Comments on: Will a BMW Z2 Roadster make sense?

By: Horatiu B.

Horatiu B. — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:24:40 +0000

@Gragop: I believe the weight on the Z2 will be much much lower, since, thank God, no hardtop.

By: BMW Z2 Roadster: la Z4 gli regala il "via libera"? · commenta i motori, le automobili, le moto, gli accessori

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 01:09:56 +0000

[...] Via | BMWblog [...]

By: BenC

BenC — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 03:39:52 +0000

if the z2 looks anything like that rendition then i will def become a fan haha

By: Roffle Waffle

Roffle Waffle — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:44:36 +0000

oops I mean the share button, it unfolds OVER the comments button

By: Roffle Waffle

Roffle Waffle — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:43:53 +0000

Horatiu, on the front page, please move the “favorites” button further away from the “comments” button. When you mouse down towards the comments button, the other button always unravels that whole link.

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:12:25 +0000

@Doug:
The “frame” is technically part of the body itself. There are still rails running along the bottom of the car, but they’re actually part of the floor board. No longer do you simply bolt a body onto frame rails, slap a drive train in it and send it out the door (trucks and SUVs are an exception to this).

The diff is held to the body by the rear subframe (essentially a few pipes/cross beams that bolt to the unibody) and the engine/tranny is held up by the front subframe and crossmembers.

You can see the “frame” rails in this pic of an e39′s undercarriage:
http://www.thebizzy.com/technical_pages/thebizzy/exhaust/ex5.jpg

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:55:28 +0000

@Lee:
Granted, nobody welds i-beams or tubes together anymore, but there is still a frame —- or is that technically the “body”, to which body panels are hung? (Must admit I’m a little embarassed to not know this)

It’s still incredibly expensive to engineer and manufacture, whatever it is, costing 100s of millions to develop and tool up for. That’s my point about having too many different cars.

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:57:10 +0000

@Gragop:
Pretty much, yeah. Even BMW’s “compact” cars tip the scales as if they were mid-sized cars. It’s not just a BMW thing, though. It’s that way with most everyone. The MKI GTI weighs ~1800lbs. The MKV GTI comes in at ~3100lbs.

It’s just a sad fact of life now. The Mini is pretty light (compared to other cars now) at roughly 2700lbs. By yesterday’s terms, though, it’s a freakin’ pig.

I just don’t see BMW making a “Z2″ that can border on 2500lbs. They’re not in the market for hardcore track people, or at least they’re not after enough of those types to build a car that specifically targets them.

By: Gragop

Gragop — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:40:59 +0000

@Roffle Waffle: @Lee: I agree on both counts, which is one thing I hold against the 1er - the weight for the 135i isn't very impressive. If the weight isn't under that of a Cayman then what competitive edge does the car hold?

By: Roffle Waffle

Roffle Waffle — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:46:12 +0000

if they can build it for under 2800lbs, then yes. If its gonna be another 3200lb “lightweight” sports car, screw it.

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:13:27 +0000

@txdesign: A BMW just isn't a BMW without an inline 6. If you want a turbo 4-banger roadster, get a Mazdaspeed Miata.

By: txdesign

txdesign — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:34:21 +0000

Yes, a lightweight Z2 Coupe available with a turbo 4-cylinder.

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:32:38 +0000

@Gragop: Oh yeah, it would absolutely have to be a coupe. No question about that. @Doug: It's not like it used to be back in the day. There is no frame, really. They use unibodies. The only real "frames" that might be usable from the 1-series are the front and rear subframes. Even that's iffy.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:20:05 +0000

They already have a 1 series convertible and coupe with a redesign coming down the road. Why waste money building another car? This is how Detroit got in trouble…over-extending themselves! BMW does not need that many products.

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:12:38 +0000

This will be built on the 1-series platform, right? Surely they’re not going to create a whole new frame and such. They’re already making far too many different cars.

By: Gragop

Gragop — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:05:09 +0000

@Lee: yeah, what he said, and make my a coupe, not a hardtop convertible

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:58:16 +0000

No, it doesn’t make sense AT ALL.

If BMW makes it, it’s still going to hit 3k lbs (~1400kg) easily. Without a doubt, and you can quote me on that.

If I could trust BMW to make a roaster that tipped the scales around 2500lbs, cool. I’d say go for it. I can’t, though. They’re going to put too much crap in it to ever hope of getting close to that mark.

I think the more intelligent and reasonable thing to do would be to offer the Z4 with a competition package if that’s really the market BMW is after. Strip it out, shove an s54 or n54 TT in there, tighten up the suspension, maybe some larger brakes and different gear ratios… done. And you wouldn’t have to worry about having two separate roadster models requiring a crapload of separate manufacturing tools/dies/lines.

By: Mauro Corti

Mauro Corti — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:37:37 +0000

Of course it will make sense. The only roadster bmw now has is the Z4, wich is beautiful, no doubt, but it’s TOOOOOOOOOOOOO heavy… 1400kg for a 2 seater, this is crazy. Bmw needs a 1200-1100 kgs REAL roadster, I think the Z4 is a real piece of art but it’s simply too heavy, there’s no reason a roadster should weigh like that

By: NickGreece

NickGreece — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:54:24 +0000

From the nurburing video with the camouflaged Z4 it seems like the car handles really well despite its weight ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJVAcKdlEPw ). It would be a shame if that great effort from BMW in the E89 model in the design, marketing, performance is not matched with a great handling.

This would leave an unmatched gap with the boxster and cayman…

By: Andys120

Andys120 — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:09:45 +0000

Absolutely! From the moment I first saw the 1-Series I thought they should include a 1-based two-seat roadster. Now that the Z4 hasmoved into GT territory there’s a gap in the BMWlineup a lot bigger than the imaginary one they filled in w the hideous X6.

I think the Z4 could be a great car but it is not a kick-ass lightweight roadster.