First Drive in the new Z4 Sdrive30i

[Treepusher]

Stopped by my local BMW dealer yesterday to help my wife deal with her lease-end X3. As we entered the showroom, there sat a pre-production model Z4 Sdrive30i in Black Sapphire/Coral, just under seven miles on the odometer. $53K on the sticker, with Comfort Access, Premium and Cold Weather packages.

I asked half in jest when I could take it out. The SA opened the showroom doors, tossed me the keys, grinned and said not to be in a rush about returning it. Lettuce to a hungry rabbit!

I spent the next two hours up and down the local highways and secondary roads, giving the car a good workout and generally comparing it with my si.

First off, the interior is both more luxurious and roomier. My wife mentioned she didn't feel as cramped as in our Z (I've never felt cramped!!!) but she was right. It is wider. Trunk space tho, with the top down--forgetaboutit. There is none. Or precious little, anyway.

Our pre-production model had a space--a small storage box--on the upper central dash, perhaps planned for the nav, with which the car I drove was not equipped. Whether the storage box is a standard item, I don't know and didn't ask. The thing was a PIA to close while driving.

Same six-speed tranny, no real difference there. Same N52 engine as in my si, so I saw no reason to push the car hard, as it had not been broken in yet. Very responsive to the pedal, plenty of grunt when asked, and the exhaust note is wonderful!

Excellent brakes, too--a mother duck and her ducklings decided to take a jaunt across a fifty-five mph area of a secondary road and jumped out right in front of me. I hit the brakes hard and we stopped NOW. Lucky for the ducks. The trucker coming at me in the opposite lane took far longer to stop, and the driver's expression was priceless (fortunately, he missed the ducks, too, but I was more worried about him braking into me!)

The electronic handbrake took some getting used to, but seemed to work well, once I got the hang of it. Don't trust the electronic gizmos, tho.

The steering wheel had its function buttons laid out differently, but was similar in overall appearance and feel. The redesigned dash is visually an improvement over the E85, but the dials weren't especially intuitive for the HVAC. The A/C kept us cool and comfortable in the 95 degree ambient temperature. Worked better than my own.

The car is definitely heavier in feel, which I found to be a plus on the highway, tho a detriment on the secondary roads. Steady as a rock, zero tramlining even with the RFTs. The ride was smooth, not at all harsh even over some less than stellar back roads. As a long-distance cruiser, this is a great car, and a very comfortable one, even with the standard non-sport seats.

And despite all the negatives with RFTs, these were nice. Good ride, the suspension and tires working together instead of against each other.

But with the extra weight, the new Z has lost some of the nimbleness that characterized the earlier Zs. The steering lacks the great road feel of the hydraulic-steering M versions, but it is both responsive and effortless, smoother than the electric steering in my own Z. However, the loss of feedback from the road to the wheel is noticeable. I think anyone coming from an M Roadster or M Coupe would be badly disappointed.

My impression is that this version of the Z has been designed less for the sporting enthusiast and more for the comfort of the older, more sedate driver.

Which may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your own point of view.

If I spent a lot of time on the highway, I'd prefer the E89 to earlier versions.

Hardtop--definitely cool, but took longer to deploy and tuck back down than my soft top. For bad weather/winter driving, a definite plus. And again, the trunk space might be an issue. No golf clubs going in there without a fight, sorry.

The exterior design is a personal thing. It was love at first sight for me with the E85. Many people hated it. I find the E89 blander, which will undoubtedly make it attractive and a better seller. I did like the flame-surfaced hood, but miss the design-element 'Z' on the side. Another plus is that the tonneau cover now fills the entire space, instead of the gaping leaf traps present on the sides of the downed cover in the soft-top version.

Both side mirrors had some sort of beveled edging, about a quarter-inch all around. Interfered with the view, caused distortion. I disliked that, but perhaps just a bug on that particular model. Hopefully the production models will not be so equipped.

So, overall impression: Nice car, comfortable car, solid car. Better on the highway, less fun on the back roads than my si, and certainly less fun than an M. Would I/will I buy one? Not without some serious trunk money. Really serious.

While I enjoyed driving the new Z4, I don't see enough 'improvement' over the current E85/86 version (which I still think is one of the most striking cars on the road) to justify spending the extra money.

The twin-turbo version might be more fun, tho I suspect the 'soft' steering will still be an issue. My dealer hadn't received one yet, and the stratospheric pricing when optioned out (pushing $70K) puts it well out of my price range anyway.

This was, again, a pre-production model, not for purchase. There may some changes made to the production version, which more of you may get to test-drive, so your experience with the car may be different than mine.

Hope this is helpful to anyone considering a new Z.

[MagneZium]

Thanks for the write-up! But you must be kidding or only mean that golf bags don't fit when the roof is down??!! Making a roadster like that wihtout room for golfbags (I'd expect it to fit two) would be suicide...

WHat you say confirms my fears that it is too soft and too much heading into SL-style. I would've wanted one, but only a very sporty version. We'll see if anything comes up (though no M-version and I don't see anything I'd really want to go for with that extra size and weight), maybe the Z1 will suit the bill?

[RocketJohn]

Shame about the electric steering feel... I guess that is to be expected... I wish BMW would shift away from massive luxo appointment on these level of cars and keep that up in the 7s and future 8s...

BMW is first and foremost about handling, you mess that up and you might as well get a Benz... Jamming ridiculous amounts of power to compensate for the weight is a bandaid...

[bronco6778]

It certainly looks to me that they're heading into SL territory with this one, and I'm sure it's intentional so they can slot a smaller roadster under it if the market allows. For now it probably won't have the effect on the depreciation of my Z3 that a more focused driver's car would, which I guess I applaud.