PRO Thunderous V-8 • Sharp handling • High-quality materials
CON Familiar interior design • Cramped rear seat • iDrive system UXPRO Satisfies roadster cravings • Great inline-six • Soft top > hard top
CON Sticker shock • Muddled design • Stressed turbo-fourBMW 8 Series
Vehicle Layout Front-engine, RWD, 2-pass, 2-door convertible Engine/Transmission sDrive30i 2.0L turbo DOHC 16-valve I-4/8-speed automatic
M40i 3.0L turbo DOHC 24-valve I-6/8-speed automatic Curb Weight (F/R Dist) sDrive30i 3,389 lb (50/50%) M40i 3,626 lb (50/50%) Wheelbase 97.2
in Length x Width x Height 170.7 x 73.4 x 51.4 in Energy Consumption, City/Hwy sDrive30i 135/105 kW-hr/100 miles M40i 140/109 kW-hr/100 miles
CO2 Emissions, Comb sDrive30i 0.70 lb/mile M40i 0.73 lb/mileB
MW can’t seem to shake
the allure of an intimate
top-down driving experi-
ence, so they sent us a turbo-four
Z4 sDrive30i and a turbo-six Z4
M40i. It’s remarkable how differ-
ently these two drive and how
divided our judges felt about the
merits or deficiencies of each.
The Z4 sDrive30i was potent
enough for a 0–60 blast in just
over 5 seconds and an impres-
sive 100-mph trap speed in the
quarter mile. The M40i’s sub-4-
second 0–60 time as well as asub-13 quarter mile prove this
little car punches well above its
weight.
Objective numbers are one
thing, but our judges’ subjective
opinions were harder to parse.
Some rather liked the four-cyl-
inder version, saying the same
engine is stressed in the 3 Series
but right-sized in the Z4. But
others felt that the turbo-four
didn’t have the “sparkle” BMW
needs for such a car.
As for the M40i, things were
just as unclear. Loh wrote, “Driftmachine! Very controllable and
fun to drive. Great brakes with
excellent pedal feel and initial
response.” But Markus sniped:
“This feels like a short-wheelbase
3 Series with too many of the 3’s
problems.”
I felt like the 30i’s cohesiveness
works better than the M40i, which
feels like it’s tr ying too hard to be
taken as a serious sports car.Pricing was an undisputed
challenge. The sDrive30i starts at
$50,695 and the M40i at $64,695.
Is the six-cylinder engine really
$14,000 better? We can see how
one could prefer the Z4 M40i over
the mechanically related Toyota
Supra, until you see the price. As
it sits, it’s $20,000 more than the
Supra, but not $20,000 better to
drive. Chris WaltonSPECS 2019 BMW Z4 sDrive30i 2020 BMW Z4 M40i
Base Price/As Tested $50,695/$62,845 $64,695/$73, 295
Power (SAE net) 255 hp @ 5,000 rpm 382 hp @ 5,000 rpm
Torque (SAE net) 295 lb-ft @ 1,500 rpm 369 lb-ft @ 1,600 rpm
Accel, 0-60 mph 5.2 sec 3.9 sec
Quarter Mile 13.8 sec @ 100.7 mph 12.4 sec @ 112.0 mph
Braking, 60-0 mph 99 ft 101 ft
Lateral Acceleration 1.02 g (avg) 1.02 g (avg)
MT Figure Eight 24.5 sec @ 0.79 g (avg) 24.0 sec @ 0.84 g (avg)
EPA City/Hwy/Comb 25/32/28 mpg 24/31/26 mpgBMW Z4
Vehicle Layout Coupe Front-engine, AWD, 4-pass, 2-door coupe Convertible Front-engine, AWD, 4-pass, 2-door convertible Engine/Transmission 4.4L
twin-turbo DOHC 32-valve V-8/8-speed automatic Curb Weight (F/R Dist) Coupe 4,360 lb (55/45%) Convertible 4,564 lb (52/48%) Wheelbase 111.1
in Length x Width x Height 191.2 x 74.9 x 53.0 in Energy Consumption, City/Hwy Coupe 198/130 kW-hr/100 miles Convertible 187/135 kW-hr/100 miles
CO2 Emissions, Comb Coupe 0.96 lb/mile Convertible 0.94 lb/mileSPECS 2019 BMW M850i xDrive Coupe 2019 BMW M850i xDrive Convertible
Base Price/As Tested $112,895/$119, 295 $122,395/$126, 395
Power (SAE net) 523 hp @ 5,500 rpm 523 hp @ 5,500 rpm
Torque (SAE net) 553 lb-ft @ 1,800 rpm 553 lb-ft @ 1,800 rpm
Accel, 0-60 mph 3.4 sec 3.9 sec
Quarter Mile 11.7 sec @ 120.4 mph 12.3 sec @ 113.7 mph
Braking, 60-0 mph 111 ft 110 ft
Lateral Acceleration 0.98 g (avg) 0.97 g (avg)
MT Figure Eight 24.2 sec @ 0.85 g (avg) 24.3 sec @ 0.82 g (avg)
EPA City/Hwy/Comb 18/25/20 mpg 17/26/20 mpgSeries with some crystal trim here
and there,” Cortina said. “If I’m
going to pay for a car that costs
this much, it better be worth
it. And I don’t see the value or
specialness in the M850i.”
Then there’s the matter of
cabin space, which is plentiful
in the front seats but tight in the
back. The 8 Series is down an
inch in rear head- and legroom
compared to the 6 Series. Cortina
called its packaging “a disaster.”
Priddle agreed: “Such a big car
yet so little room for people.”T
he 8 Series of the 1990s was
gorgeous to behold but
less so to drive. BMW has
revived that flagship nameplate,
which today includes a coupe,
convertible, and four-door Gran
Coupe. The new 8 Series isn’t
the looker its predecessor was
(MacKenzie calls it “Hulk Hogan
in a Hugo Boss suit”), but it’s fun
to drive this time around.
Contrar y to what its roughly
4,400-pound curb weight
suggests, the M850i is a nimble
performer.“The M850i drives like force of
nature—heavy, grippy, sonically
awesome,” Markus said.
Judges loved the 4.4-liter
twin-turbo V-8’s 523 hp and 553
lb-ft of torque, its rear-biased
all-wheel-drive system, and
how the M850i went around a
corner. Still, the 8 Series left many
unimpressed.
Part of that is due to the
interior, which uses high-quality
materials but looks like it was
cut and pasted from lesser BMW
models. “The interior feels like a 3It’s not all bad, though. We
loved the audio system, which
is made better by the coupe’s
exceptionally quiet cabin, and
the adaptive suspension for its
smooth ride on the highway and
rough road.
Given that the two-door GT
market is shrinking, BMW had the
opportunity to set the bench-
mark with the 8 Series. Instead,
the M850i is merely an adequate
choice in a segment with not
many choices to begin with.
Alex NishimotoConvertibleJANUARY 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 79M40iCOTY