As promised, I am back with more updates on the BMW Z4 sDrive35i model that I am driving this week. Yesterday I started to share with you my first impressions of this new Z4 Roadster, gave you some background information and of course, posted some pretty darn cool photos.
While the first impression was expected to be quite positive towards this new model, I was somewhat convinced that the second day I might end up finding some faulty things also. Well, I tried and I tried again, and while the overall ride is still top notch, I did find one quirk, something that might bother some people more than others: run flat tires. The rigidity of the retractable hardtop improves the ride quality, but the run flats are a bit harsh on the overall driving experience.
I’m one of these people that can and will ignore some these small annoyances, I drive a 335i which sports the same rigid, noisy run flats, but I absolutely see some of the BMW customer being a bit annoyed by them. Yes, we know, most of the bimmer these days are sporting the run flats and this topic has been widely discussed here.
Now that we got that out of the way, let me tell you what got me excited today the most: the M adaptive suspension that can be cycled through Normal, Sport and Sport+ mode. Do you want to guess which I one chose for my test drive today? Yes, you got it…Sport+. Through these modes, several things are being adjusted: steering assist level, directional stability control sensitivity and throttle response. The damper firmness can also be adjusted via the dynamic drive control program.
Looking for a more calm and comfortable ride? Switch over to normal and enjoy the roadster.
One thing that I omitted to capture on camera is the engine noise, a fabulous noise especially when going through a tunnel and you firmly press the gas pedal…..but I will have a short video on that soon. This roaring and imposing noise really reminds you that you’re driving a BMW.
Last thing I want to talk about before our next encounter are the fuel consumption numbers. BMW rates the Z4 sDrive35i manual at 17mpg/25mpg and I saw a 17-18mpg combined mpg.
As usual, some of my driving experiences and instant photos get posted on Twitter also, so if you’re looking for even more real-time news from my test drives and events, feel free to follow us.
