BMW Z4 (2010) Official!

This, is the new BMW Z4, officially unveiled by BMW following the leaked images earlier on. Of which we're wondering, following the first Z3, and subsequently the Z4, why isn't it called Z5? Well of course it shouldn't be, for if not, they can only go for another 4 models before they had to figure out new names. Of course, all manufacturers now had to constantly monitor the autoblogosphere, as we're always the fastest in leaking stuffs, and as usual, upon a leak that shows a good deal of the exact thing, official unveiling will follow suit. First off, lets talk about the looks, as since Bangle took over the designs of BMW, the discussion on the love/hate relationship between first time onlookers will almost always ensure a well heated one, generating emotions from either end of both 'dig it' or 'screw it' spectrums; which in this case, there are no exceptions, plenty will love it, plenty as well will hate the looks. Let's do a quick rundown.

First off, the new Z4 had ditched the soft top in favor of the hard top split fold, as you can see below, even thou its a two piece roof setup, it folds rather like a three piece, with the rear screen going upwards above the top roof, and both subsequently retreat to the rear hatch. This is very different from the types of first generation split fold hard tops, where the top and rear screen folds into what resembles a 'Z' and then only folding into the boot. This new configuration actually saves space, and allows for a more flexible approach towards the designing of the dimensions of the entire roof, blending into the overall design of the car better. Eliminating those embarrassing looking short roofs, which can be seen on the 206 CC or the 1st Gen SLK.

Next up, the overall bodyline of the new Z4 evidently resembles the current Z4, gone are those weird squirky eyes, replaced by these rather aggressive looking, pointy headlamps that's sure easier to get the car in front moving away from the fast lane as you're approaching. To the center, we can see those extremely large, elongated, widen, lengthened, broadened kidney grills, yes its huge, the grills are somewhat larger than those not exactly petite headlamps, signifying the arrival of the new kidney's that had already found its way onto the bonnet of the new 7 Series. There's also something else that's exceptionally huge in proportion that comes along the new Z4, that's the use of a really really huge bonnet, where conventional car design philosophy was changed forever from the Audi TT back in 1995, where we no longer see split lines along our bumpers, of which Audi merged the bumper and front grill as one piece, with the bumpr wrapping around the front headlamps, with the split line moving extended from the headlamps to the front wheel arch, (check out every single new car on the road now). BMW takes that a further step away by extending the bonnet split lines, extending it to cover the frontal part of the front wheel arch, and continue all the way to the A pillars, hidden by the garnish of the side indicator which was housed into what seems like a 'shark's grill' on the side, with a BMW logo. This is a step away from the original Z4's ingenious inclusion of the side indicator underneath the propeller logo. Also present, as if it wasn't busy enough, there's the huge S Drive plate on the side, telling everyone that your mom's a women. Yes, the S Drive was supposed to mean that this car is Rear Wheel Driven, yeah, like my 80 year old grandma doesn't know.



Another thing that's interesting, is the different approach to the V shape lines that draws towards the propeller logo on the front, where in the new facelifted 3 Series its 'elevated', the one on Z4 is 'sunken' in, where along the the sides there's another large V bulge that flows downwards, continuing on the new HUGE kidney grills. Moving to the rear, this is where the changes are very apparent, gone are those 'I do not know how to describe' rear lamps, and in comes the 6-Series inspired, rather conventional but much better looking rear assemblies, with very nice neon effect clusters going within.



One very interesting aspect in the new hard top roof, is the slight bulge on top, which not only improves aerodynamics, it also provides better headroom clearance, allowing better visual with the roof down, and in all adds to the appeal of a dynamism in design. The new Z4 looks evidently longer, sleeker, larger. It resembles the size of a Mercedes SL more, than those of an SLK. We have no figures here to suggest, but base on pure eye judgement. Of course the proportions of the vehicle would've easily distorted the perception on it's size.



Moving to the interior, its again a testament to BMW's new design language of going simplistic, with the new iDrive nicely in place, there's also 4 dials on the center console that controls vehicle dynamics and air cond, which is rather good, as you need not access iDrive to control these non-multimedia centric controls. The new gearshift is also here, which looks like a dildo for Mrs Ultraman IMO, nonetheless looks much better than our conventional gearshifts (or dildo). The multimedia screen placement is rather neat, (my personal favorite configuration) where it simply hides underneath the dash, rather than those that was housed in a double bulge tent (3 Series). The steering design was also new, with what seems like an inspiration from Honda's new steerings, consists of 3 metal-like spokes housing all the controls needed. In all, BMW's interiors are really getting better designed, and built is of course top notch standards. (Honestly speaking, I don't find any disparities between BMW, Audi and Mercedes Benz these days, in terms of interior build quality)



As for information on engine options, currently there's a choice of three, where it starts with the 2.5 I6 engine producing 204hp, moving up to the 3.0 I6 engine producing 258hp, both hearts connected to the rear via either a 6 speed manual or 6 speed automatic transmission. As for the top range 3.0 ltr Twin Turbo (Model 335i) generating 306hp, there's a 6 speed manual or a 7 speed dual clutch transmission, which is able to do the century sprint in 5.1 secs. So now let's wait for more details from BMW, and hopefully we could get you a more thorough report from then on. Here's some videos, and tonnes of photos. All Hi Res.









Source: BMW