I don't remember exactly what sparked the initial interest in this car... I think it was actually just the TV spots. The ones where a guy hears a knock on his front door, he opens it to find a Z4 parked on his porch, and it says "Land Shark!" From then on, whenever I would see them on the road I would say "land shark" to my wife, if she was in the car. (If a maniac says "land shark" and no one is around to hear it, does he make a sound?)
After a while, I began to fall in love with the striking lines of this car, it's overall shape, and the way it sits on the ground... but it's styling really isn't for everyone... it is almost an acquired taste. It snags your gaze as it drives by, but in a quiet and surgical manner... like a hot nurse cutting shapes out of your chest with a very clean scalpel. Which is different from the Porsche or Ferrari method in which a Patrick Bateman type hacks at you with an axe and shouts "LOOK AT ME" just before stealing your wallet.
Now to the serious stuff. What actually draws me to this car? I said in the first post on this blog that I wouldn't post about old obsessions... but one forever ongoing obsession is the MG Midget. It is my dream car. No, it isn't fast, it isn't expensive. It is just a small, simple, 2-seat, British sports car. That is what I love. I had the chance to buy an Austin Healey Sprite, which is 99% the same as the MG Midget (Think GM/GMC cars), so I jumped on it. The basic, high-level similarities between the Z4 and the Sprite are what keep me attached to the BMW. Two seats, rear wheel drive, the abruptly flat shape of the bottom of the car, and the driving position just in front of the rear wheels. The Sprite also has a bigger sister, called the 3000, which loans a few other identity traits to the Z4 such as the sweeping lines pouring over the front fender, and arching over the rear wheel well.
Simple math time: Two seats + front mounted engine + rear wheel drive = Fun!
I am pretty ridiculous about minute details... so when I find something that checks all the important boxes, and has additional features that add to the overall pourage... that's when the obsession is created. For example: the BMW badge on the side of the Z4... it's raised off the car, like a hockey puck that's been glued on, but also doubles as the turn indicator! I think that's very clever. And on top of that, the placement of that badge intersects a line in the body work... which is aligned with the angle of the windshield. Minutia... but it didn't go unnoticed.
The Audi TT was a car I had my eye on for a while. The Mk I TT had very peculiar intersecting body lines as well... but they also had purpose, and made sense in the design of the car. I liked the TT for a long time, but I always felt like two different people designed that car, one in front, one on the back. It never felt cohesive. One day I decided to think about what "new" car I'd like to drive if I had the money to put to it. I had a short list, and the TT kept coming up, mainly because the Z4 seemed so far out of my price range. But after a very positive trip to Carmax, I decided to go window shopping, and saw that a used Z4 was the same price as most of the cars on my list. That did it. Now, no other car exists on my radar. The fever has just gotten worse as time goes by. Time to study!
The ultimate car has since been whittled down to the ultimate version of the ultimate car: BMW Z4 3.0si, model years 2006-2008, 6-speed manual transmission, silver or grey exterior, silver and black interior. The 3.0si is a 3-litre inline six cylinder motor... the "s" means it has been tuned to have a higher output than the stock 3.0i engine. It produces 255 horse power, 220ft-lbs of torque, and deals with 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. Traction control is also available, which lets you select how rigid the chassis is: "sport" or "comfort". Bluetooth connectivity and sat-nav is also available. I think it goes without saying that I want the convertible version, but the coupe is also a hell of a looker!
The changes through the years to the Z4 were pretty minimal, until 2009... when I believe they killed the aesthetic. It seems they turned it into a bloated "luxury convertible" for retired fat men... but I am just one person.
The price.
Well, that’s tricky, since they are all used at this point. But a reasonable price for all the options I want is between $20k - $27k. I'd imagine a fair bit of haggling would bring that top end down. I think that's very reasonable for what I'd be getting. I've never aspired to own a Lamborghini or a Bugatti... so my dream cars are much more within my reach. Which makes the game that much more maddening, but if you don't play, you'll never win. Or something. Hey, can I borrow some money?
