BMW Z

The BMW Z models are a line of roadsters manufactured by German automaker BMW. The Z stands for zukunft (German for future),[1] and has been produced in four different series with six generations consisting of roadster, coupé, sports car, and concept variants.

BMW Z
Overview
ManufacturerBMW
Production
  • 1989–1992
  • 1995–2016
  • 2018–present
Body and chassis
ClassSports car (S)
Body style
LayoutFront-engine, rear-wheel-drive

The introduction of the M Coupé and M Roadster in the Z3 line marked the first of the Z series to have a high-performance BMW M variant. The first generation Z4 also continued to offer M Coupé and M Roadster variants. The current Z4 (G29) uses BMW's (B58B30) inline-six, its platform is the basis for the current Toyota Supra.[2]

BMW Z1 (E30 based; 1989–1991)
Main article: BMW Z1
BMW Z1
BMW Z1

The BMW Z1 is a two-seat roadster developed by BMW and was produced from March 1989 to June 1991. It was based on the E30 3 Series platform.[3] The Z1 featured unusual doors which, instead of opening outward or upward, dropped down into the door sills and had body panels which could easily be removed and replaced; the car could be driven with its body panels removed.[4] Only 8,000 examples of the Z1 were produced.[5]

BMW Z3 (E36/7/8; 1995–2002)
Main article: BMW Z3
BMW Z3 Roadster
BMW Z3 Coupé

The Z3 was the first modern mass-market roadster produced by BMW.[6] It was introduced for the 1996 model year shortly after being featured in the James Bond movie GoldenEye. More than 15,000 were sold by the time the car was introduced.[7] The Z3 underwent a facelift in 1999 with the introduction of a coupé bodystyle and featured revised styling, before the end of its production run in 2002.[8] The coupé had controversial styling and was nicknamed as "clown shoe".[9] It was manufactured and assembled in Spartanburg, South Carolina.[10]

BMW Z8 (E52; 2000–2003)
Main article: BMW Z8
BMW Z8
BMW Z8

The Z8 was produced from 2000 to 2003 and was the production variant of the 1997 Z07 concept car, which was designed by Danish Henrik Fisker at BMW's DesignworksUSA.[11] The Z07 originally was designed as a styling exercise to celebrate the 507 roadster of the 1950s, but the overwhelming popularity of the concept spurred BMW's decision to produce a limited production model called the Z8. 5,703 cars were built, approximately half of which were exported to the United States.[12]

BMW Z4 (E85/E86; 2002–2008)
Main article: BMW Z4 (E85)
BMW Z4 Coupé
BMW Z4 Roadster

The first-generation BMW Z4 was known as the E85 in roadster form and E86 in coupé form.[13] It was designed by Danish BMW-designer Anders Warming.[14]

The Z4's design addressed many criticisms of the preceding Z3; it was larger and featured a significantly stiffer chassis.[15] The Z4 was initially only available as a roadster, but a coupé version was officially launched in 2006.[16] The last model rolled off the assembly line on 27 August 2008 at the Spartanburg plant.[17]

BMW Z4 (E89; 2009–2016)
Main article: BMW Z4 (E89)
BMW Z4
BMW Z4

The second-generation Z4 was announced on 13 December 2008[18] and debuted at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit the following month.[19] It is the first Z Series model to use a retractable hardtop and meant that there were no longer separate roadster and coupé versions of the car.[20] The top is made of a two-piece lightweight aluminium shell and takes 20 seconds to operate.[21] Manufacturing was moved from Spartanburg, United States to Regensburg, Germany.[22]

BMW Z4 (G29; 2018–present)
Main article: BMW Z4 (G29)
BMW Z4
BMW Z4

The G29 Z4 is the third and current generation Z4 and was unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on 23 August, 2018.[23] It reuses the soft-top convertible roof found on the E85 Z4 instead of a retractable hardtop which now takes 10 seconds for operation. The G29 Z4 also shares its platform with the fifth generation Toyota Supra and is manufactured in the same plant as the Supra.[24]

Production and sales

The following are the production and sales figures for Z models, excluding the Z1:[25][26][27][28][29][30]

Year Production EU sales US sales
1996 - 15,040
1997 57,100[31] 30,954 19,760
1998 53,000[31] 27,776 20,613
1999 51,000[31] 24,268 20,062
2000 42,800[31] 18,681 16,699
2001 39,579[31] 17,358 15,884
2002 26,428[31] 10,749 10,490
2003 52,016[31] 24,224 20,324
2004 38,483[31] 18,593 13,654
2005 28,808[31] 14,137 10,045
2006 30,981[31] 15,844 12,284
2007 28,383[31] 15,281 10,097
2008 18,006[31] 6,116 5,879
2009 22,761[31] 13,497 3,523
2010 24,575 13,153 3,804
2011 18,809 9,417 3,479
2012 15,249 7,508 2,751
2013 12,866[32] 5,970 2,480
2014 10,802 5,373 2,151
2015 7,950 4,093 1,829
2016 5,432 3,006 1,187
2017 - 244 502
2018 - 125 4
2019 - 9,681[33] 2,941[34]
Total: 585,028 271,086 211,354

