It's an agile, sharp-looking roadster with decent cabin space and surprisingly livable ride quality for day-to-day use. So be an optimist: The new Z4's timing may be less than ideal, but it's too good a specimen not to consider.
I tested a Z4 sDrive35i. There's also a less powerful Z4 sDrive30i; you can compare both to the 2008 Z4 here. This year's Z4 gets a standard power-retractable hardtop, much like BMW's 3 Series convertible. That means there's no fixed-hardtop coupe, as the outgoing Z4 lineup included, nor is there a high-performance Z4 M, also offered previously.
Sharp Styling
The previous Z4, conceived during the worst of BMW's avant-garde styling years, always looked a bit off. It was the sort of car you'd park nose-in so others might admire the rear and never see the front. There's no need to hide anymore. The low-slung Z4 looks well-proportioned and aggressive, with a long hood, a short tail and a cabin planted rear of the car's center. The grille is larger and more upright, and the headlights have a furrowed, menacing appearance. It's an angrier look, but I'll take it over the previous Z4's headlights, which lent the car a vapid expression.
The sDrive35i adds titanium-colored inserts in the grille and lower air dam; the sDrive30i retains black inserts throughout. BMW says the power top takes about 20 seconds to raise and lower; I hit that time lowering it, but putting it up took 22 seconds. The whole operation requires the car to be at a complete halt; some powered tops function when the car is in motion, at least up to a certain speed.
Twin-Turbo Fun
The Z4 sDrive35i is perhaps the best application yet for BMW's twin-turbo six-cylinder. Power is abundant, starting out strong — and lacking any noticeable turbo lag — and sticking around all the way to a speeding ticket. Sports cars from the Nissan 370Z to the Porsche Boxster S feel less immediately powerful, peaking only as the tach swings past 3,000 rpm or so. BMW says 60 mph comes in 5.1 seconds for the Z4 sDrive35i. That's a figure both competitors narrowly beat, but in the everyday sense the Z4's balance of power all over the tach makes up for the deficit.
Other Bimmers offer the same twin-turbo engine as the Z4 — and accelerate as blazingly fast — but the Z4's stick is a welcome change from the rubbery, longish shifters BMW installs elsewhere. It feels closer to the manual in the Infiniti G37, which I believe is the gold standard for stick-shift precision. Flick it from one gear to the next, stab the gas for a quick rev-match, then accelerate onward — it's a delightful thing, and that's not a compliment I've paid a BMW manual in a long time.
A seven-speed dual-clutch automatic with steering-wheel paddle shifters runs $1,525 on the sDrive35i; the sDrive30i offers a traditional six-speed automatic. The Z4's dual-clutch transmission debuted in the M3 a couple years back, and it was BMW's first such transmission. Thanks to lickety-split shift times, the dual-clutch automatic gets the Z4 to 60 mph a hair faster than the stick shift. (This is the norm for dual-clutch automatics, a reality that I, a stick-shift purist, have only grudgingly accepted.)
All-disc antilock brakes bring the Z4 to a quick halt, though I noticed that the first few inches of pedal travel exact minimal braking. Other editors found that helped fine-tune deceleration, but I prefer the Boxster's brake pedal, which felt more linear.
If the 300-horsepower sDrive35i's $51,650 asking price is too steep, the normally aspirated, 255-hp sDrive30i starts at $45,750. It hits 60 mph in 5.6 seconds with the manual and 6.0 seconds with the automatic — likely a noticeable enough difference from the twin-turbo engine for you to feel in everyday driving, especially when comparing the automatics. Here's how the drivetrains compare:
