A cool coastal breeze swirls through the cabin, faintly accented with the scent of oranges from the surrounding groves. A "Curvy Road Ahead" sign cautions a change of pace, but the 2009 BMW Z4 sDrive35i is ready.
Press the Sport button and feel the steering weight up. Brake for the first turn, blip the twin-turbo straight-6 and push the mechanical-feeling six-speed manual transmission down to 3rd. The cool breeze hastens and the smooth howl of 300 horses arises from under the epically long hood. This is the new Z4 at its finest, a car that redefines what a luxury roadster can be from the company that reintroduced the segment 14 years ago.
The all-new Z4 seems a world apart from its predecessor, a car seemingly designed by cleaver-wielding art school students and tuned to take on (unsuccessfully) Porsche's slick-handling Boxster. The new car is beautiful, catching impressed glances from those who pass by. It cunningly sets a new styling course for itself, while honoring successful aspects of BMW's roadster past — Z8 proportions, Z3 side gills, Z4 ducktail and 507 character lines. Best of all, it hides its lowered retractable hardtop without the telltale bulbous butt indicative of such convertibles.
But it's the 2009 BMW Z4's handling and performance that really signal its change in philosophy. Gone is the rock-hard ride, replaced by a supple suspension that makes the Z4 a plausible candidate for long-distance road trips (the hardtop and big trunk help, too). That twisty road through the orange groves was dispatched with control and skill, but BMW wisely now concedes truly aggressive motoring to the Boxster. This puts the Z4 more in line with the similarly priced and roofed Mercedes-Benz SLK — although with its more spacious and higher-quality cabin, polished ride and generally refined nature, the Z4 seems more like a budget alternative to the Mercedes SL. That makes the higher price for 2009 easier to swallow, although at $51,650, the sDrive35i has a higher base price than the outgoing Z4 M Roadster.
Yet progress comes with a price sometimes, and the 2009 BMW Z4 sDrive35i certainly represents progress (along with clunky trim names). For long drives through a cool breeze under the warm summer sun, the roadster has been redefined once again.
Press the Sport button and feel the steering weight up. Brake for the first turn, blip the twin-turbo straight-6 and push the mechanical-feeling six-speed manual transmission down to 3rd. The cool breeze hastens and the smooth howl of 300 horses arises from under the epically long hood. This is the new Z4 at its finest, a car that redefines what a luxury roadster can be from the company that reintroduced the segment 14 years ago.
The all-new Z4 seems a world apart from its predecessor, a car seemingly designed by cleaver-wielding art school students and tuned to take on (unsuccessfully) Porsche's slick-handling Boxster. The new car is beautiful, catching impressed glances from those who pass by. It cunningly sets a new styling course for itself, while honoring successful aspects of BMW's roadster past — Z8 proportions, Z3 side gills, Z4 ducktail and 507 character lines. Best of all, it hides its lowered retractable hardtop without the telltale bulbous butt indicative of such convertibles.
But it's the 2009 BMW Z4's handling and performance that really signal its change in philosophy. Gone is the rock-hard ride, replaced by a supple suspension that makes the Z4 a plausible candidate for long-distance road trips (the hardtop and big trunk help, too). That twisty road through the orange groves was dispatched with control and skill, but BMW wisely now concedes truly aggressive motoring to the Boxster. This puts the Z4 more in line with the similarly priced and roofed Mercedes-Benz SLK — although with its more spacious and higher-quality cabin, polished ride and generally refined nature, the Z4 seems more like a budget alternative to the Mercedes SL. That makes the higher price for 2009 easier to swallow, although at $51,650, the sDrive35i has a higher base price than the outgoing Z4 M Roadster.
Yet progress comes with a price sometimes, and the 2009 BMW Z4 sDrive35i certainly represents progress (along with clunky trim names). For long drives through a cool breeze under the warm summer sun, the roadster has been redefined once again.
source: edmunds.com/bmw/z4/2009/testdrive.html
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