Friday 14th December 2012

Tell Me I'm Wrong: BMW Z8

Harris wonders whether time was the ingredient needed to make sense of BMW's retro roadster

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I first drove a BMW Z8 on a race track. Short of testing a Formula One car at a motocross course, this was about the most pointless means of introducing a car to the person who was going to write about it. Because the Z8 was more of a cruiser than a sports car, wasn’t it?

I suppose it was – it’s just that, back in 2000, we didn’t quite know what the Z8 was trying to be, and this indecision appeared to be reflected by BMW itself. It wasn’t badged as an M-car, but it used the E39 M5’s powertrain in a lighter body.

Bond's was actually a Mustang underneath

And this is the trouble with the Z8. I still don’t quite know what it is – an opinion that becomes harder to maintain as values climb higher and higher. And higher. Is the Z8 a complete cop-out in the fortunate position of having been used by J Bond Esq (although his was actually a Ford Mustang in drag) or is it actually a gorgeous GT car built in such small numbers that collectors are right to get all frothy over them?

To drive, the E52 Z8 was pretty disappointing. Despite the knowledge that it had a far better power to weight ratio than the equivalent M5, and even though it tripped the timing gear a few tenths faster than the saloon, it somehow felt no more special to use. Remember, these were the days before fancy valves and intake resonators, so your 5.0-litre V8 was strangled by ample exhaust boxes.

The steering was rather lifeless, but the real killer was the understeer. If BMW was coy about its real intentions for the Z8, then the fact that it engineered as much oversteer out of the car as possible perhaps confirmed what many people suspected: this was a California cruiser. More than half of the 5,703 cars built ended up in the US, so this was probably a wise decision.

Teutonic blonde did not come as standard

And yet so many of us had visions of a real drivers’ car. In 2000, BMW M was in perhaps the best form of its life: the E46 M3 and E39 M5 were instant hits, the Z3 M Coupe was a cult all of its own, and what we – well, I – wanted was the Z8 to be the big M Roadster, but in a package that actually drove like a sports car, when in fact it was nothing of the sort.

The car sold slowly in the UK – being £80K and LHD only, that was always going to be the case. Initial depreciation was harsh, and then quickly became catastrophic as people decided the Z8 was less appealing than the latest Ferraris and Porsches.

Around this time Alpina got hold of the Z8. Actually, that’s not strictly true because Andy Bovensiepen, son of Alpina’s founder, worked at BMW on the Z8 project and once he’d seen the potential demand for a car with an automatic gearbox (and had been granted the necessary permissions by the parent company) he created the Alpina V8 roadster – basically a Z8 with the company’s 4.8-litre V8 and ZF auto ‘box. Over 500 were built, over half of which went to the states. But it still wasn’t a sports car.

Stunning looks promised much

Just look at the ingredients: BMW M, Alpina, a special spaceframe, rear-wheel-drive. It’s like being given the very best aged rib-eye and perfect King Edward potatoes and then producing a cottage pie – not offensive, but rather less than was expected.

So in the middle of the last decade, the Z8 was kind of where it deserved to be: a little unloved by people, mostly unloved by the market and nowhere near the serious car collector’s radar.

Then suddenly, overnight, the Z8 was big news. I have no idea what triggered the change – general enrichment of the population, a sudden art-deco retrospective splurge, the realisation that on paper the Z8 had about it the perfect ingredients for future success: scarcity, beauty and a decent badge?

It certainly is a beautiful car. Lighting by LEDs is now a common sight, but back in 2000 only the Maserati 3200GT could claim a set of rear lights as slinky as the Z8’s. The cabin was unexpectedly cool from a conservative brand like BMW too: central instruments and completely bespoke switchgear, which must have cost a fortune.

Has time made the Z8 less confusing?

You know what, writing this is actually proving to be quite cathartic, because I think I’m beginning to understand the Z8. Finally, after 12 years, it is beginning to make sense. What BMW built was a new classic car. The problem was that no one, neither journalist nor first owner - is ever going to judge a car in those terms, so the Z8 was poorly received. But once it had ceased being a new car, around five years after it was launched, the way it drove no longer mattered: it had earned its place as a very occasional cruiser and a static object, and in both of those roles it is a very desirable machine.

But for me the Z8 still serves as a reminder that the brand which has given us some of the very best drivers’ cars of the past 40 years has still failed to deliver a memorable machine built on a special platform and ideally placed to show Porsche where it can go stick the 911.

It makes Audi’s achievement with the R8 all the more admirable, and leaves the Z8 as a monument to what might, and should have been.

But what do I know? Please feel free to tell me why I’m wrong.

[don logan]

Looks fantastic (especially in black IMO)

The only place I`d like to drive one (again) is from Nice to St Tropez along the coast on a warm evening and not in any kind of a hurry / "spirited fashion"

Prices are ridiculously solid!

