The BMW Z4 is the latest in a line of BMW two-seat roadsters that dates back to the 1930s and cars like the exquisite 1936 328 and muscular 1957 507. BMW may have earned its North American chops with its seemingly endless stream of fine sport sedans, but the cars that first made BMW great were roadsters. And the current BMW Z4 is the direct descendant of those great cars.
The BMW Z4 succeeded the smaller Z3 when it went on sale in 2002 as a 2003 model. Far sleeker than the bulbous-nosed Z3, the Z4 had an almost sharklike nose and gill-like side scallops. So, naturally, it was nicknamed the "Land Shark" by some enthusiasts. Unlike the Z3, which had been offered with a four-cylinder engine, the first Z4 was sold in North America with six-cylinder engines exclusively. Later in the model run, four-cylinder engines were added as options for markets outside North America, and BMW's M division supplied its powerful 3.2-liter inline-6 to create the Z4 M Roadster.
Like the Z3, the first-generation BMW Z4 was assembled at BMW's plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
A hardtop coupe version of the BMW Z4 was added for 2006. And, yes, a Z4 M Coupe was part of the lineup. Never as popular as the Roadster, the fastback Coupe nonetheless distinguished itself as a fine-driving, hard-charging performance machine. And the BMW Z4 was fully established in the marketplace.
A second-generation BMW Z4 appeared for the 2009 model year. Building on the styling themes established by the first Z4, the second one looked similar in appearance but cleaner and more aggressive. The use of a retractable hardtop in place of the previous soft top on the roadster means a closed-coupe version of this Z4 is unlikely. And the availability of a twin-turbocharged six-cylinder engine likely indicates that a version powered by an M division engine isn't on the way. Interestingly, BMW also moved production of this BMW Z4 from South Carolina to its assembly plant in Regensburg, Germany.
The BMW Z4 is now established as BMW's mainstream two-seater and one of the world's premier touring and sporting roadsters.
