BMW Z4 Production Quietly Comes to an End
BMW quietly finished production of the E89 Z4 on August 22 with a successor for the car coming soon.
The replacement for the Z4 will come from BMW’s collaboration with Toyota, a joint venture that will result in a new sports car, likely called the Supra, for Toyota and a new roadster for BMW which is rumored to be called the Z5. That car is expected to arrive as a 2018 model, so those looking for a BMW roadster will have to wait until at least late 2017.
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A total of about 115,000 E89 Z4s were sold during the car’s seven year production run. The very last Z4 to roll off the line was an sDrive35is in Valencia Orange Metallic which sports a 355-horsepower twin-turbo six-cylinder engine that makes 369 lb-ft of torque. A seven-speed transmission gets power to the wheels with the sprint to 60 mph coming in 4.5 seconds.
The Z4 never quite caught on like the Mercedes SLK or Porsche Boxster, and with both of those models receiving updates recently, the all-new Z4 successor will be necessary to stay competitive.
[Source: Bimmer Today]
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Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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Not a V6 but an inline 6. I think a big part of the slow sales is that BMW neglected the car - the first Z4 had a Z4 M, but the gorgeous new Z4 never had a Z4 M model (and the sDrive35is model has the most powerful engine, but the "s" suffix went unnoticed and stayed relatively unknown - I always have to explain to people my car is the "s", followed by no recognition of what the "s" means). A suitable engine/drivetrain available from the M3/M4 would have made a great Z4 M... and a true M driver's car. If BMW and Toyota are working together, I will NOT be buying this new bastard thing.
BMW needs a Z2 and Z3 to numerically link them to the 2 and 3-Series. ...but of course we know, Z4 was already not big and heavy enough for them.