The 2019 BMW Z4 Is Not a Hardcore Sports Car, But Here's Why That's Okay

Inside And Out

First things first: the G29 (the new designation for the current gen Z series) Z4 is as good looking in the flesh as it is in pictures. There's really a bad angle on the car. Now I'm a big fan of the looks of the old car, the E89 Z4, as well.

Sure, it does not have wide fender flares or a super aggro look to it, but so what? Neither does its class competitor, the Porsche Boxster, and I would very much argue that the Z4 is the most handsome car of the two.

The interior is just as good looking. From the driver's seat, the look is unmistakably BMW. You get the latest iDrive system and the fully digital dash that's also coming to the new 3 Series. This is a good thing, as BMW is really upped in its past couple years, though Mercedes is still the leader in this department.

The important bit, though, is that the Z4 has a huge amount of interior space for a small two-seater, and it's all covered in leather and Alcantara standard. It's so roomy I was able to adjust the seats to perfectly fit my 6'1 "frame and still had a bit of adjustment left in case -something-year-old man with the potential for a mid-life growth spurt at any moment.

With the top down-which you can do in 10 seconds at speeds up to 31 mph-the cabin obviously feels open and spacious, which may just be, maybe, because there is no roof. Wind intrusion is minimal for a hurricane.

More importantly, the Z4 does not get claustrophobic when the top goes up. It feels like a real sports car and not a coffin on wheels, as some smaller convertibles can feel. Even with the roof in place, it's a pretty roomy and comfortable place to be.

The reason for that sense of spaciousness is that the new Z4 has, well, more space. Everywhere. The sports car is now based on BMW's new modular architecture CLAR, a super flexible platform that underpins everything from this to the new 3 Series, 8 Series and X5. And, yes, the Supra.

As a result it's 3.35 inches longer, 2.9 inches wider and half an inch taller than the old car. Z4 comes in at 3,285 pounds and the six-cylinder is 3,549 pounds, about on by the last car. It has a 50:50 weight distribution as well. An increase in track (+ 98mm front and + 57mm rear) and shortening of the wheel base (-26mm) point towards a car that is more serious than its more pedestrian predecessor.

A big reason the Z4 is away from a huge weight gain is the new top, which reverts back to a soft top of the last-gen car's folding hard top. As much as I liked the hard top, the weight penalty was just too great and the wrong location. The soft top actually looks good in the raised position, and the on the road has a strong job in keeping a noise to a bearable level.

My only issue is the trunk. You get only 9.9 cubic feet of trunk space with the top down or up. BMW claims that it's 50 percent more spacious than the last Z4, but still, that's enough.

Can The Show Match The Go?

So it's lighter and it looks good, but does it move? To me, good looks mean nothing if there is not the performance to back it up. BMW goal made sure the Z4 had the chops to deliver, starting with the powerplant.

The M40i is motivated by a classic BMW 3.0-liter straight-six unit powered by a single twin scroll turbo. The engine puts out a very healthy 340 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque. That's only a few, but a substantial 37 lb-ft plus torque, and all of these are just 1,600 RPM. It's enough juice to drive the roadster from zero to 62 mph in just 4.6 seconds. Forget about the tired jokes about "hairdresser's cars." With highway speeds being achieved that quickly, I made sure to get my head straight in.

The 2.0-liter turbo-cylinder sDrive30i also puts out a respectable 258 HP and 295 lb-ft of torque. Expect that to hit 60 mph in the second row, but we did not get to that, I'll just have to take a look at BMW's word for it.

Either way in both the four and six-cylinder, power only goes through the BMW's eight-speed, paddle-shift ZF-sourced Steptronic Sport transmission. That's it. There is no manual option on the Z4 going forward which is definitely a knock on the Z's sports car pretensions.

But according to BMW, this gearbox is supposed to be the best of both worlds, offering quick and responsive manual control of the shifting when you want it and fully automatic shifting when you can not be bothered. Additionally, the 'box in the M40i has been specifically tuned to match the engines characteristics. And the ZF8 is good-we know that. It's in tones of cars for a reason.

However, no matter what the press releases say, this is still an automatic gearbox at heart. And its relatively languid shifts and lack of involvement dull a bit of the sports of the Z4.

