A pure-bred roadster, more sporting and visually appealing than ever: this is the BMW Z4 for model year 2023. The latest version of the open-top two-seater incorporates a raft of detail updates, brings fresh design accents to the exterior, expands the range of standard equipment and adds new items to the options list. The new features underscore more than ever the sporting character of the BMW Z4. In so doing, they provide the ideal ingredients with which to build on its success story as both a symbol of pure driving pleasure in the Bavarian premium carmaker's line-up and the global leader in its market segment. The BMW Z4 brings the traditional roadster experience to the modern era, with its powerful engines and rear-wheel drive, a vehicle concept centred around agility and dynamic excellence, a classical fabric soft-top roof and a progressive, premium ambience inside the cabin. Its external appearance exudes sporting potency elevated to new heights, the exterior features of the M Sport package - which are now also included as standard for the four-cylinder models - making this immediately apparent. With standard specification having been expanded and the structure of the offering streamlined, the Advantage, Sport Line and M Sport equipment lines are no longer featured. A wide selection of exterior paint finishes (three new variants are available), additional M light-alloy wheels in 19-inch format and M lights Shadow Line provide extra scope for customers to put their own individual stamp on the BMW Z4.
Continuing the successful roadster tradition at BMW
With its hallmark BMW sporting prowess, the BMW Z4 draws inspiration from the historic roots of the brand. The history of BMW roadsters as the epitome of driving pleasure and success on the race track extends back to the company's formative years as a carmaker. And the brand's open-top two-seaters have also represented important staging posts in the development of BMW in the more recent past. The BMW Z1 unveiled in 1987 was developed by BMW Technik GmbH as a showcase for innovation and captured the imagination with its front-mid-engined design, slide-down doors, steel monocoque and plastic body panels. Some 8,000 examples were delivered to customers between 1988 and 1991, and today each is a much-coveted collector's item. The BMW Z3 presented in 1995 was the brand's first model to be produced exclusively at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in the USA. The BMW Z3 was introduced to the public on the silver screen - as James Bond's service vehicle in the film GoldenEye. Four years later, a Hollywood premiere as a cast member of a Bond blockbuster also brought the BMW Z8 to worldwide attention. In the 1999 movie The World Is Not Enough, the roadster bewitched audiences with its classical lines recalling the legendary BMW 507. Under the sweeping bonnet of the hand-built BMW Z8, the 5.0-litre V8 engine with 294 kW/400 hp originally developed for the BMW M5 put in a spectacular performance in cinemas and on the road alike.
High-revving engines, sophisticated chassis technology
Instantaneous power delivery, an enthusiastic appetite for revs, exemplary efficiency and the smoothness for which BMW is renowned are the signature characteristics of the three petrol engines also available for the new edition of the BMW Z4. The four-cylinder engine powering the BMW Z4 sDrive20i teams up as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox. The entry-level model can be ordered as an option with the eight-speed Steptronic Sport transmission that is standard specification for the other engine variants in the line-up. The Steptronic Sport transmission comes with shift paddles on the steering wheel and a Launch Control function for traction-optimised acceleration off the line. The exceptional status of the BMW Z4 when it comes to powertrain technology is embodied most prominently by the top-of-the-range model, whose six-cylinder in-line engine with M TwinPower Turbo technology is unmatched by any rival and displays outstanding performance attributes. The 3.0-litre, 250 kW/340 hp unit develops peak torque of 500 Nm (369 lb-ft) and powers the BMW Z4 M40i from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.5 seconds. The two four-cylinder engines, both with a displacement of 2.0 litres and BMW TwinPower Turbo technology, also stand out with their vivacious performance characteristics. The engine in the BMW Z4 sDrive30i generates maximum output of 190 kW/258 hp and peak torque of 400 Nm (295 lb-ft), enabling acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.4 seconds. With maximum output of 145 kW/197 hp and peak torque of 320 Nm (236 lb-ft), the BMW Z4 sDrive20i sprints from rest to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.8 seconds (automatic transmission: 6.6 seconds).
The third generation: six-cylinder in-line engine sets it apart
The current BMW Z4 has been on the market since 2020 and is built by BMW Group production partner Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik in Graz, Austria. The worldwide market launch of the new edition will get underway in November 2022. The engine line-up comprises a pair of four-cylinder engines and a six-cylinder in-line unit that gives the BMW Z4 M40i a genuinely unique selling point in its segment. The BMW M model has accounted for more than 30 per cent of worldwide sales of the roadster in recent times; in Germany the BMW Z4 M40i has posted a figure as high as 48 per cent. Over 55,000 units of the third-generation BMW Z4 have been sold worldwide to date. The most important individual market for the roadster is Germany, where around 26 per cent of all cars from the current model generation have been sold. Next up are the USA (with 17 per cent), China, the United Kingdom and Japan. In a generally diminishing vehicle segment, the BMW Z4 has maintained extraordinarily consistent sales volumes since it went on sale. From day one, it has been by far the highest-selling model in a hotly contested class populated exclusively by German premium brands. And it has consistently increased its market share ever since.
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