First impressions driving the Z back from Melbourne to Sydney:
Back in a manual again for the first time since driving my friend's E30 318 earlier this year. Clutch feels a bit vague, 2nd gear is notchy, otherwise OK I guess - but there is no way I can describe it as being way better than rowing gears with the much-maligned SMGII (which is definitely snappier at doing so than I am).
Unfortunately the weather was not-so-good, and so the top was up for most of it. however, with the top down on brief occasions there was noticeably more cabin wind/noise in the Z4 than in the M3 'vert even tho both have wind deflectors (the Z had the 'gimp' deflector) - to the extent that for highway speeds I wouldn't consider having the top down in the Z with the 'gimp' for any length of time, whereas it's no problem in the E46 with the factory wind deflector up.
Speaking of creature comforts, my Z has the 10 speaker sound system, and this does sound better than the equivalent stock setup in the M3 (the plastic tweeters in the M3 HK setup absolutely murder the sound quality - whereas the Z4 has metal dome tweeters at least)
Highway cruising was much of a muchness between the two engine and gearbox-wise - except that the Z has no centre console to rest your arm on and no padded armrest on the door, and it's pointy to boot when you rest your leg against it. The seats did have better lumbar support than the E46 tho - so not much in it overall except the SMG means you have a nice gap to stretch your legs out in where the clutch pedal would otherwise be.
Of course, the Z is not designed to be a grand tourer. The few sections of windy country road travelled demonstrated that the Z had no problems being tossed around in a way that I would perhaps think twice of in the larger higher M3 - though I far prefer the hydraulic power steering in the E46 over the 'unnatural' electric power steering in the Z.
Power and noise is an unfair comparison. The 3.0i Z4 actually outperforms the E46 M3 'vert up until 4.5-5000 RPM - at which the E46 M3's S54 simply takes off sounding like a nest of angry wasps (and the M54 doesn't). Having the S54 engine in a Z4M would be quite something, but on the other hand, I am more than happy to have one less temperamental engine to worry about.
Of course, the Z4 (will eventually) cost me only around half that of the E46 M3 'vert - so bang for buck it's the hands down winner.
Back in a manual again for the first time since driving my friend's E30 318 earlier this year. Clutch feels a bit vague, 2nd gear is notchy, otherwise OK I guess - but there is no way I can describe it as being way better than rowing gears with the much-maligned SMGII (which is definitely snappier at doing so than I am).
Unfortunately the weather was not-so-good, and so the top was up for most of it. however, with the top down on brief occasions there was noticeably more cabin wind/noise in the Z4 than in the M3 'vert even tho both have wind deflectors (the Z had the 'gimp' deflector) - to the extent that for highway speeds I wouldn't consider having the top down in the Z with the 'gimp' for any length of time, whereas it's no problem in the E46 with the factory wind deflector up.
Speaking of creature comforts, my Z has the 10 speaker sound system, and this does sound better than the equivalent stock setup in the M3 (the plastic tweeters in the M3 HK setup absolutely murder the sound quality - whereas the Z4 has metal dome tweeters at least)
Highway cruising was much of a muchness between the two engine and gearbox-wise - except that the Z has no centre console to rest your arm on and no padded armrest on the door, and it's pointy to boot when you rest your leg against it. The seats did have better lumbar support than the E46 tho - so not much in it overall except the SMG means you have a nice gap to stretch your legs out in where the clutch pedal would otherwise be.
Of course, the Z is not designed to be a grand tourer. The few sections of windy country road travelled demonstrated that the Z had no problems being tossed around in a way that I would perhaps think twice of in the larger higher M3 - though I far prefer the hydraulic power steering in the E46 over the 'unnatural' electric power steering in the Z.
Power and noise is an unfair comparison. The 3.0i Z4 actually outperforms the E46 M3 'vert up until 4.5-5000 RPM - at which the E46 M3's S54 simply takes off sounding like a nest of angry wasps (and the M54 doesn't). Having the S54 engine in a Z4M would be quite something, but on the other hand, I am more than happy to have one less temperamental engine to worry about.
Of course, the Z4 (will eventually) cost me only around half that of the E46 M3 'vert - so bang for buck it's the hands down winner.
North West Surrey