Z9 Concept (1999)
Main article: BMW Z9
1999 BMW Z9 Concept

The BMW Z9 (or Z9 Gran Turismo) is a concept coupé introduced at the 1999 Frankfurt Auto Show,[35] with a convertible variant later unveiled at the 2000 Paris Auto Show.[36] The vehicle features unique gull-wing doors that also opened like a conventional hinged door and innovations such as an early concept of BMW's iDrive system, called the Intuitive Interaction Concept, were incorporated into other production vehicles.[37] Much of the styling found on the E63 6 Series is also derived from the Z9.[38]

gollark: > And? Who wouldn't want a phone which you dont need to plug anything into, it's got no holes<@617750798960558091> I like my phone to actually have usable wired I/O to... connect it to things?
gollark: They are increasingly rare.
gollark: <@320337671744520192> Modern phones have incremental improvements over ones from a few years ago at best, and in some cases (headphone jacks) actual regressions.
gollark: I assume you would just have it glowing with all the different spectral lines.
gollark: About 10.

References
  1. Toma, Sebastian (2017-05-15). "BMW Z4 Replacement Will Not Be Called Z5, Company Official Says". autoevolution. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  2. "What's the best BMW Z car?". BMW BLOG. 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  3. Oswald, op. cit., p. 258. Production was to commence in June, 1988 but was delayed until March 1989.
  4. "Retro review: the oddly doored BMW Z1". Top Gear. 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  5. "1989 - 1991 BMW Z1 Review @ Top Speed". Top Speed. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  6. "1996-2002 BMW Z3". www.hemmings.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  7. Meier, Jeff. "z3roadster.com - Smiting swarms of untamed hippos since 1997".
  8. "AutoSpeed - New Car Test - BMW Z3 2.2i Roadster". www.autospeed.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  9. "BMW Z3M Coupe For Sale: Clown Shoes are getting expensive". www.bmwblog.com. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  10. "Last Z3 Roadster rolls off line at BMW Manufacturing | BMW US Factory". www.bmwusfactory.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  11. "Henrik Fisker's 'Timeless' Automotive Designs". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  12. "BMW Z8 models for sale starting at $360,000". BMW BLOG. 2015-04-16. Archived from the original on 2018-10-28. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  13. "AustralianCar.Reviews: #1 for Reviews and Used Car Valuations". australiancar.reviews. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  14. "Design to Reality: the Z4 Roadster". AutoFieldGuide. Archived from the original on 2009-01-12.
  15. "2003 BMW Z4". Road & Track. 2012-11-06. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  16. "2006 BMW Z4 3.0si Coupe". Car and Driver. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  17. "The last BMW Z4 built at Spartanburg Plant". BMW BLOG. 2008-08-31. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  18. "2009 BMW Z4 Review: The New Landshark has landed". Autospies.com. 2008-12-14. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
  19. "Detroit Auto Show Preview: 2009 BMW Z4 Roadster". Road & Track. 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  20. "2009 BMW Z4 Convertible - Prices & Reviews". www.autotrader.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  21. "New BMW Z4 to debut on Jan 11th". iCars Singapore. Archived from the original on 2009-03-01.
  22. "BMW Z4 finds home in Regensburg". Automotive News. 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  23. Constantine, Chris. "BMW Teases New Model Ahead of Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance". The Drive. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  24. "Toyota Supra to be little more than a rebodied BMW Z4?". Autoblog. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  25. "BMW Z3 US car sales figures". carsalesbase.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  26. "BMW Z4 US car sales figures". carsalesbase.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  27. "BMW Z8 US car sales figures". carsalesbase.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  28. "BMW Z3 US car sales figures". carsalesbase.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  29. "BMW Z4 European sales figures". carsalesbase.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  30. "BMW Z8 European sales figures". carsalesbase.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  31. http://www.autointell.com/european_companies/BMW/business-figures/BMW-business-figures-1997-2006-WB.xls
  32. http://www.bmwgroup.com/e/0_0_www_bmwgroup_com/investor_relations/downloads/_pdf/InvestorPresent_March_2014_online.pdf
  33. "BMW Z4 European sales figures". carsalesbase.com. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  34. "BMW Z4 US sales figures". carsalesbase.com. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  35. "1999 BMW Z9 Review @ Top Speed". Top Speed. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  36. "BMW Z9 Convertible Concept". Motor1.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  37. "BMW Press Release: BMW Group at the 2001 North American International Auto Show". Press.bmwgroup.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  38. "10 things you did not know about the BMW 6 Series". MOTOR SHOW BLOG. 2015-01-11. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
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