On the suspension side, this roadster is also equipped with Adaptive M Sport suspension, M Sport brakes and an electronically controlled M Sport differential-all included as standard on the M40i. With all of these active systems in place, selecting Comfort, Sport, or Sport + all the way to the carter.

On The Road

As we were staying in Sintra, Portugal, we made it easy to hit the road and put the Z4 through its paces. Completely ignoring the road program by my BMW guides, I took off in search of the most squiggly lines I could fine on the map. That took me to the Atlantic.

As I've mentioned before, the roads here can be described as glorified goat paths. I think even the Portuguese goats look for better roads to get around. Between the rough, narrow road and the never ending stream of cyclists and massive busses, you need to be 100 percent focused on a BMW shaped smear on the side of the road.

However, the Z4 was more than up to the task. When I drove the massively admitted 850i through these roads the day before, it was possible to keep the Bimmer on my side of the road. But these roads were made for the convertible.

I can tell you this: it's not a pure sports car. The Boxster is definitely harder-edged and more focused on performance over comfort, even though it, too, is a pretty livable daily driver. But on these bad roads, the Z4 was an absolute pleasure. The adaptive suspension soaked up all of the rough patches-and there were many of them-while providing solid feedback and stability.

Switching over to Sport + definitely tightened things up on the front of the body. Again, it's a pretty radical character when you swap through the driving modes. Sport + does not result in Ferrari Fxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Where the Z4 really is with its engine. The 3.0-liter straight-six propels the Z4 off the tight corners like a rocket. RPM, you can just leave the car in whatever gear you like and the little Z will just pull. That being said, you may want to drop it to a gear or two just to hear the engine sing.

I did not care for this audio-techno trickery going on behind the scenes to make this engine sound so good when a muffled by a turbo-goal I did not care. With the top down I did not even bother turning the radio on, the engine was all I needed on this drive.

Speaking of the in-car electronics, the Z4 has the same instrument cluster and 10.25-inch display that its big brother the 850i has. I am in the 8 Series and they are no less impressive here. BMW, in conjunction with Harman International, has developed one of the best systems on the market. It is so many things that there is no way, in the short time I had allotted with, to go through and test them all.

But one of the cool features I found out after my drive was done, is the digital key. Tesla has been doing this for some time, and can be shared with other people. This electronic key works via Near Field Communication, meaning the phone has to be within the boundaries of the lock to work. So if you start noticing people putting their asses up to the doors of their BMWs soon, this is why. (At least, it should be.)

Early Verdict

At the end of the day, the very annoying hardcore sports car (and BMW) fans are likely to criticize the new Z4 as just another in a long line of "hairdresser cars." But I think that pigeonholing them in to that category does not t do the car justice.

Pricing for the Z4 has not been released yet (but is expected to be announced by the upcoming LA Auto Show) but expect the 30i to be in the mid- $ 50,000 range and show up in the spring of 2019. The Z4 M40i will follow up in the year, with pricing in the $ 60,000 range. This makes both cars competitive with a price point with their intended rival, the Boxster.

On the track, Porsche's roadster would be second ahead of the BMW. But on the drive the Z4 would be a more enjoyable place to be. This does not mean the BMW is a car-just less focused.

And the competition is slimmer than ever. The two-seat convertible sports car segment is shrinking, as BMW itself has admitted. There's the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro droptops, but I do not know how many people will really cross-trade those against this. The now-more-powerful Mazda Miata is smaller, more focused, cheaper and less powerful, but nowhere near as luxurious. There's the Audi TT, which lacks rear-wheel drive and is even less of a pure sports car. (Update: Somehow we forgot the Jaguar F-Type and Convertible Corvette Corvette, which are similar price-wise and, in the latter case, much more powerful. And they can be had with a stick.)

So besides the Boxster, this car's most interesting fight may be with its platform-mate, the upcoming Supra. I'm eager to see you that track battle goes down.

I do not feel that the Z4 needs to be considered a "real" BMW sports car. If you want hard edged, go buy an M2, but enjoy the Z4 for what it is: a sporty roadster that is livable enough for everyday life, around-town driving but still manages to be capable of canyon-carver on the weekends when your shift at the hair salon is done.