The current BMW Z4 is an excellent sports car, particularly in flagship Z4 M40i guise. However, wouldn’t it be lovely if BMW decided to build a legitimate M variant of the Z4?
The German car manufacturer hasn’t built an M version of a BMW Z car since the first-generation Z4 and many had hoped it would do the same with the latest Z4 introduced in 2018. BMW did briefly consider such a model but while recently speaking with BMW Blog, the head of the Z4 project, Michael Wimbeck, said such a model didn’t receive the go-ahead for production.
Wimbeck said that BMW toyed with the idea of building a Z4 M, with the company’s engineers really wanting to see such a model produced. Unfortunately, those in charge of crunching the numbers decided that such a model didn’t make financial sense given that it would likely only sell in small numbers.
This is a crying shame as an M version of the Z4 probably could have been a seriously compelling sports car. Just imagine, a beautiful two-door convertible with exceptional handling characteristics and straight-line performance to potentially rival, if not exceed, the M2. BMW could have easily ditched the M40i’s 3.0-liter B58 turbocharged inline-six in favor of the 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six from models like the M3, M4, X3 M, and X4 M.
While it’s sad that a new Z4 M hasn’t seen the light of day, there has been some speculation that the current Z4 M40i could be offered with a six-speed manual. It has been claimed the brand has been given the impetus to offer such a model given that the Toyota Supra 3.0 is now available with a stick shift. But we wouldn’t be getting our hopes up for this one either, sadly. Let’s hope that BMW will surprise us!
