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Posted August, 2006

Road Test: 2006 BMW Z4 3.0si

By Thomas E. Bonsall

At Ride&Drive we're always proud to review the latest products of this Great Republic, such as the BMW Z4. What, you say? BMWs are German! Well, perhaps, sorta. These days you really can't tell the players without a program. The Z4 is assembled in BMW's plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. True, most of the parts come from the Olde Country (55 percent), as opposed to only 30 percent from the U.S. and Canada, but the workers who put 'em together are all Yanks. Whoops! They don't want to hear that in South Carolina! Scratch "Yanks" and substitute "Americans." Whew, that was close.

The Z4 has been around for several years now and is the successor to the similar Z3, which was produced for a few years before that (also in Spartanburg). In fact, the Z4 is essentially a reskinned Z3, so if you recall our review of the Z3 way back then you can probably stop reading right now.

The engine, which comes from Germany, is a 3.0-liter, dual overhead-cam, inline six. The transmission on our test car was a six-speed automatic with the Steptronic feature that allows the driver to shift manually in real time. All automatic transmissions can be shifted manually. The trouble is, what that means in practice is that you shift the gear lever and when it gets good and ready — and not a moment before — the transmission will carry out your order. In other words, with an ordinary automatic transmission, there is a lag time in response that makes attempts to shift manually highly unsatisfactory. Then Porsche introduced its Tiptronic automatic in the early 1990s. It was the first automatic programmed to perform manual shifts in real time, i.e., immediately. That created a mini revolution of sorts and most manufacturers today offer something similar, hence BMW's Steptronic. Anyway, it works well.

The exterior and interior styling of the Z4 is much more angular than that of its predecessor, with hard edges all over the place. The Z3 was all rounded, like a well-used bar of soap. Personally, I preferred the Z3. The Z4 appears — to me, at any rate — to be trying too hard. Styling is, of course, highly subjective.

Speaking as a former BMW owner and as a journalist who been testing BMW models for nearly three decades, I can testify that Bimmers are pretty much all a blast to drive on dry pavement. With my own Bimmer, though, I learned quickly enough that if I wanted to remain in the land of the living I had to cut my speed by at least ten miles an hour the moment the first raindrop hit the pavement.

More to the point of this review, about three years ago I was stranded with a Z4 in a light snowstorm (perhaps an inch on the ground) because the traction control kept cutting the power to the wheels. Having grown up in Northern Ohio where the snow drifts were often taller than I was, I learned how to power my way out of dicey situations. True, there was a lot of wheel spinning involved, but it was all in a good cause and usually worked. This maneuver is impossible with BMW's traction control because it won't let the wheels spin. I learned (too late) that there is a switch that will temporarily disable it. I suppose if you bought a Z4 you would actually read the manual and figure these things out before heading out into the dark and stormy night.

No one buys a Z4 for the fuel economy, but the 21 city/29 highway rating isn't bad for a sports car.

My overall impression of the Z4 is that it retains all the characteristics that made the Z3 such a delightful car to drive. With a $42,100 base price, though, its delights don't come cheap. (Our test car's final sticker was $51,120, including destination charges.) If you've got the money and like the looks, nothing else about the Z4 is likely to disappoint. R&D