The BMW Z4 is a good car. It's good fun to drive, good to look at and generally good to own. It's a good car. There were few, if any, things wrong with it. But now, they've gone and made it gooder. Yes, yes they have.
How? If you're a fan of small cars, roadsters in particular, you know that weight is the enemy. BMW has always been smart about managing its organization front-to-back, famously making nearly all of its racy and highly desirable cars sport a 50/50 weight distribution. The Z4 is no stranger to this practice. As well, the Bayerische Motoren Werke AG have always attempted to keep most of the kilos between the axles.
For the 2012 model year, BMW has tweaked their small roadster and dropped the last remaining normally aspirated engine from its line-up. Gone is the 3.0L I6 and in comes the delightful 2.0L turbo-4. Loping off 1/3 of the cylinders would typically be a great way to reduce girth, but such is not the case here. The added plumbing, cooling and charger increase the car's overall mass by 10 kg, upping it to 1,480 kg. The upside is that most of the engine and its mass now sit behind the front axle as opposed to ahead. Nice.
With the new X1-shared, 2.0L engine, the Z4 has come into its own. Not that it was ever really out of sorts. Last summer, I pounded an [link 124040"]sDrive35is[/link] on the gorgeous race track that is the Circuit du Mont-Tremblant and was blown away by the sheer thrust delivered by the 335-hp version of BMW's venerable twin-turbo 3.0L I6. The sDrive28i doesn't quite deliver the same punch, but the pleasure is all there.
The 241 hp on tap arrives at 5,000 rpm, and all 258 lb.-ft of torque hang around from 1,250 to 4,800 rpm. Lag is practically nonexistent, especially when the Dynamic Driving Controller is set in Sport or Sport+. Regardless of the selected mode, not much takes place beyond 5,250 rpm. I found it best to shift early and get back into the power flow as quickly as possible every time.
From a standstill, the 4-pot can launch the Z4 to 100 km/h in just under 6 seconds, which is identical to what the 3.0i used to do. The real change is the projected 25% improvement in fuel economy. The fact that the 2012 28i retails for exactly the same price ($54,300 base) actually makes it somewhat of a bargain given the technology and vastly improved fuel economy.
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| The BMW Z4 is a good car. It's good fun to drive, good to look at and generally good to own. (Photo: Michel Deslauriers/Auto123.com) |
How? If you're a fan of small cars, roadsters in particular, you know that weight is the enemy. BMW has always been smart about managing its organization front-to-back, famously making nearly all of its racy and highly desirable cars sport a 50/50 weight distribution. The Z4 is no stranger to this practice. As well, the Bayerische Motoren Werke AG have always attempted to keep most of the kilos between the axles.
For the 2012 model year, BMW has tweaked their small roadster and dropped the last remaining normally aspirated engine from its line-up. Gone is the 3.0L I6 and in comes the delightful 2.0L turbo-4. Loping off 1/3 of the cylinders would typically be a great way to reduce girth, but such is not the case here. The added plumbing, cooling and charger increase the car's overall mass by 10 kg, upping it to 1,480 kg. The upside is that most of the engine and its mass now sit behind the front axle as opposed to ahead. Nice.
With the new X1-shared, 2.0L engine, the Z4 has come into its own. Not that it was ever really out of sorts. Last summer, I pounded an [link 124040"]sDrive35is[/link] on the gorgeous race track that is the Circuit du Mont-Tremblant and was blown away by the sheer thrust delivered by the 335-hp version of BMW's venerable twin-turbo 3.0L I6. The sDrive28i doesn't quite deliver the same punch, but the pleasure is all there.
The 241 hp on tap arrives at 5,000 rpm, and all 258 lb.-ft of torque hang around from 1,250 to 4,800 rpm. Lag is practically nonexistent, especially when the Dynamic Driving Controller is set in Sport or Sport+. Regardless of the selected mode, not much takes place beyond 5,250 rpm. I found it best to shift early and get back into the power flow as quickly as possible every time.
From a standstill, the 4-pot can launch the Z4 to 100 km/h in just under 6 seconds, which is identical to what the 3.0i used to do. The real change is the projected 25% improvement in fuel economy. The fact that the 2012 28i retails for exactly the same price ($54,300 base) actually makes it somewhat of a bargain given the technology and vastly improved fuel economy.
 |
| The 241 hp on tap arrives at 5,000 rpm, and all 258 lb.-ft of torque hang around from 1,250 to 4,800 rpm. (Photo: Michel Deslauriers/Auto123.com) |