2009 BMW Z4 Review

[BmwDubai]

BMW really needed to rescue their coupe reputation with the Z4, as the previous model, the Z3, was generally regarded as a bit on the limp side and not at all that pretty.

Enter the Z4 in 2003, with a bold new shape, some more serious power and a more ‘aggressive’ driving feel. Notice the facial similarities between the 6-Series coupe and convertible, and this car although smaller all around, came along as a drop-top and a tin-top, like the 6.

This was the start of the new era of BMW design. And some loved it; others were less impressed. But, it is generally agreed that the Z4 is a bit of a ‘grower’ – spend a little time in its company and you could well learn to love what was at the time of its launch considered to be some rather wild style.

2009 BMW Z4There’s that sharky face again, a fairly flat and coupe-length bonnet and short overhangs showing-off that wheel at each corner look to the full. It’s only along the sides of the car that the design lines start to chop and churn like waves on a windy night at sea.

It was these upper and lower, heavily-accentuated creases in the door-area metalwork that confused the public on the car’s initial release, but time has been kind to this coupe with most people warming to the busy styling and sales doing quite well all over the world. And anyway, pushing the styling aside and to the back of your mind is easy when a car handles as well as the Z4 does.

BMW has done their usual trick of mating a tight and fairly lightweight chassis with a state-of-the-art and also lightweight suspension set-up that really lets the car dance through the bends, and this is what many consider to be the most important thing when it comes to sports coupe motoring – a fairly small and nimble, lithe and quick-witted car that will see you smiling wider and wider as you tackle your favourite driving roads one more time, just for the fun of it.

2009 BMW Z4

The tin-top coupe will, of course, be a little stiffer than the convertible car; even BMW with their almost unmatched chassis-making skills cannot entirely eliminate the chassis flex that chopping the roof off a car will cause, but with this convertible BM, they got pretty close. So, you can have your roof-down-fun without sacrificing too much in the twists and turns.

But the best chassis in the world is nothing without a forcefully thrashing engine up in the front, and with the two engine choices offered here in the Middle East, you get just that. The ‘base’ 3-litre, straight-six, petrol engine makes 261bhp and 315Nm of torque, and with the smoothness and high-revving capability generally associated with a ‘long’ six it can be the perfect engine configuration for a coupe.

2009 BMW Z4Nearly as perfect as the bigger-bored and tuned version of the same engine that goes into the top-of-the-range M model – a gutsy 3.2-litre, 338bhp unit from the outgoing M3 – more than enough grunt to get this coupe well on the boil. All of this adds up to a top-draw coupe that is well worth a test drive of your own.

SOURCE: http://automiddleeast.com/2009-bmw-z4/