Reshaping One Misguided Design: The BMW Z4 Coupé

When the Z4 roadster premiered, I felt as many had that this was another Bavarian icon that BMW Chief Designer Chris Bangle managed to destroy with his unfortunate design ethos.

I felt bad for BMW’s engineers. They were designing and implementing some of the best driving BMWs ever made. The current 7-series performes better than any of its predecessors.

So too, does this new Z4. It raised the performance bar from the Z3, which had relied on the good, but arcane suspension platform of the 1980s 3-Series.

Today the opposite is true of what was the case in the 1990s.

In the 90s, the Z3 relied on its classic roadster visage to attract buyers, while relying on old technology to serve the driver. Here, the Z4 driver enjoys the latest of BMW’s technology, but will likely have buyer’s remorse when BMW abandons the Bangle design scheme.

The new Z4 coupé takes the original roadster design and has actually made it work. For all its incongruent lines, the new coupé has a smoother visage that still maintains the angular look the Mr. Bangle was likely after, but allows for svelte, taut lines that a sports car should have. This is due to the hardtop element.

The angles seem to work for a dedicated sports coupé. The look carries a sense of dedicated performance mixed a touch of utility that the Jaguar D-Type and E-Type coupés of the 1960s had (it could be due to the "third door").

Critics might suggest that there is too much Porsche 911 influence at play here. There is something about the entire package that suggests hardcore performance.

The Bavarian element is wholly present, though, which does make this car unique (and finally in an agreeable way).

The new Z4 coupé will likely arrive on the world’s roads this Spring. Thanks to the confluence in the way that lines suite the two-door hardtop format, this may prove to be a more popular model than the roadster.

For more information on the BMW Z4, click the following link: BMW