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.
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]
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 into the door sills and had body panels which could easily be removed and replaced; the car could be driven with all its body panels removed for weight reduction and increased performance.[4] Only 8,000 examples of the Z1 were produced.[5]
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]
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]
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 was manufactured on 27 August 2008 at the Spartanburg plant.[17]
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]
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 shares its platform with the J29 Toyota Supra and is manufactured in the same plant in Austria.[24]
Production and sales
The following are the production and sales figures for Z models, excluding the Z1:[25][26][27][28][29]
The BMW Z9 (or Z9 Gran Turismo) is a concept coupé introduced at the 1999 Frankfurt Auto Show,[34] with a convertible variant later unveiled at the 2000 Paris Auto Show.[35] 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.[36] Much of the styling found on the E63 6 Series is also derived from the Z9.[37]
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