While European customers have been able to configure their BMW Z4 for some time now, US customers have been in the dark. BMW has yet to officially release an exact price for the new Z4, nor any of its specs or options. We’ve known that the BMW Z4 M40i will cost around $60,000 but nothing exact. Now, though, the order sheet for US market Z4 M40is has just been leaked on SupraMKV forums.
According to this leak, the BMW Z4 M40i will start at $64,695, which is about the same base price as the BMW M3. So not cheap. We can’t confirm that this is information is accurate but it seems pretty accurate.
That’s a lot of money for a non-M BMW sports car but it does come heavily loaded as-standard. For instance, included in that $65k, the BMW Z4 M40i comes with an M Sport Differential, Variable Sport Steering, adaptive dampers, 18-inch wheels, LED headlights, heated seats and steering wheel, and even Apple CarPlay (with a 1-year trial?). So it’s pretty heavily loaded for that price and requires little optioning.
There are of course some additional packages and options. For instance, there’s still an Executive Package available, a Premium Package, 19-inch wheels, wireless phone charging and even a remote engine start. So it can probably get into the $75,000-range very quickly.
Still, it’s actually not that outrageous of a price when you really think about it. It’s a shocking number at first but when you look at its power, performance and competition, it’s priced where it should be. The BMW Z4 M40i packs a 3.0 liter turbocharged I6 engine that makes a whopping 382 hp in America and can get from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds. But it stacks up well against its competition.
For example, the Porsche 718 Boxter S is $71,400 to start, which is more than the Z4 M40i base price, and has 350 hp from its turbocharged flat-four engine. It also gets from 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds. That’s probably the Z4’s main competition so it’s impressive to see if offer the same performance, with more power and more equipment for a lower price.
Admittedly, the Audi TT RS Coupe starts at around the same price, at $64,900, and comes with a 400 hp 2.5 liter turbocharged five-cylinder and can get to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds. Plus, the Audi TT RS is all-wheel drive, so it’s more usable in winter months. Though, it’s not available in convertible form in the US and it’s not the driver’s car that Z4 M40i is, it’s more of a straight-line missile. So it’s really two different flavors for two different kinds of people.
There’s no pricing for the BMW Z4 sDrive30i just yet for the US market but it might end up being the pick of the two. It will likely be considerably cheaper than the M40i variant and it will likely feature similar chassis dynamics and balance. Sure, it will be significantly slower than the M40i and it probably won’t have the limited-slip diff. But it’s also going to be lighter.
According to a SupraMKV user, the BMW Z4 sDrive30i will weigh 1390kg (3,064 lbs) without the driver and a half a tank of fuel. That makes it seriously light for a modern day roadster and about 300 lbs lighter than the Z4 M40i. So with its lighter weight and lower price, the lesser ’30i’ BMW Z4 might be the better buy.
[Source: SupraMKV]