The New BMW Z4 Sure Is Fast, But It's The Old Coupe That'll Blow You Away

It took about two minutes behind the wheel to realise that the previous generation Z4 coupe was my kind of car. Despite it ‘only’ being the standard 3.0-litre version (not the red-hot M Division machine), it’s a car which may as well have been made with only me in mind because it’s about as close to matching my ideal wish list for a car as I’ve so far experienced.

As I had this revelation, the nearest thing the Z4 coupe has to a successor, the hardtop convertible 35i sDrive, was directly in front of me…

You see, this incredible red slice of BMW is no more, with the latest generation ‘E89’ Z4 replacing the old soft-top convertible and the coupe. But is the new E89 a worthy successor, or should we be sad that the coupe is no longer with us? It seemed fitting to bring these Z4s - old and new - together to see how things stack up.

The E89 certainly has the edge when it comes to firepower. Ignoring the fire-breathing, S54-powered M Division versions, the range-topping previous-gen E85 Z4s came with a naturally-aspirated 261bhp 3.0-litre straight-six engine.

Fast forward to the present day, and there’s no M Division Z, but the top-of-the-range car is a very powerful thing indeed. The blue 35i we had on test kicks out 301bhp from a twin-turbo 3.0-litre ‘N54’ straight-six, and if you go for the slightly more expensive 35iS, that’s bumped up to 335bhp.

In the slick dual-clutch automatic version we had, that 301bhp output is enough to sling you from 0-62mph in just 5.1 seconds, on to the usual electronically-limited 155mph top speed. That’s backed up by 295lb ft of torque available at 1300-5000rpm, so you never really need to rev it. But you should, as it sounds absolutely incredible all the way up to the 7000rpm redline.

In the E85, the benchmark 0-62mph sprint takes more like 5.7 seconds, but it doesn’t feel all that far away, with the punch occurring in a smaller lump higher up in the rev range. It’s far from a chore stirring through the gears and wringing that glorious straight-six’s neck, but it can’t match the all-round usability of the turbo unit, nor the drama provided by the delectable pops, bangs and gargles chucked out by the newer car’s exhaust.

In fact, when we posted the rev battle video (below), 77 per cent of you voted for the E89 as the car which made the nicer noise.

As I’d been fearing, it’s in the corners where the newer car lets itself down. The E89 weighs 1525kg compared to the E85’s 1320kg, and you really notice the extra bulk every time you negotiate a bend at pace. The suspension feels softer, too, leading it to wallow when being worked hard. None of this is helped by the steering, which feels excessively weighty in an artificial way, too numb, and not anywhere near as direct as you’d want in a sports car.

Settling behind the wheel of the E85, all was well. It feels so much more nimble, more alive

It just feels a little cumbersome, and you can never attack a good piece of road with the sort of vigour you’d like. It left me with a faint feeling of disappointment as I switched over to the coupe.

Settling behind the wheel of the E85, all was well. It feels more nimble, more alive; horrible cliche though that is. The steering isn’t much better in terms of feel, but that artificial weight isn’t there, allowing it to feel very direct in comparison. It’s not exactly a spartan car inside, with climate control, electric seats and so on, but it feels raw after being in the E89, as though it’s about driving hard and little else.

Sure, there are plenty of faster things out there, but the E85’s 261bhp feels a perfect match for road driving. Not so much power that a mere tickle of the throttle sends you into license-losing territory, but not so little that you end up bored. It’s right on the money.

I savoured the exit of every single bend, where the back end would give a playful little kick; nothing scary enough to make the palms of my relatively unskilled hands sweat, but enough to remind me that the power was being sent to the correct wheels.

The six-speed manual isn’t the sweetest - a shorter, more precise throw would be nice - but after using the E89’s DCT, it was good to regain total control over the transmission.

On the final drive back, I made the most of the little time I had left with the E85, extracting every bit of performance I could from the delicious straight-six. It was a bitter sweet drive, knowing that as every glorious mile passed, I was another mile closer to handing back the keys.

While my time with the E85 was limited to just one day, I had a whole week with the less engaging E89. I’d have given anything to swap, but over that week with the E89, my opinion of the car improved considerably.

I took it on several long journeys and found it to be a fabulous cruiser; it’s superbly comfortable, rides well and has a wonderfully cocooning interior. Unlike a lot of modern BMW interiors, I find the Z4’s hard to fault, save for the fiddly iDrive and its incessant bongs.

I took it into the Peak District and its windy roads for a day of fun, and even started to enjoy driving it hard. If you drive it a particular way, dialling back your aggression in the corners and making up for it on the straights with a blast of glorious straight-six noise, it’s not a bad way to cover ground.

The looks grew on me, too. My first sight of the car was after coming home and finding it on my driveway, with its particularly uninspiring rear-end looking at me strangely. But the more time I spent with the car - particularly seeing it against the E85, which looks dated in comparison - the more I fell in love with the lines.

It looks stunning roof up or down, and I’d happily spend all day staring at the front-end, with those big kidney grilles and the slender headlights lashing around to the front wings.

With the 35i back with BMW, I couldn’t help but think that it’s not a car that satisfies the driver in a way a 301bhp BMW roadster should do. It’s not a sports car, and while I get why BMW softened up the Z4 in comparison to its predecessor - its core customers want more of a cruiser, after all - it’s a shame that some of the old car’s finesse couldn’t be carried over. And after falling hard for the old tin-top E85, it makes me particularly sad that there’s no longer a driver-focused coupe to satisfy us petrolheads.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the classifieds to find a Z4 coupe of my own.