RE: BMW Z4 M Coupe | Spotted

[milu]

Mine had carbon leather dash. Not sure about the windscreen

[Court_S]

I love these. The looks are perfect to my eyes and they’ve ages really, really well both inside and out. I love them on CSL’s; they’re a cliched wheel choice these days but I don’t care. I’m sure there was a chap in here who had a grey one on CSL’s who either took or had some amazing pictures taken of his car in a abandoned warehouse.

Chap I work with ran a 3.0 for a few years as a daily. It looked so small and petit the car park even parked next to modern super mini’s.

[Mr Tidy]

Well after 5+ years of Z4 Coupe ownership I obviously think they are fantastic.

Even if I've "only" had 3.0Si models, which aren't exactly slow!

But I've also driven a couple of Z4 M Coupes and they are just so much more special.

IMHO the 3.0Si is 80% of the car for 50% of the money.

But that extra 20% is just amazing - if I could afford it I would have one. (Back to the thread about a Lottery Win).

[mwstewart]

Great engine but the E46 M3 is so much better looking and better to drive on the road.

IMO the Z4 is best in 3.0 guise.

[milu]

I had a E46 too. Possibly was better to drive from a suspension point of view, especially over bumpy roads.
I also love the looks of the M3 but I think both are great lookers. The z4 definitely more distinctive.

Interestingly the Z4 sounds better imo. It has a bassier exhaust note with less high pitch rasp which I preferred

[Niffty951]

mwstewart said:

Great engine but the E46 M3 is so much better looking and better to drive on the road.

IMO the Z4 is best in 3.0 guise.

I fully agree with your second point but the first I'm surprised by.

I had the Z4MC first and then later owned an E46 M3. The M3 was certainly safer and more predictable, but I was surprised how much less potent the same engine felt.

In the Z4 it felt incredibly strong, it used to respond to a prod of the throttle with a sharp crack and shoot off. In my M3 it felt like the powder had got a bit damp. It never felt eager to go, always like you had to really work it and use the top of the revs to accelerate or break traction in a bend.

The M3 was otherwise a great car, I'd probably have loved it if I'd owned them the other way around but having owned the Z4 ruined it for me.

[otolith]

E46 M3 just looks like a 3-series with some shiny bits to me. A smart car, but basically the same to look at as the diesel ones the salesmen are hacking up and down the motorway in. But that’s probably just my preference for sportscars over tuned family cars showing.

[Weekendrebuild]

You definitely need glasses . Rear arches quarters are flared widened / front wings are massively flared bonnet bulge / side grills completely different mirrors/ different front rear bumper / quad exhausts .

And that’s just the exterior in know way does an m3 look just like the diesel equivalent. More so a z4m just looks like a z4 .

[otolith]

Oh, I can see the bling. And yes, the Z4M looks a lot like a Z4. I just think Z4s look better than 3-series, bling or not.

[SidewaysSi]

I found the E46 M3 to be one of the most over rated cars of all time. With some mods they are better but pretty dull as standard.

[thelostboy]

Would love to try one of these. What are they, 100kg lighter than the E46 M3? Must go very well, but do remember reports of the time saying the ride is pretty awful.

However, surely the fundamentals are there to make a great car. I'm not so convinced about the front, but it's still a much better looking car than the push-me-pull-you looking Boxster/Cayman of the same era.

I like a soft top, but no doubting the Coupe looks far, far better.

[C7 JFW]

Driving one of these, is driving tastefully.

[nunpuncher]

Very nearly bought a z4mc years ago but ended up buying a roadster after test driving both. I'm used to pretty stiff suspension but the coupe just had me wincing at the site of manhole covers. I much preferred the look of the coupe and Mrs puncher was pushing for the coupe but it was intolerable on a 1hr test drive on Scottish roads.

In the end the roadster only lasted 6 months with me. I didn't mind the gearbox but the steering was a problem. I'm pretty sure mine had an issue as it felt like it had a mind of its own at times. I think with regard to other comments about the rear being a bit lively, that's exaggerated by the fact you sit so far back in the car so you feel every tiny bit of movement. It's a car I'll never revisit.

Someone earlier compared it to a budget gt4. It really isn't close in any way. I replaced mine with a boxster s and even that pissed all over the z4m.

Harris did a "tell me I'm wrong" article on the z4mc back when he wrote on here. That's worth a read.

[MikeyC]

These seem to be pretty rare cars, just noticed one up for auction next week

[Niffty951]

MikeyC said:

These seem to be pretty rare cars, just noticed one up for auction next week

That seat wear was definitely a common issue. Mine had that when 1 year old but thankfully BMW replaced it under warranty with no quibbles. It was such good customer service that I never forgot it.

Audi haha they wouldn't have even considered it! I know because I actually asked them when considering an RS3


I didn't buy the RS3. (This also related to safety understeer and the lack of a manual option)

[DoubleD]

Niffty951 said:

That seat wear was definitely a common issue. Mine had that when 1 year old but thankfully BMW replaced it under warranty with no quibbles. It was such good customer service that I never forgot it.

Audi haha they wouldn't have even considered it! I know because I actually asked them when considering an RS3

What exactly did you ask them?

[Niffty951]

DoubleD said:

Niffty951 said:

That seat wear was definitely a common issue. Mine had that when 1 year old but thankfully BMW replaced it under warranty with no quibbles. It was such good customer service that I never forgot it.

Audi haha they wouldn't have even considered it! I know because I actually asked them when considering an RS3

What exactly did you ask them?

I explained what happened and asked if they would do the same. They very honestly immediately said no.

[DoubleD]

Niffty951 said:

DoubleD said:

Niffty951 said:

That seat wear was definitely a common issue. Mine had that when 1 year old but thankfully BMW replaced it under warranty with no quibbles. It was such good customer service that I never forgot it.

Audi haha they wouldn't have even considered it! I know because I actually asked them when considering an RS3

What exactly did you ask them?

I explained what happened and asked if they would do the same. They very honestly immediately said no.

They are bound to say that. They would be admitting that a brand new Audi was faulty if they had said otherwise. BMW would have said the same, until a fault appears.

[Niffty951]

DoubleD said:

They are bound to say that. They would be admitting that a brand new Audi was faulty if they had said otherwise. BMW would have said the same, until a fault appears.

That's not quite what I asked. I asked if the seat were to wear prematurely, as it did in my BMW, would it be covered by the warranty? Or would they cover it as a dealership? They said no. They would not do that.

It would have been in their interest to say they'd consider it as I was thinking of buying a car from them.

[Mr Tidy]

Some interesting views on here!

I've had a 3.0Si Z4 Coupe for over 5 years now, and ran an E46 325ti Sport for over 3 years.

While I realise the E46 M3 has distinguishing features they are mostly on the outside, so I'd imagine sitting in the driver's seat it would feel much like sitting in any other E46 Sport model. (Although to be fair I haven't even sat in an E46 M3).

But my Z4 Coupe just feels totally different to an E46 as you sit much lower and just in front of the rear wheels with all that bonnet in front, which for me makes it feel like a Sports car!

I haven't owned a Z4M Coupe (yet) but having driven a couple the ride quality in both felt better than either of my 3.0Si Sport Coupes!

And FWIW according to Wiki the Z4M Roadster has a stiffer shell than the E46 M3 Coupe - the Z4MC is even stiffer which ought to help with handling so long as there is some compliance in the suspension.

When I finally get to scratch that "M" itch it'll definitely be in a Z4M - not only are they much rarer, but they don't seem to suffer from boot-floor cracks as the E46 does.

But that is just my POV, I can understand why others have different opinions.