Having owned 3 Z4s (n52 coupe, s54 roadster and s54 coupe), yes I am biased but the reason I was drawn back each time is because the car is that special. The E86 is such a timeless design. Is it polarizing? For sure but to have that many people split over’s Bangle masterpiece says a lot (vs majority uniformly agreeing new BMWs look like Kia’s). As others have said, best way to recap the car is analog feel, high revving, naturally aspirated i6, short wheel base, driver focused cockpit and 6 speed m/t. Doesn’t get more purpose built than that imo.
The cons? Any high mileage s54 comes with high maintenance cost but what M car doesn’t? And the going prices are so low it more than offsets that imo. Outside of that, make sure you get a non-Navi spec as they’re painfully outdated. And lastly as much as I loved the roadster, the soft tops are not as durable as Audi imo. They will all need replacing at some point and good luck finding someone who will do it for reasonable price. Even just replacing the soft top motor is a major pain. Get the coupe and you avoid all those headaches.
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Originally Posted by Donatello.
How does the Z4M compare to the ND2 Miata? I've only driven a regular Z4 and that was too long ago to remember everything, but I do recall almost buying it.
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I’ve driven both on track. The Miata is more ‘track ready’ out of the box and is easier to drive at the limit. Stock pads and sticky tires are all you need because it’s so lightweight. However once you find the limit, you quickly find yourself wishing for more straight line speed. It just feels a bit anemic on long straights. Coming from a Z4, I actually found the interior of the ND to be claustrophobic
No clue what the safety reports say but I felt safer inside the Z4 cockpit.
Lastly as an aside, the one thing the Miata has over the Z4 is the shifter. You could spend thousand bucks on a fancy chassis mount shifter, and I still don’t think it’d be good as the Miata’s short precise throws.