Thanks everyone for a continued warm welcome. I can see I'll be visiting this site a lot in the future, I don't know how I never found it before when I had the Z3. Anyway I've been asked about my initial thoughts on the Z4 so here goes. Got to say I love it. The gearbox is an absolute joy. I've driven loads of automatics over the years but really had wanted a manual for a sports car but now I'm happy with the semi auto box. I tried it in manual for about a minute and then thought what's the point, it drives well enough so went back to automatic mode. Inside the cabin everything has that quality feel as you would expect from a BMW but it's gone up a notch or two from the Z3. When driving there is still a hint of Tram-lining on certain road surfaces but I had that with the Z3 at the beginning and cured almost all of that so I'm not too bothered by that, in the future I will check the forums to see if that has been an issue for others. If the Z3 beats the Z4 on anything for me it's firstly the body shape. My Z3 had been lowered slightly which somehow seemed to emphasis it's curves, I always thought it was a very pretty little car and secondly the dashboard. Both cars have the wood finish but in the Z4 the deep glossy lacquer almost makes the wood look false or plastic(y) and the passenger side looks as if the designers put no thought into that at all. The Z3 on the other hand looked more like a throwback to a time of classic sports cars. With it's analogue Time clock and Heater controls resembling the Gauges all with Chrome rims and all made exactly the same size. The whole package felt more sporty. To summaries I love both cars but for different reasons but if I had to give my heart to one, at this point in time it's the Z3.
- sorry about the 3 .
