Z4 - American Design??

OK, guys, I hated the Z4 when I first saw spy shots. Then I saw one in person and fell in love without questioning its advante garde design. But I can't help but to notice styling cues that are not of BMW heritage, but American designs. Granted, I know Bangle is American and the design crew is based in California. My question is do the Europeans on this site think of this car as a Euro design or more an American design? And what is the attitude over there about it being assembled in South Carolina vs. Germany plants?

To illustrate my points regarding the design, I will include 4 pictures:
1) The Pontiac Grand Am. I feel the grill in relation to the headlights of the Z4 mocks the nose of the Grand Am.
2) The Buick LeSabre. Something about the way the lines from the inside of the headlights give it a pulled away look, accentuating the bulging hood strike me as being very similar to the Z4.
3) The 1971 Corvette. Notice the 'creases' along the sides which look strikingly like that of the 'flame surfacing' of the Z4. The noncontinuous waistline from front to back is also very similar. There is a separate crease that follows the curve of the rear wheel well, just like the Z4.
4) My 2003 Z4. Compare to the previous shots! What do you think?

Pic #2: The Buick Le Sabre

Pic #3: The Corvette

Pic #4: My Z4

Yes, I defenitely see the similarities, as slight as they may be.
But German cars do not exist anymore, not since World War II.

I don't follow other makers like I do BMW, so I'm not qualified to pass judgement on that. However, you could very well be right on that thought.

Sometimes I think I could do a better job of designing by tweaking here and there (vs. from scratch). It just seems there are details that get missed either to be different or just out of lack of thought. BMW used to make their cockpits driver-oriented, but now they have given the passenger equal access (think new 7 and Z4). In the Z4, the only driver-oriented parts of the cockpit are the speedometer & tachometer visors. The passenger can never see how fast you're going! But the absolute most annoying interior design flaw is having the window controls on the driver's door (again, can you say American, or Japanese, for that matter). What's worse is that they are in front of the door handle, so they are not easily accessed. I preferred them being along the center console near the shifter and it seems to make sense to me that it should go there with the inherent design ergonomics of the handle positioning.

One last thought on the interior is the design of the spokes of the steering wheel. Originally, I marvelled at how slick this design was, borrowing from the spokes of the wheels, but then it occurred to me much later, that the wheel this idea is derived from the Z3 wheels, ones which would look very out of place if put on the Z4 (tires). ...Not that the Turbine Wheels of the Z4 would be better as a steering wheel for any car. ;)

Maybe nothing pleases me. :)

Z4 cockpit.

wheel comparison #1

wheel comparison #2

hi,


congrats to your z4


i´m thinking of repalcing my z3 for a z4. probably the 3.0

what are your experiences driving your z4?
do you have automatic?
sportspackage?
what extras do you have?

would be great if you could write a bit!!!

thanks!


greets

Marius

HI! Sorry it took so long to respond. I thought I was supposed to get an email whenever a response was left. I didn't receive a notice and I haven't visited this site in a long time on my own. Anyway, if you haven't already ordered your Z4, I hope I can help you in some way now that I've been in mine for a while.

I ordered a 2.5i, which has been a regret since I bought the car. If you want a sports car, you must opt for a larger engine, otherwise, you're just buying it for the look. If you're in Europe, that may not be an issue, as I think only the 3.0i will be offered there. If you are where a 2.5i is an option, realize that with the 3.0i you are getting some very nice standard features above what is standard on the 2.5i, such as leather seats.

I ordered my car loaded with what was available at the time, meaning that the navigation system wasn't a choice, nor the headlight washers, as well as Red, White, and Toledo Blue. The money that I spent on the Autodim Rearview Mirror, On-Board Computer, and some other creature comforts was money better saved and spent on a 3.0i. But whether you get a 2.5i or 3.0i, you must get the Sports Pkg, as that is the only way to get the sports button. BTW, my car is a 5-spd. Best tranny I've ever had. But if you can, get the 3.0i to get the 6-spd. The 2.5i needs more oomph and revs a little high when in 5th at 80mph.

As you can tell, I bought my car in jet black. Biggest freaking mistake. I've always heard complaints about keeping black cars clean, but never understood until now. I live in the Seattle, Washington area. There's only about 4 months out of the year that I can drive with the top down because it rains non-stop (pretty much) for the other 8 months. And during those 4 months, there is tons of pollen in the air. It only takes hours, if that, before my newly waxed car looks like it's metallic black from all the pollen. Go with a brighter color if you don't want to spend the extra dough on the metallic paint.

Get the heated seats. That's a nice feature. Upgraded sound is also very nice. But because there isn't really any good place to put your CD's, it's a good idea to get a disk-changer from the dealer. I can't think of much else at the moment.

Hope this helps. Ask specific questions if you need more detail. You can write me at: [email protected] in case this site doesn't send me notice that you've responded.

Good Luck!

thanks for your reply



last weeks i made up my own mind and testdrove a z4 3.0

it will be fully loaded. navi, electrical seated heats, aerodynamic package and so on... base price is around 38.500€ here in germany.
mine will cost around 55.000€ ca. quite fully loaded with special paint special leather and individual interior and so on :-) :bigthumb:

probably some gold metallic paint :-) i will get it and of march 2004 :-(

Please post pictures of your Z4 when you get it! I've never seen an "Individual" Z3/4 before! From the way you describe it, sounds like you're getting yourself The Ultimate Z4. Can you believe I never test drove the 3.0? Tell me/us what you thought of the car. Did you test drive a 2.5 as well? I'd be really interested in hearing thoughts on how they differ. I'll be getting my Z4 reprogrammed through Powerchip. I think their website is www.powerchip.com. They claim to find power where Dinan can't! They're well established and the folks (Wayne and Joel) are extremely friendly. For their service alone, I'd recommend them. Anyway, I'm hoping the performance gain will put my car on par with the Porsche Boxter (not S) which is (I believe) .5 sec faster than a standard 2.5i. That would close the gap between the 2.5 and 3.0 by half, which I assume would be similar to a BMW 2.8 engine which will likely pop into the Z4 in a couple of years. We'll see...
Congratulations on your car!

1 hour ago i was at my dealer again.
i did not order it yet and i´m just looking for the cheapest offer.
at the moment -6 %
i know the delivery date already cause the individual programm will start in march and until then i´ll have decided all.


i cannot compare the 3.0 to 2.5 cause i only have driven the 3.0 with manual 6speed gearbox. there is a big difference to my z3 2.2 with 170 ps.

beginning of august i´ll make a 2000km test drive for 3 days through italy with a z4 3.0 i get from my "house dealer" where i aways go to to make smaller repairs.

ok that´s so far

if i know more i´ll post here


greets Marius



sorry for my humble english