BMW Z4: Escaping the screen age

The comeback I didn’t expect

I first drove the Z4 at a BMW Roadshow back in 2005 and, to be honest, I forgot about it almost as quickly. I was always the sedan guy anyway. If it had four doors, a straight-six and a proper amount of sportiness, it pushed all the right buttons for me. My BMW obsession stayed firmly focused on the 5-Series and once that grew into a small yacht, shifted to the smaller 3-Series, which these days is about the same size as the old 5-Series, just better at pretending it isn’t. I did have some cabrio lust back in the day, but after a stint with a Peugeot CC, I realised I wasn’t chasing the wind – I was just chasing problems with a folding roof.

Fast-forward fifteen years and car industry had already taken a strange detour: a parallel universe where screens and buttons somehow mattered more than the driving itself. And then, by some accident of fate, I stumbled upon the Z4 again. It simply delivers a lot of pure driving pleasure for surprisingly little money.

Short wheelbase, zero apologies

Ladies and gentlemen, roadsters may not be the first thing you associate with BMW history, but make no mistake: in its purest form this thing is every bit a real BMW. A straight-six up front, textbook weight distribution and a properly low center of gravity. And here’s the best part: the Z4 sits lower and is shorter than the E46 it borrows its bones from. Which means the unmistakable BMW character, that polite nudge that you should actually drive the thing, is right there.

It changes direction faster, rolls less and feels more wired directly to your nervous system. How could it not? The wheelbase is 23 centimeters shorter than the E46. The steering, electric long before it was fashionable, never lost feeling the way it did in BMW’s F-series a decade on. Occasionally it slips into this playful, toy-like agility. Not a go-kart, but close enough that former E46 coupe owners say things like:

Feels like the weight disappeared from the top of the car.

Give me the rough stuff

With the tech reduced to only the essentials such as the engine, chassis and steering, the Z4 delivers something modern cars can’t fake: a raw, mechanical, beautifully analog driving experience engineered long before dashboards turned into iPads. You’ll be glad to see the good old handbrake. Not that you’ll actually need it, and being a proper BMW there’s a decent chance it isn’t working quite as it should, but it’s there and it adds that wonderfully authentic analog vibe to the interior.

A road, a straight six and nothing fake about it

I pushed it on a road that offered the full tasting menu of driving: tight bends, long sweepers, straights and climbs. The 3-liter straight six is an old friend that has accompanied me across countless alpine passes in various BMWs all over Europe. But in the Z4 it feels different. More rewarding when you wind it out, delivering a responsiveness you simply don’t get from most other BMW with the same M54 engine. The mechanical sound generator feeding the cabin from the airbox gives it a character that is sportier but never obnoxious.

Analog joy in a digital world

The gears are short, so your right hand never really gets a chance to relax. Ah, the joys of a naturally aspirated engine and that famous BMW silky smooth zing when it starts to sing: the linear power delivery and the instant throttle response. This is exactly why we are here. This particular car came with a bit of extra spice. It had an aftermarket limited slip differential and KW V1 adjustable suspension. You lose some long distance comfort, but it pays you back with a tighter, more confident stance.

Hair in the wind, heart in the drive

The Z4 is perfect for relaxed road trips where her hair dances in the wind, yet at any moment you can turn onto a twisty mountain road and let it come alive. You will not be the fastest out there in a twenty year old roadster, but you will absolutely experience something better: pure, honest driving pleasure. If your lust for an upgrade starts kicking in, the Z4M is the obvious temptation. Proper hydraulic steering and a much larger treasure under the bonnet, the high-revving S54. A glorious thing, but an entirely different story and an even more ambitious budget.