[don logan]

IDrinkPetrol said:

The Z8 is now exactly what it always was: a more modern take on the 507.
What more does it need to be?

I think I first approached it with the wrong expectations, I jumped in and expected it to be an "M" type of car, if I`d known what it was really about I would have been a LOT more forgiving!

[don logan]

SuperchargedVR6 said:

Krikkit said:

Beautiful car, surely the handling could be sorted with a bit of fettling, and you'd end up with something really desirable.

My thoughts too. Most dynamic short comings can be corrected with either in-house or aftermarket parts. IIRC, it was an American market only car, where 9/10ths precision isn't a top priority. I'm sure if it was Europised, it would be a nice car

But what in house bits were there?(apart from the fact that Alpina had a go but also added an auto box and insanely ugly wheels)

And who does aftermarket bits for a Z8?and why would they bother? (how much of it would they sell?)

[don logan]

Motorrad said:

I remember looking at one for 40 grand and thinking I could do better.....went to look at a really mint 993 was a whisker away from buying that when I bought a diesel Golf. Sometime I wish I could go back in time and slap myself........

BTW they're lovely cars but worth nowhere near the premium they command these days when looked at objectively.

I also came withing a gnats whisker of forking out for a Z1 but that's an entirely different kettle of fish.

My brother inlaw sold his for £42k (I`m guessing about 7yrs ago)but he`s a p3nis!

[don logan]

Devil2575 said:

Veeayt said:

In a word - styling exercise yes, driving machine no. The demand on Z8 means people prefer styling than driving in their cars.

I'm sure the Z8 drives fine. Maybe not if your surname is Clarkson or Needel, but what normal drivers actually care if they can't induce oversteer on the public road?

It looks great, I'd be it drives just fine and there aren't many around so it's pretty exclusive.

Don`t be under any illusion that Clarkson is anything but a ham fisted / club footed oaf behind the wheel who has been trained to perform huge slides that usually end clumsily on an even more HUGE piece of runway etc!

[don logan]

SuperchargedVR6 said:

don logan said:

SuperchargedVR6 said:

Krikkit said:

Beautiful car, surely the handling could be sorted with a bit of fettling, and you'd end up with something really desirable.

My thoughts too. Most dynamic short comings can be corrected with either in-house or aftermarket parts. IIRC, it was an American market only car, where 9/10ths precision isn't a top priority. I'm sure if it was Europised, it would be a nice car

But what in house bits were there?(apart from the fact that Alpina had a go but also added an auto box and insanely ugly wheels)

And who does aftermarket bits for a Z8?and why would they bother? (how much of it would they sell?)

I have no idea. What car is it based on, or is it a one off? I.e. what ever it's base is, use the sporting / M version bits off that. Maybe I should have said aftermarket or in-house "know how" instead of parts. The understeer could just be a simple geometry or ARB thing, which is easily sorted.

Me neither!

I remember being totally caught off guard by the understeer, I think I was expecting AC Cobra lairyness but got Chevrolet Matiz with 100psi in the front tyres! (ok slight exaggeration)

[don logan]

DJRC said:

don logan said:

IDrinkPetrol said:

The Z8 is now exactly what it always was: a more modern take on the 507.
What more does it need to be?

I think I first approached it with the wrong expectations, I jumped in and expected it to be an "M" type of car, if I`d known what it was really about I would have been a LOT more forgiving!

Perhaps;

A) If you knew a little more BMW history you wouldnt be so ignorant
and
B) Listened to BMW who said exactly this when it was launched you wouldnt be so ignorant.

But hey, we cant all know what we are talking about.

You know what? You're right, I feel so ignorant now you mention it, I should have listened to BMW!!! (if I had been interested)

Come to think of it, I really ought to have read the manual first too!

The shame!

Edited by don logan on Saturday 15th December 00:43

[don logan]

DJRC said:

don logan said:

DJRC said:

don logan said:

IDrinkPetrol said:

The Z8 is now exactly what it always was: a more modern take on the 507.
What more does it need to be?

I think I first approached it with the wrong expectations, I jumped in and expected it to be an "M" type of car, if I`d known what it was really about I would have been a LOT more forgiving!

Perhaps;

A) If you knew a little more BMW history you wouldnt be so ignorant
and
B) Listened to BMW who said exactly this when it was launched you wouldnt be so ignorant.

But hey, we cant all know what we are talking about.

You know what? You're right, I feel so ignorant now you mention it, I should have listened to BMW!!! (if I had been interested)

Come to think of it, I really ought to have read the manual first too!

The shame!

Edited by don logan on Saturday 15th December 00:43

Glad to hear you accept it. Now if you can just tell Monkey, perhaps he will stop writing tripe.

Perhaps

If you weren't so ignorant you might be better at detecting sarcasm!

Don't bother attempting to concoct some sort of retort because I won't be back here to appreciate it!