BMW Z4 M Coupe review: a 343bhp classic

This review was originally published in issue 154 (2006) of Top Gear magazine

From the outer rim of its thick steering wheel, to the very tips of its quad exhaust pipes, the Z4 M Coupe feels like it was built for people who got bored. Bored of cars that don’t feel fast, and bored of cars where the basic thrill of driving has been deleted in favour of sheer pace, sidelined by compensatory electronics. But not the Z4 M Coupe – it’s an old-school streetfighter; a little bit scary but all the better for it, and even more of a joy because it was spawned in one of the last places you’d expect: BMW.

Of course the M Division makes some awesome machinery, but it can retain a sense of aloofness that robs its creations of character. Super-competent cars for the average driver. So welcome the Z4 M Coupe; a genuine successor to the original, Z3-based M Coupe.

And it’s so much more than just a Z4 M roadster with a roof. Yes, it shares some of its lines, and the same spiral of DNA, but there’s more charisma within its double-bubble roof and flat-topped haunches. it has a relatively big boot under that hatchback rear and makes the most of the long-front, short bum Coupe packaging. In broad terms, it just looks good – because it has at last sorted that exuberant shape. Of all the cars based on the wobbly trail blazed by Chris Bangle, the Z4 makes the most sense. the Z4 Coupe, as it turns out, most of all.

Mounted under that long bonnet is the 343bhp, 269lb ft straight-six from the current M3, breathing and responsiveness ably assisted by BMW’s current double VANOS valve-timing conjuring. It brings respectable figures for a car weighing just five kilos shy of 1,500kgs – 0-62 in five seconds and the usual limited 155mph.

Fire it up and there’s a deliciously bassy rumble from the rear of the car, reverberating through a cabin lifted from the Z4 Roadster, albeit enclosed beneath a particularly spacious roof. You do tend to look downwards through the rear windscreen rather than straight back out, limiting rearwards visibility to 50 yards or so, but it’s a minor downside to a focused and supportive driving position.

The steering wheel has that peculiarly thick BMW thing going on, small in diameter and broad through your palms, but the controls suit the car’s brawny feel. The clutch is immediate but not overly heavy, the gearbox direct but uncomplicated in its action.

First to second feels a touch too long – smash your way through the gate when attempting to match that 0-62 time and you might well find yourself crunching a few thousandths of an inch off the cogs – but once you get going, it zips through all six speeds.

So the basics are there, and that’s about it. The Z4 M Coupe is almost as interesting for what it hasn’t got as for what it has. There are no power output options, gearbox settings, damper controls or flashy electronics. Traction control and cornering stability control are present, but deleted with a single stab of the dash-mounted button. Another quick digit poke and the ‘Sports’ mode can be engaged – an engine map tweak which makes the 3.2-litre six rev harder and respond more immediately to the throttle. Essentially, it’s a sharpening tool.

Unlike the M5 or M6, the Z4 M Coupe feels back-to-basics, and is so much the better for it. It rides on normal tyres, not BMW-issue runflats, the M-dept preferring to tweak the suspension rather than try and compensate for a lack of sidewall flexibility. The result? The Coupe rides very agreeably indeed.

It still feels thumpy on a broken surface, but it very rarely crashes or bounces. And the handling benefits are obvious; switch the DSC off and the Coupe will roll into a corner, leaning progressively over until the front begins to lose grip and understeer starts to draw you to the outside of the corner. All very nice and safe. But this is where the fun bit starts; prod the throttle midway through and the car will balance itself out with the kind of lairy grace a roadster can only dream of, the M-differential lock providing the progressive push that builds supreme confidence. Press harder and the Z4 M Coupe is the hooligan you always hoped for.

It’s not a particularly fast way around a corner, but slithering around in a car that lets you take enormous liberties is damn good fun. Lob it in, third gear, understeer, stab, oversteer, oversteer, oversteer, laugh like a loon. The steering is always on the money, the car never snaps that extra 10 degrees which makes the difference between hero and idiot, and the howling, metallic engine always seems to have revs to spare.

Driven properly, it’s very quick rather than devastating, but an enormously engaging car nonetheless. The engine spits its way around to the 8,000 rev limiter, never feeling out of puff, never going soft. The suspension saves you from the road’s worst excesses but transmits need-to-know through wrists and back. It’s not delicate, but it’s the most joyous wrestling match to come out of BMW since the E30 M3. The Z4 M Coupe is all brawn and excitement, flicking an unrepentant V at those people who just travel at speed rather than really ‘drive’.

If you’re after surgical precision, this isn’t the car for you. But if you fancy getting a bit of blood back into your system, then the Z4 M Coupe will do it. This is the car that just revived BMW’s soul. It might not be the most elegant BMW ever, but there’s nothing wrong with a bit of ugly when it has an engine and drivetrain like this. And its bits have been arranged by people who really like driving cars. These days, when emotion is getting rarer in car design, the Z4 M Coupe delivers an overdose of it. A welcome relief in 2006.