BMW Z4 sDrive30i: The ultimate sun-tanning machine
LOVELY car, lovely to take a long drive in, and more than decent around the track
Critics will argue that a convertible in the Philippines, particularly in Manila, is about as useful as another hole in a man’s head.
That’s probably because these critics have never sampled a convertible, driving top-down on a deserted stretch of road, cool breeze massaging your scalp and the sun, preferably setting, or still rising, on your face.
The Z4 sports the classic roadster architecture: long, low nose, a short rump, and only very supportive 2-seats. The cockpit really envelops around you in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s tight, but definitely very caressing and intimate, without getting too personal like older BMW roadsters did. The folding soft-top is gone, replaced by a metal-folding tin-top that looks amazing as it unfolds itself, origami-like from the boot. Doing so is so dramatic. People stop and stare when the trunk cantilevers backwards to expose the folded tin-top, which raises itself quickly.
While BMW prides itself to make joy on wheels, i.e., the ultimate driving machine, the Z4 just overpowers your senses: top-down and the noise and rambunctious ride dominate the experience. Sure the BMW handles really well, stops, goes and steers like it was connected to your brain. But the seating position, almost below your arse, means that the Z4 feels quite rowdy, a bit of a handful than it actually is. You learn to trust that the grip won’t give out easily, and the non-intrusive electronic aids add an extra layer of security so you don’t get yourself in an embarrassingly expensive situation. The all-aluminum suspension, significantly fettled and revised from the previous model, helps a lot, and also cuts down unsprung weight, which helps handling and improves ride comfort and smoothness.
SEATING position is excellent, very low, and puts you in a proper adventurous driving
Seating position is excellent, very low, and puts you in a proper adventurous driving mood. Might be a tad low for drivers unused to a proper sports car, especially with jeeps, trucks and buses sharing real estate with you on the road. But the low seat just enhances that go-kart-like feel. The steering wheel is a proper 3-spoke tiller, and the dash architecture is a handsome shape that is both classy and sporty at the same time. There’s a sport and normal mode buttons beside the gearshift, which sharpens up the throttle response and weighs up the steering for more aggressive driving and less sensitive at high-speed touring. There are four sets of controls for the dual-zone climate control which, from a glance, mimics auxiliary analog gauges made popular by the sports car and hotrod crowd from the ’60s, the golden era of sports cars and sporting GT’s in Europe.
The controls are just what the doctor ordered: firm, meaty, accurate and responsive. The steering feels really good, unlike those over-assisted, aggressively self-centering electronic systems you find commonly on mass-market cars. The long-travel brake pedal is firm, so coming from a regular car, it takes some getting used to. Ditto the throttle pedal, which unleashes a sonorous straight-six wail when you floor it, made even better with the top-down, a long wall on one side to help the al fresco acoustics better.
With the roof up, the Z4 has almost coupe-like qualities of isolation and refinement, but there’s still enough din from the foot-well to remind you that this is a sports car first and foremost, a luxurious romantic grand tourer second which, if you don’t mind the mild acrobatics, is easy enough to use every day. The boot is surprisingly big for a small car: You can stow two weekend bags for a romantic getaway out of town, even with the top down as there’s a special recessed area that holds bags in place. Being stylish now means your practically isn’t thrown out of the window with the new Z4.
THE Z4 just overpowers your senses.
I got to try the sDrive30i which comes with a 3-liter inline six, codenamed N52B30, producing 255 hp and 300 NM of torque, attached to a 6-speed automatic transmission with manual override controls on the steering wheel. You’d think a straight six engine is heavy, but is the world’s first engine with the block made entirely out of aluminum and magnesium. The cylinder sleevs are aluminum, and the block is magnesium which offers impressive lightness, stiffness and high heat conductivity. The controls on the steering wheel seem redundant as the engine is very torquey: you only ever need to downshift if it’s a really tight and slow hairpin corner. A 6-speed manual is available, and an 8-speed automatic, found on BMW’s newer models is also available on other variants of the Z4.
And with the top down, it is one serious attention seeking junkie, definitely not one for the shy types. People will look and stare as you blast and scream down busy roads (ok, at legal speeds of course) with the top down.
Lovely car, lovely to take a long drive in, and more than decent around the track. But drive it with the top down in the wee hours of dawn, or at dusk to enjoy a breathtaking sunset. It’s the best, most enjoyable and most interactive way to get a tan.
