We’ve already learned the Concept Touring Coupe could get a limited production run of 50 units at around $250,000 a pop but there might be one major change planned for the road-going car. Speaking with Top Gear magazine at Villa d’Este where the Clown Shoe revival made its debut, BMW Group design boss Adrian van Hooydonk suggested owners could be able to row their own gears.
“We offer a manual now in the Z4, so you could combine these ingredients into a very nice driving car.”
The other ingredient he was referring to was the inline-six engine, which makes “close to 400 horsepower” in the Concept Touring Coupe. While that represents a major upgrade over the European-spec Z4 M40i with a “measly” 335 hp, let’s keep in mind the uncorked US-spec model has a much healthier 382 hp, which fits the “close to 400 hp” bill. It’s still the same B58 engine as BMW says the S58 is apparently incompatible with the two-seat roadster.
Adrian van Hooydonk’s statement about offering a manual gearbox is both correct and wrong since although the roadster can be had with a clutch pedal, it’s only available for the lesser sDrive30i with the 2.0-liter engine. The M40i upon which the Concept Touring Coupe is based comes exclusively with an eight-speed Steptronic automatic transmission. At least for the time being.
We’re still hearing BMW intends to put three pedals inside the Z4 M40i to mirror the mechanically related 3.0-liter GR Supra. If Toyota can do it, so can BMW, especially since the Japanese brand created the 6MT by using parts from the existing manual transmission offered in the aforementioned sDrive30i. The six-cylinder Z4 with the do-it-yourself gearbox is rumored to arrive at some point in 2024.
A manual M40i could serve as the Z4’s swan song as the sporty convertible codenamed “G29” will allegedly go out of production at Magna Steyr’s plant in Graz, Austria in March 2026.
Source: Top Gear
