86 may 2019 whichcar.com.au/motor
NK OF BMW’s model history and you’ll no doubt be picturing
eof the Munich firm’s many excellent sedans. With good
ason, too: those four-doors have been among the most
gaging and enjoyable driving machines ever produced.
Cast your glance a bit wider, though. In 90 years, BMW has
ade microcars and supercars and just about everything else
between. The M3s and M5s might have forged the firm’s
orting image in the modern era, but BMW never forgot its
en-top roots. Right from the early days, it made convertibles
d sportscars, a fact we were reminded of with the arrival of the
prototype in 1985.
The Z3 followed in 1995, and the Z8 in 2000. The Z3 was such a
ccess that it ensured a follow up in the form of the Z4 in 2002.
ese two models proved how important the sports car market
s to BMW, especially in the USA, where they were built. Chuck
some M-Power magic and these cars get very interesting. The
Marrived as both Coupe and Roadster in 1998.
Originally, the retro-inspired design craze of the 1990s was
hered in by the MX-5. Suddenly, cheeky little sports cars that
ked like discarded design sketches from four decades earlier
rebeing greenlit for production. After the hedonism and
mbast of the previous decade, the 1990s felt like the hangover.Inspiration for a new cultural identity came from the past, in
this instance, the 1950s and 1960s.
Styled by Japanese-born designer Joji Nagashima (who also
penned the E39 5 Series), the Z3 was a brilliant blend of
fresh and familiar. Sporting a long one-piece bulging bonnet
that tapered towards the trademark kidney grille, there was a
traditional 1960s roadster vibe to it, further reinforced by the
507-aping ‘gills’ that adorned the back ends of the bonnet.
It was certainly a striking and bold design that won many
admirers. What wasn’t so well received was the lack of
performance. Conceived as a direct rival to the MX-5, the Z3
sold best in the frugal but underwhelming four-cylinder format.
Thankfully, that long snout meant there was plenty of room for
a few more cylinders.
After the Z3’s first appearance in the James Bond film
Goldeneye the previous year, attendees of the 1996 Geneva
motor show were treated to the unveiling of a very special Z3.
BMW’s M Power division had been tasked with tweaking the Z3
into the M Roadster. Visual aggression was upped with a new
boot lid, deeper front and rear splitters, and revised bonnet
gills and door mirrors. The M Roadster was also given staggered
17-inch Style 40 alloy wheels – the Z3’s image was transformed.01
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