Category: Affordable Sports 
Price Range: No data available
Conversation-piece looks, great engines, fine finish, solid feel, road-holding, well-engineered roadster hood, monstrous Z4 M
Looks aren't to everyone's liking, limited stowage space, hard ride in some versions
Intriguing-looking sports car that's a massive step up from the Z3, but keen drivers will still prefer the Porsche Boxster or Cayman.
The Z4 is tougher, wider, cleverer and more upmarket than the lacklustre Z3 it replaced - and around 10% more expensive. As before, this US-built range, which now comprises hot-rod two-seater coupes as well as the roadsters launched in 2003, is a classic long-bonneted, short-tailed, front-engined rear-wheel drive.
The engine line-up for the range, as of summer 2006, starts with the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder 2.0i (150bhp, roadster only). Then there's the six-cylinder 2.5-litre (177bhp or 218bhp outputs) and the 3.0-litre (265bhp) - and the 3.2-litre Z4 M, 343bhp and offered in both roadster and coupe form.
Transmission is now by six-speed manual gearbox all round, with an auto optional in 3.0-litre models - a conventional automatic, not BMW's SMG sequential 'manual'. The power steering is electrically, not hydraulically, assisted for the first time on a BMW, though the Z4 M models retain the hydraulic assistance for greater feedback and a meatier feel.
