Thinking about a coupe, will I miss the roadster?

Could be wrong but a mate of mine who works at HR Owen in Chiswick told me that although the coupe offers a slightly stiffer ride than the coupe, it's not really noticibly stiffer due to the fact that the car (and platform) were designed to be a roadster, (hence why you can change the roof easily for a carbon one) They just modified the roadsters chassis to have a roof. Can anyone who's driven both coupe and roadster shed any light on this? Not trying to hi-jack the thread, but I would be interested to hear peeps thoughts on this....
 
As someone who has the roof down in all weathers i think its a no brainer! Theres not much better than a top down drive on a quiet starry night with the bum warmers on :thumbsup:

The Z4 was a Roadster first; a Coupe second :wink: (Not that i've driven a Coupe yet!)
 
I used to get my thrills from caning the ar$e off my cars, but now that I'm more grown up and sensible (sort of...) I've slowed down and looked for thrills from driving in other ways. Roof-down motoring does it for me, and I don't think I'd enjoy driving as much purely through not being able to drop the roof at any time.

Even despite the shoddy weather we get up here, I lower the roof whenever I can. If it's not all motorway driving or raining, or a very short journey, then my roof's down.

So, if you're the same as me, you'll miss the Roadster...
 
Apart from the bigger boot (ish), the Coupe just 'lacks' a roof that stows away.

It's not really that much noisier or colder or anything in the Roadster, so not sure why you'd get a Coupe unless you really just had to have one.

Imho

Dave
 
I have to confess I traded my 2.0i Roadster in for a 3.0 Sport Coupe yesterday afternoon.Yes, I will miss the roof but I love the look of the coupe overall. Its a personal choice at the end of the day. Dont forget (as I well know) that the roadster does look superb with the hardtop on too - but storing it is like trying to hang a massive fat bloke on the garage wall - not easy!.

Cheers
Mark
 
I went from a roadster to a coupe and it's rare that I miss it. I knew I'd be keeping the M for a long while and going with the coupe seemed to be the safest bet for reducing expensive problems down the line. Though I had no issues with my previous roadster, based on what you see on the forums it seems the most trouble-prone area of the car, something I don't think will be different for the E89.
 
But a full new roof isn't that much really. If mine ever got that bad I'd see replacing it now as an investment in having a nice roof for the life of the car with me :)

I'd have a Coupe if I wanted one, but that would be the only reason. The Roadster is great since I like having the top down on every journey and just enjoying the drive... makes any trip much more interesting, which is only a good thing :D

Put the roof up and it may as well be a Coupe so not like you are losing anything really.

Dave
 
I still think someone needs to create a targa top for the coupe that's as good as the standard/carbon roof in normal use, and is clever enough to fit in the boot when you take it off.
 
having started many many years ago with an MGB I will always want a roadster. Driving with the top down is such a fantastic experience. On the right road with the right weather there is nothing better IMO.

But if I had to give it up for a coupe then I'd probably go for the Z4 cos it is such a pretty little car. On the other hand the new Z4 does give you the best of both worlds!
 
I had a Z3 M Roadster and now have a Z4 3.0si Coupe so I am not comparing with a z4 roadster.

The coupe attracts far more attention and looks from passers buy like children pointing and because there are far fewer around than the roadster it does feel special to drive. Mine may stand out a bit more than most though in gleaming Alpine White!

Dynamically the coupe is about the most rigid chassis available on the market. The supsension settings etc have been set up more hardcore than the roadster and this does make it a more involving drive on a day to day basis.

As an owner proposition you get a better driving experience 90% of the time but you will occasionally hanker for a roadster on those days when the sun is shinning.

Another benefit of the coupe is the practicality.We have a dog - albeit only a beagle but he fits in the boot!
 
I think the majority of buyers are choosing the coupe over the roadster due it its old school coupe/fastback styling, which is completely different from most other boring 3 box coupes- 3 series etc, Coupled with the rarity the coupe version will definately be a future classic, and this makes it much more special than the fairly common roadster.
Also the much stiffer chassis results in much better handling then the roadster, and the roof mechanism is apparently a major weakpoint of that car.
 
Not to mention also, here in the US, you can't run BMWCCA sponsored track events in a roadster even with the roll bars. We can track our coupes. :driving:
 
Thanks for so much feedback guys. My test drive fell through on Saturday as someone had already purchased the car on Friday.

I'll keep my eyes open and will mabe test drive both a roadster 3.0si and a coupe 3.0si to compare and yes the reliability of the roadster's roof is a worry if I'm thinking of keeping the car for a bit.
 
Thousands of z4's made, and I don't think that many have failing roofs - there would be perhaps more noise from people if they did.
 
I think the roof is a problem if you get a lot of crap down the drains and never clean them out.

Even still, it's not THAT big a bill to get it fixed. It's not nice, but hardly a show stopper either. If it fails, fix it up, and get it booked in to be sorted when you can afford it. Until it's fixed just pretend it's a Coupe :P
Coupe owners don't seem to worried by not having a foldy roof so it's not exactly a hard life :D

Dave
 
Mr Whippy said:
I think the roof is a problem if you get a lot of crap down the drains and never clean them out.

Even still, it's not THAT big a bill to get it fixed. It's not nice, but hardly a show stopper either. If it fails, fix it up, and get it booked in to be sorted when you can afford it. Until it's fixed just pretend it's a Coupe :P
Coupe owners don't seem to worried by not having a foldy roof so it's not exactly a hard life :D

Dave
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I made sure I cleaned my reef drain holes out earlier this year so hopefully won't get any problems
 
Use mine for summer week-end drives only. So the roof is down 95% of the time. As a daily driver though, I would opt for a coupe.
 
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