30i trim level makes 255 horsepower and an impressive 295 pound-feet of torque. That grunt from the small motor had us fooled that we might be driving the 3.0-liter inline six that's also in the lineup. It makes 382 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. The 0-60 mph time in the sDrive30i is about five seconds, and that's plenty quick for this type of car. Fuel economy is appealing: 25 mpg city/32 highway/28 combined.
If you've ever owned a roadster, you know that truck space is hard to come by.
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But the Z4's is surprisingly generous. Roughly 10 cubic feet.
Now let's slip inside.
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Two seats — good! The interior is black and "Ivory White Vernasca Leather." I have to say, with the Frisco Red exterior and this creamy interior, we're getting far afield of old-school roadster simplicity.
The seats are derived from competition designs and are an M-Sport special. They're superb, but I wouldn't call them forgiving.
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Storage is extremely limited in the cabin.
But the back wall between the cabin and trunk is an ideal place to locate some speakers for the excellent Harman Kardon surround-sound system, part of a $2,500 "Executive Package."
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If you're the driver, you can set the heated seat nice and low and engage in some terrifically spirited motoring.
The instrument cluster is all digital and quasi-analog. It evokes the familiar BMW cluster of yore, but updates them to display speed and tachometric data on opposing curves.
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The leather-wrapped, multi-function wheel has one of the few M-Sport shout-outs.
The eight-speed transmission sends power to the rear wheels through an M-Sport differential. The joystick is standard-issue bimmer these days, but a bit more techno than what I'd like in a roadster (what I'd like is a six-speed stick). There are also paddles behind the steering wheel, for kinda sorta manual shifting. Buttons enable selection of the drive modes: three Sport modes, Comfort, Eco, and Adaptive. The last one learns your driving style and adjusts accordingly.
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The 10.25-inch infotainment screen runs BMW's much-improved iDrive system, with Apple CarPlay as a backup option. Navigation with this setup is excellent.
There's a one-year SiriusXM satellite radio subscription. Bluetooth pairing is straightforward, as there are USB and AUX ports for device connection.
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iDrive also includes a suite of apps.
So what's the verdict?
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The BMW Z4 was the last car that departing Business Insider Transportation Correspondent Ben Zhang drove. (He liked it!)