...and for that reason, I’m out!

Pbondar · Post by **Pbondar** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:23 pm

Popped into BMW Carlisle today to see for the first time the new Z4s.

They had a frozen orange aka Vim Finish limited edition, a red M40i and a blue 20i.

The blue 20i was the nicest to look at..the frozen orange aka Vim aka Cif finish left me feeling I was looking at one of those old plastic baths were the gloss has gone...

I really really wished they moved me, and I hope, still, they move others...if we want a future of convertible sports cars at reasonable prices we need these babies to be commercially successful...

For me, coming from an E89 I struggled to emotionally latch onto to justify spending an additional £40k...

Yes the boot is bigger, but the car looks uglier than an E89 with the hood up...my Volvo XC70 has a far bigger boot..

Acres of LCD screen may float peoples’ boats but when powered off look like bit of fitted kitchen...

Coming from E89 aka Z4 2.0 it looked like Z4 2.2 not Z4 3.0.....

Styling is a mismatch and too corporate..very telling as I headed towards a 4 series convertible that looked quite nice compared to the G29 pictures until I realised it was a 4 series not a G29.

My mind has been tainted by the various criticisms of faux styling parts...the fake air exhausts on the front flanks, the fake air exhausts in the tail, the largely fake false grills / intakes on the front smack of Nissan Juke type effects...

The rear spoiler looks like a cheap add on..the stacked headlights don’t work..for me..

Dyamically it may be better...I’m not sure if I spent £40k on mine whether I could get something close..

So...after seeing them in the flesh left feeling disappointed and slightly sorry for BMW..

What it lacks, IMHO, is an ownership by those who nominally oversaw it...there aren’t those little touches where someone has cared passionately about the outcome...someone tapped int “2 door 2 seat convertible mid range price ” into the BMW corporate computer and it spat out a parts bin event overseen by a not particularly caring committee whose political / career futures were not alloyed / allied to this event.

I guess the unknown hopes are..

How many newbies, millenials, old farts not touched by the previous Z4s are attracted...

Will first generations Z4 guys feel it enough of a leap forward to go for it...

Will a LCI do something to engender a re think

Will time moderate these negative thoughts..

The other dimension is time..this will probably be the last new Z4 type car powered by an internal coumbustion engine...

People complain about 4 pot engines exhaust note...wait till it’s all powered by a few electrons and the entire exhaust note is a polyphonic keyboard of pre recorded mp3 old 6 pot noises...

Of course your opinions may well be different..I hope they are...

I really look forward to seeing them on the club runs, in quantity, maybe there dynamic performance will engender respect / desire..

In the meantime I’m going to make sure I have all the service parts I need to run my current Yellow Peril for a long long time..

Tinker15 · Post by **Tinker15** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:32 pm

I take it you don’t like it?

But others will!

buzyg · Post by **buzyg** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:02 pm

Tinker15 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:32 pm I take it you don’t like it? But others will!

But will enough?

philbo909 · Post by **philbo909** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:08 pm

buzyg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:02 pm
Tinker15 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:32 pm I take it you don’t like it? But others will!
But will enough?

No, that's why they partnered up with Toyota
The market for two seater sports cars isn't there anymore, they're very 90's/00's

john-e89 · Post by **john-e89** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:20 pm

Have to agree mostly with that....after an initial flurry of excitement the lingering thought is it’s just a much better E89, but not enough to justify the extra outlay. I honestly think personally I’d get bored with it quite quickly after driving one which has put me off. It’s a cracking car but still a bit ‘meh’....after much thought I’m out.

Tinker15 · Post by **Tinker15** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:30 pm

buzyg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:02 pm
Tinker15 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:32 pm I take it you don’t like it? But others will!
But will enough?

What is enough?

buzyg · Post by **buzyg** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:46 pm

Tinker15 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:30 pm
buzyg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:02 pm
Tinker15 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:32 pm I take it you don’t like it? But others will!
But will enough?
buzyg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:02 pm
Tinker15 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:32 pm I take it you don’t like it? But others will!
But will enough?
What is enough?

Oh that"s easy enough to answer.

Enough so that BMW will have another go in 5 years time and keep the Z4 alive?

Tinker15 · Post by **Tinker15** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 10:02 pm

I doubt any new Z4 will placate some on here. Rightly or wrongly many E85/E86 owners believe that nothing can ever look better than their cars. However, the G29 will probably appeal to those who have never owned a Z4 before and are just looking at it as a new sports car. Incredibly some have probably never head of the Z4 Forum!

Chris1712 · Post by **Chris1712** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 10:12 pm

philbo909 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:08 pm
buzyg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:02 pm
Tinker15 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 7:32 pm I take it you don’t like it? But others will!
But will enough?
No, that's why they partnered up with Toyota
The market for two seater sports cars isn't there anymore, they're very 90's/00's

Porsche seem to be doing ok? Plus I think the Supra is going to walk all over the Z4 depreciation wise. Can’t say that about too many Japan - German comparisons!

philbo909 · Post by **philbo909** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 11:03 pm

Chris1712 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 10:12 pm
philbo909 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:08 pm
buzyg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 9:02 pm But will enough?
No, that's why they partnered up with Toyota
The market for two seater sports cars isn't there anymore, they're very 90's/00's
Porsche seem to be doing ok? Plus I think the Supra is going to walk all over the Z4 depreciation wise. Can’t say that about too many Japan - German comparisons!

The supra is a seperate beast I think, will sell limited numbers to Europe? If so then depreciation will be minimal, same goes for the alpine
The Asian market only makes the mx5, brz/gt86, supra, gtr, nsx now in terms of sports cars, that's a fair few less than twenty years ago, nothing from Honda or mitsubishi
Mercedes are ending the slc I think I read somewhere too

Tinker15 · Post by **Tinker15** » Mon Mar 18, 2019 11:13 pm

According to this article https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/moto ... al-edition the CLC will stop later this year.

buzyg · Post by **buzyg** » Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:05 am

Tinker15 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 11:13 pm According to this article https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/moto ... al-edition the CLC will stop later this year.

If only I knew what a CLC was I might fret about it's passing.

Tinker15 · Post by **Tinker15** » Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:25 am

buzyg wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:05 am
Tinker15 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 11:13 pm According to this article https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/moto ... al-edition the CLC will stop later this year.
If only I knew what a CLC was I might fret about it's passing.

Oops. Typo!

GuidoK · Post by **GuidoK** » Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:31 am

Chris1712 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 10:12 pm Can’t say that about too many Japan - German comparisons!

Honda s2000 does pretty well I guess against 1st gen TT, 1st gen boxster, and slk from that period?

But the roadster markt is at a low right now.

BTW I wonder if bmw now focusses to lure the current e89 owner to the g29.
The e89 has been out of production for quite some time now, so owners from new are a minority.
The sentiment the g29 gets from a lot of e89 owners is similar that the e89 got when launched from e85 owners. Its the usual bla bla
Luckily all the e89's air in-/outlets are real...

MACK · Post by **MACK** » Tue Mar 19, 2019 9:14 pm

for me at the G29 price point i cant see past a Boxster to be honest, even with a crappy 4 pot

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