Hi,

Apologies for the subject heading but I wanted to be certain to get some feedback to a problem that is causing me some real dramas. I have been reading this forum on and off for the last couple of years and I hope you can shed some light on a question I am struggling with.

I would like to buy a 2 seater coupe of some sort and have had my eye on the Z4 coupe for the last 12 months. Having said that I hate to drive models that are out of date or have been upgraded, it's partly to do with their resale value dropping but more to do with the fact that to me, they feel outdated once there is a more recent model on the road.

With that in mind I was prepared to purchase a 3.0L Z4 coupe at the weekend but have picked up some vague material on the internet about their being an upgrade or facelift to the roadster (not sure if it applies to the coupe also). I have been going round in circles all week because after hearing this, I then started to look at the Porsche Boxster (or S) only to find that this is due for a facelift sometime this year! Whilst I like the look of the Audi TT 3.2, it still doesn't seem as "raw" as the Z4 and having driven the Z4 a few times now, I am very happy with the way it goes.

So my question - to anyone still reading this - is whether you feel there will be any mods to the coupe version of the Z4 in the next 18 - 24 months or so. I am based in Australia and I realise any changes take a little longer to hit us here.

To those of you that just say, "get over it, it's still worth having even if it's out of date", please don't bother to respond - as I have already mentioned, to me this is an important factor in my decision.

I have tried unsuccessfully to find any material on this in this forum so would appreciate any advice anyone can provide. BTW, ideally I would be looking to hang on to this for the next 3 years or so.

Many thanks in advance,
Paul

the coupe has never been facelifted- it was introduced after the facelift
the roadster recieved a facelift for MY '06+

there will not be another facelift of the z4 roadster/coupe
the next design change will be an entirly new model, which very likely could (should) be within the next 24 months

There have been some spy photos posted of suspected new model Z9(?) that is roughly due out late 2009/2010. Not an upgrade/facelift, it's an entirely different model.

Thing is, there's always going to be a new model on the horizon. Why deny yourself the pleasure of a late-model Z4 (or anything else) just because something new might (and will) come along? Never mind that by the last year or two of any model's production run, they've usually worked out all the bugs, thus said vehicles are often nearly problem-free.

Carpe diem, for tomorrow may never come.

There have been some spy photos posted of suspected new model Z9(?) that is roughly due out late 2009/2010. Not an upgrade/facelift, it's an entirely different model.

It's been called a replacement for the Z8 or a new Z6, both to compete with similar, higher end Mercedes Benz competition.

There have been some spy photos posted of suspected new model Z9(?) that is roughly due out late 2009/2010. Not an upgrade/facelift, it's an entirely different model.

Thing is, there's always going to be a new model on the horizon. Why deny yourself the pleasure of a late-model Z4 (or anything else) just because something new might (and will) come along? Never mind that by the last year or two of any model's production run, they've usually worked out all the bugs, thus said vehicles are often nearly problem-free.

Carpe diem, for tomorrow may never come.

+1 If you like the car get it. If you don't think you are going to keep it than do a 3 year lease. Right now no one knows what is on the horizon. Rumors are that the Z4 will be replaced with the Z2, which will be a smaller more Miata like roadster. There are also rumors about the Z6 or Z9 which will be bigger. No one really knows right now. So IMO it would be silly to wait YEARS to see what will come out when you can have a Z4 now and get the next best new thing later when it is new.

Z4 production will cease at its shortened 2009 production year. Last one will likely roll off of the assembly line sometime around March of 2009 at the latest.

Replacement model (whatever the nomenclature) will debut around June of 2009. Whatever you're buying now, you're buying a near end-of-production model.

Best keep looking if having the latest and greatest is important to you. Oh wait, the next generation BMW Roadster will be due for a face-lift in 2012. You may want to wait for that. Oh my bad, the next NEXT generation roadster, if there is to be one at all, will be due in 2015-ish or so. You should probably wait for that as well.

The fact of the matter is, BMW's production cycle runs 6.5-7 years for each of their models, with a facelift/refreshment mid cycle about 2-3 years in.

