Ultimate driving machine my arse!

[pesty]

I want my car back

Ive got a BMW Z4 while my car is on its way to be fixed.


beatiful car from the outside, love the interior seems well made even if some bits are a bit plasticy and the roof is fantastic but....

where is the power? ok its only the 2.2 but my god its so flat. and the steering is horible, its really vague and mushy and numb, just not a nice pleasureable experience to drive.

first chance Ive had to go for a proper spin before TG starts and I gave up after 10 minutes and came back, sports car my arse.

It changes direction quick enough even with the engine in the wrong place ( feels really nose heavy but perhaps thats just a consequence of what Im now used to) its just got no soul.

oh and there is too much body roll. has anyone ever bought one of these instead of a boxter? not if they have driven one they havnt id wager.

second hand boxter vs new Z4 no contest.


>> Edited by pesty on Sunday 4th December 19:54

[phil_dougan]

test drove a z4 and comletely agree with you, i found the car very nose heavy, especially when braking hard which is obviously to be expected with the engine being in the front, i also find the front of the car far too long gives the impression you are following the car round corners, but the z4 is still a good car and nice to drive but after driving a boxster i believe you become spoilt, the balance of the boxster placed in any situation whether it be on a track or on a country road is in my opinion suberb. Maybe the z4 is more of a posing/cruising car to the boxster which i have said on many occasions on here as the full packaged roadster. Definetly no competition from bmw. Obviously the latest M versions of the z4 are going to be quick and i doubt porsche would make the boxster any quicker due to the fact that it would probably embarass the 911.

[Marquis_Rex]

Welcome to the world of mainstream modern cars....

[pesty]

I forgot to add the brakes are over servo'd as well! Emergency stop or nothing
(mind you my car seems to have no servo assistance so again its probably a familiarity thing.)
oh and it has a girly clutch

Phil I made my post missleading. My car is a 964 but I used the example of a boxter as its in a similar class i.e softop.

I'm sure like you say the M cars and the new coupe will be awsome and my only experience is this 2.2 Z4 so not a full picture of the range.

Its just that I was so dissapointed I mean an MX5 is more fun whats that all about? these things are £25k before extra's

I like BMW's but this is a car that is more show than go. like you say more for posing than driving.

good points the de mister works realy well

>> Edited by pesty on Sunday 4th December 23:55

[Marquis_Rex]

I think even my E21 BMW is more fun than a 2.2 litre Z4 with much more direct and responsive steering.
However my E21s steering on a car today would probably make it unacceptably twitchy on the highway and could possibly invite some potential law suits in America

[a6khu]

Think you might have enjoyed the 3.0 better.Test-drove one of those before settling for a Boxster S! It's a bit safer in the wet(thanks to DSC) and easier to catch but in the dry,no contest at all. Sounds good though ,i must say,better than the same unit in other BMW's.Pops on overun too,which you don't get on the Box' ! The worst bit though was the ride.Left with a small backache after the 4hr test drive(no kidding,it was that bad-even on composite lightweight wheels). Not for british roads.

[tim993]

nothing good about standing by the side of the road next to a Z4. Had one for 6 months. month 2 the throttle body blew, bmw repaired it and said it was random bad luck. month 5 the throttle body blew again, this time they admitted that the throttles have been precarious since day one (as per many worlwide forums). Month 6 spent in a 1.0l polo belonging to the missus whilst arguing with BMW. Months 7 through 15 spent driving my solid 993

[DoctorD]

Well I've just bought an Alpina Roadster S and I used to own a Boxster S (plus numerous 911s over the years). The Alpina is a much more capable car with bags more character than the Boxster. I'm not sure how you can compare a 2.2i Z4 with a Boxster, do Porsche make something that low down the food chain? There are two problems with the standard Z4, the run-flat tyres which it was never properly designed to use and the electronic steering which tries too hard to adjust for kick-back and loading on the front wheels and just ends up producing a horribly unpredictable feel to the steering. Particularly bad on poor road surfaces. Alpina ditch the variable nature of the steering and ditch the run-flat tyres and then the true ability of the Z4 chassis shows through. I tried to buy a 3.0i Z4 but just couldn't, it was far too compromised. Arguably BMW should only have produced top-end models like the Alpina and MZ4 versions and kept the 'sports car' label for those models that could actually pull it off.