BMW Z | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Production | 1989–1992, 2007–2016, 2018–present ( Z4 only) |
Body and chassis | |
Class | Sports car ( S) |
Body style | |
Layout | Rear-wheel drive |
The BMW Z models are a line of roadsters manufactured by German automaker BMW. The Z stands for Zukunft ( German for future), [1] and has been produced in four different series with six generations consisting of roadster, coupé, sports car, and concept variants.
The introduction of the M Coupé and M Roadster in the Z3 line marked the first of the Z series to have a high-performance BMW M variant. The first generation Z4 also continued to offer M Coupé and M Roadster variants. The current Z4 (G29) uses BMW's (B58B30) inline-six, its platform is the basis for the current Toyota Supra. [2]
The BMW Z1 is a two-seat roadster developed by BMW and was produced from March 1989 to June 1991. It was based on the E30 3 Series platform. [3] The Z1 featured unusual doors which, instead of opening outward or upward, dropped into the door sills and had body panels which could easily be removed and replaced; the car could be driven with all its body panels removed for weight reduction and increased performance. [4] Only 8,000 examples of the Z1 were produced. [5]
The Z3 was the first modern mass-market roadster produced by BMW. [6] It was introduced for the 1996 model year shortly after being featured in the James Bond movie GoldenEye. More than 15,000 were sold by the time the car was introduced. [7] The Z3 underwent a facelift in 1999 with the introduction of a coupé bodystyle and featured revised styling, before the end of its production run in 2002. [8] The coupé had controversial styling and was nicknamed as "clown shoe". [9] It was manufactured and assembled in Spartanburg, South Carolina. [10]
The Z8 was produced from 2000 to 2003 and was the production variant of the 1997 Z07 concept car, which was designed by Danish Henrik Fisker at BMW's DesignworksUSA. [11] The Z07 originally was designed as a styling exercise to celebrate the 507 roadster of the 1950s, but the overwhelming popularity of the concept spurred BMW's decision to produce a limited production model called the Z8. 5,703 cars were built, approximately half of which were exported to the United States. [12]
The first-generation BMW Z4 was known as the E85 in roadster form and E86 in coupé form. [13] It was designed by Danish BMW-designer Anders Warming. [14]
The Z4's design addressed many criticisms of the preceding Z3; it was larger and featured a significantly stiffer chassis. [15] The Z4 was initially only available as a roadster, but a coupé version was officially launched in 2006. [16] The last model was manufactured on 27 August 2008 at the Spartanburg plant. [17]
The second-generation Z4 was announced on 13 December 2008 [18] and debuted at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit the following month. [19] It is the first Z Series model to use a retractable hardtop and meant that there were no longer separate roadster and coupé versions of the car. [20] The top is made of a two-piece lightweight aluminium shell and takes 20 seconds to operate. [21] Manufacturing was moved from Spartanburg, United States to Regensburg, Germany. [22]
The G29 Z4 is the third and current generation Z4 and was unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on 23 August 2018. [23] It reuses the soft-top convertible roof found on the E85 Z4 instead of a retractable hardtop which now takes 10 seconds for operation. The G29 Z4 shares its platform with the J29 Toyota Supra and is manufactured in the same plant in Austria. [24]
The following are the production and sales figures for Z models, excluding the Z1: [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
Year | Production | EU sales | US sales |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | - | 15,040 | |
1997 | 57,100 [30] | 30,954 | 19,760 |
1998 | 53,000 [30] | 27,776 | 20,613 |
1999 | 51,000 [30] | 24,268 | 20,062 |
2000 | 42,800 [30] | 18,681 | 16,699 |
2001 | 39,579 [30] | 17,358 | 15,884 |
2002 | 26,428 [30] | 10,749 | 10,490 |
2003 | 52,016 [30] | 24,224 | 20,324 |
2004 | 38,483 [30] | 18,593 | 13,654 |
2005 | 28,808 [30] | 14,137 | 10,045 |
2006 | 30,981 [30] | 15,844 | 12,284 |
2007 | 28,383 [30] | 15,281 | 10,097 |
2008 | 18,006 [30] | 6,116 | 5,879 |
2009 | 22,761 [30] | 13,497 | 3,523 |
2010 | 24,575 | 13,153 | 3,804 |
2011 | 18,809 | 9,417 | 3,479 |
2012 | 15,249 | 7,508 | 2,751 |
2013 | 12,866 [31] | 5,970 | 2,480 |
2014 | 10,802 | 5,373 | 2,151 |
2015 | 7,950 | 4,093 | 1,829 |
2016 | 5,432 | 3,006 | 1,187 |
2017 | - | 244 | 502 |
2018 | - | 125 | 4 |
2019 | - | 9,681 [32] | 2,941 [33] |
Total: | 585,028 | 271,086 | 211,354 |
The BMW Z9 (or Z9 Gran Turismo) is a concept coupé introduced at the 1999 Frankfurt Auto Show, [34] with a convertible variant later unveiled at the 2000 Paris Auto Show. [35] The vehicle features unique gull-wing doors that also opened like a conventional hinged door and innovations such as an early concept of BMW's iDrive system, called the Intuitive Interaction Concept, were incorporated into other production vehicles. [36] Much of the styling found on the E63 6 Series is also derived from the Z9. [37]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link)