+2

I'm active on some laptop computer forums and we have one poster that's been dithering for THREE YEARS about buying a laptop, all because he keeps hearing how something new is coming "soon"- a new CPU, a bigger hard drive, new displays, better batteries, new operating system. The only constant is change, and he's afraid of it.

You're putting yourself in the same no-win situation. Three years after the new roadster debuts, BMW will do a facelift with engine upgrades. Three years after that, there will be another completely new model. And that's ignoring the fact that all the other companies time their production cycles so that once you've got the new Z, the new Audi TT will be the hot new car out, and after that the new SLK or Boxster.

If having the newest model is important to you, you'll never win. In my opinion, someone like you would do better to get a classic - something outside the time-stream and fashion trends, accepted by pretty much everyone as a great car, which lets you be individual without being trendy. A 64/65 Mustang would do, a Mercedes-Benz 4-seater convertible from the 60s/early 70s, an early RR Corniche. For sports car street cred, you can't beat a pre-74 Porsche 911/912, or a Jaguar E-type, even an MGA. There are also some gorgeous Alfas from the 50s and 60s that are still reasonable.

I'd also like to add this: in some ways, the Z4MC will ALWAYS be new. Not only is the design very fashion forward, but the car's low sales volume means that few people actually know what it is or have ever seen one. I don't expect to hear "Is that the old Z4 Coupe?" from many people down the line, considering how many people ask what it is now. And 2 years after the model launched, I've yet to encounter another Z4 M Coupe on the road, despite living in a city of 5 or 6 million people with about a dozen BMW dealers. It has a sort of exclusivity to it.

I ran into the same phenomenon when I had a Porsche 928 - people knew it was a Porsche (well, I was once asked which Ferrari it was), but most people assumed it was a new model they hadn't seen yet, rather than an old model few had heard of.

With all due respect, if you're looking to be in something that is not "dated," which is kind of a subjective term, then you might want to look more at leasing. You'll never really own a car that way but at least you'd always be able to jump to the newest model.

epbrown, I'm in the Chicago area (i.e. suburbia), too, and I've only seen 3 Z4 coupes: 1) silver Z4 Coupe in Barrington, 2) M Coupe at Perillo (downtown), and 3) the M Coupe in my garage...which I miss driving so far this winter. :( So far, IMHO, it looks like the Z4M will be going the same route as it's predecessor under the Z3 guise.....which is fine by me!

On a side note, has anyone heard/read anything regarding an engine upgrade for the Z4M's before they go out of production? Kind of like the M52/M54 with the previous M Coupe? Just curious.

On a side note, has anyone heard/read anything regarding an engine upgrade for the Z4M's before they go out of production? Kind of like the M52/M54 with the previous M Coupe? Just curious.

Yeah, I heard it is getting the new M3's V8 engine.:D

that engine in z4 would end up a suicide machine! :)

Nothing new for the Z4, except maybe paint, and that is unlikely.

Rumors are that the 2010 replacement will be a hard-top convertible with no coupe being built. BMW will also firmly state that there will be no M version of the car until you start seeing test mules everywhere and then a little more than half-way through that model's run (2013) you will see an M version announced at the new One World Order Car Show (with only the naturally aspirated V8, not the twin turbo 500hp V8 that was announced in 2011 for the last two years of the E92 M3). They can't use it in the new Z because the nine-speed SMG for the turbo V8 won't fit.

You'll want to hold out for the all new 2015 model, it will be made entirely out of recycled plastic and hemp composite and will be based in hydrogen fuel cell technology. BMW says no M version.

Haha... I think he was just asking if the Z4 was nixed after this model year, and if there was a new model coming out fairly soon (next year) so as not to buy a car that was within months of being replaced.

The Z4 will probably go out in 2009. I don't think there's anything replacing it for a couple of years, at least. I've heard of the Z2 competing with the miata, and a larger Z4 (Z6 maybe) going upscale, just like others posted. I haven't heard anything official, however.

The Z4 is rare enough and cutting-edge enough to look good for years. Even old Z3s still turn heads, so if you like it I'd say go for it.