The taillights flash red into the hairpin, then the 2020 BMW Z4 M40i slings right and vanishes into the trees. The mountain road crests ridges and serpentines down valleys in northern Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest, which is stunning in autumn. But I can’t take my eyes off the Z4 M40i ahead of me, the Misano Blue Metallic paint flitting from pause to pop like a hummingbird.
It’s the lead car in a convoy of four sports cars zipping through the Blue Ridge mountains. The top is down, the sun is fading, and the Z4 twists up and down this newly paved single-lane road like it’s the star of a marketing shoot. The Z4 is right at home. In this place, at this time, it’s the car I’d rather be in than the M850i convertible I'm driving.
It does exactly what a roadster is meant to do: get out and drive, and maybe steal a look or two from the captives in their jars on wheels.
The two-seat convertible impresses on the track and is a comfortable commuter around Chicago during the most brilliant part of fall. In short, the potent Z4 M40i is a powerful, thrilling sports car with the smooth ride and spate of active safety and convenience features needed to do double duty as an everyday driver.
The Z4 returned for 2019 after a two-year hiatus and the M40i followed for 2020. The Z4's rebirth was overshadowed by a much larger welcome wagon for the jointly developed Toyota Supra, which had left the market more than 20 years ago.
2020 BMW Z4 - Best Car To Buy 2020
2020 BMW Z4 - Best Car To Buy 2020
2020 BMW Z4 - Best Car To Buy 2020
A turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 with an 8-speed automatic powers both the M40i and the fixed-roof Supra. The longer, lighter Supra makes 335 hp and 365 pound-feet of torque. BMW reserves the more-powerful version for the Z4, though, where it makes 382 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque in the M40i.
The Z4 M40i hits 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, whereas the Supra does it in 4.1 seconds. The top speed is limited to 155 mph. The $14,000 question is if the M40i is that much better than the sDrive30i, which has the same 2.0-liter turbo-4 as the 3-Series and the same 8-speed automatic as most Bimmers. The 30i makes 255 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, good enough to hit 60 mph in 5.2 seconds. The M40i, with all its M Sport driving enhancements, is worth it, and it’d be wrong to think otherwise. The Supra is a different car with a different purpose.
Hammering the throttle in Sport mode fills the surrounding air with a German kind of hunger—efficient, precise, and bottomless—more than the primal growl of American engine noise. Lay off the gas and the baffles snap, crackle, and pop as if hungry for more gas. Or maybe the M40i just wants to be noticed.
Peak torque arrives at just 1,600 rpm and lasts through 4,500 rpm, providing enough grunt to lay tracks then get up and go with the aid of the quick-shifting 8-speed. The transmission doesn’t want to be pushed much past 5,000 rpm, and will shift for you unless you tap the gear shift over to manual. There’s no getting used to that gear stick, and someday maybe I’ll figure out what it takes to shut off this car or any BMW. Is it as simple as hitting the park button and walking away, with all but the engine on? Whatever the case, the small, contoured paddle shifters are just about perfect, tempting the fingers to tap the gears up and down even around town.
Adaptive dampers come standard on the M40i, as does an electronic limited-slip rear differential. That torque-vectoring M Sport differential is a curious breed.
2020 BMW Z4 - Best Car To Buy 2020
During track testing at Atlanta Motorsports Park, the Z4 exhibited a tendency to skip side to side on a long carousel turn, as if the diff were locking and opening in a kind of dance between the inner and outer wheels, unsure which one needed the most torque. The car still rocketed out of turns and maintained speed in the carousel, but the bobbling meant it wasn’t stable enough to carry as much speed as it likely could. In back-to-back testing, the skipping stone sensation was more pronounced in the Supra.
It could’ve been that high-load, high-speed turn at Atlanta Motorsports Park. I could not duplicate the sensation at BMW’s Performance Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina, a couple weeks later.
The Z4 didn't feel as tail happy upon turn-in as the Mazda MX-5 Miata, but it wasn’t as precise as the 718 Boxster, either. The little roadster with the perfect weight distribution was a blast to track, and the M Sport Brembo brakes grabbed the 19-inch alloy wheels shod in Pilot Super Sports with enough force to take the next lap faster.
While impressive on the track, the Z4 is best as a roadster. The variable-assist electric steering provides more feedback the harder the Z4 is pushed, so it's light at low speeds or while cruising and tighter while performing. On roads less technical than a track, the Z4 had that water bug quality of being able to brake hard into a turn then explode out of it. The M40i’s adaptive suspension not only soaks up the road while cruising and stiffens while being pushed, it also rides nearly a half-inch lower than the 30i, so it can take turns better and quicker.
She’s a real swell looker, too, more angular than rounded compared to the outgoing model, with sweeping body lines, intakes, and side skirts meant to reflect how the wind should move down the longer, wider body. As much as I like the blue, nothing looks better on the Z4 than its available Frozen Grey Metallic paint with the Magma Red Vernasca leather interior—BMW can call it whatever it wants, but that interior is as orange as a pumpkin. It pops like daybreak coming out of the slate-like gray, which lights up in the sun and broods at night. That chameleonic quality is a $3,600 option exclusive to the M40i, which makes me appreciate the blue a bit more.
2020 BMW Z4 - Best Car To Buy 2020
2020 BMW Z4 - Best Car To Buy 2020
2020 BMW Z4 M40i in Frozen Grey Metallic II paint and Magma Red Vernasca interior
2020 BMW Z4 M40i in Frozen Grey Metallic II paint and Magma Red Vernasca interior
The soft top goes down in about 10 seconds at speeds up to 31 mph, and with the windscreen in back, windows up, and butt warmers on, it’s just fine to cruise with the top down when the temperature threatens winter’s arrival. Put the top up, and it’s so quiet that you could forget you’re in a convertible.
Storage space has improved in the Z4, with 9.9 cubic feet of trunk space with the top up or down. A pass-thru fits longer items such as skis or golf drivers, and storage pockets behind the seats secure road trip items like an atlas. Yes, an atlas.
Even the cupholder has been thoughtfully designed to keep the Z4 driver-focused. It’s hidden in the armrest, but the armrest is split, so the driver can still relax their right arm and keep a beverage handy. The passenger can’t. Instead the passenger can try to figure out the latest iteration of iDrive, BMW’s even more complex infotainment setup.
Embedded in the dash above the horizontal band of climate controls is a 10.3-inch display screen that can be split in three sections. There’s so much available information to unpack, even an available self-parking feature buried in one of the “Car” submenus, that learning the controller dial requires a commitment.
Yet it’s not so convoluted that a 12-year-old fidgeter, within a few minutes of her first ride, can’t figure out how to change the ambient lighting as part of the $2,500 Executive Package.
The new digital 12.3-inch instrument cluster, steering wheel controls, and head-up display combine to give the driver access to the vital driving stats and conveniences without having to remove hands from the steering wheel. The tachometer and speedometer frame the cluster display so the middle can be used for a central navigation view and the right side can serve a variety of customizable viewing options. To toggle between vehicle info and radio controls, however, you have to press the BC button on the stalk on the left side of the steering column. While it does open up a cool horsepower and torque gauge, BMW’s system is not as intuitive and easy as Audi’s Virtual Cockpit.
It takes getting used to, but the Z4 M40i invites so many opportunities to get acquainted. Instead of time spent fiddling with the controls, that relationship with the Z4 is much better developed on the long and winding road.
