New BMW Z4 Spied with Least Amount of Camouflage

[petrolhead]

One of the most controversially-designed but immensely satisfying driver’s cars, the BMW Z4, is almost at its tail’s end. These are the latest spy photos of its replacement, the 2010 version which has been spied a few times before already. The roof looks like a two-piece hard-top convertible which if it makes it into final production, will mark BMW Z’s first foray into tin top territory.

What makes these particular pictures special, apart from the red colour, is how little effort BMW has put into hiding the car from us. Of course 9 out of 10 times they get found out anyway, which is why we still advocate for a ‘less is more’ policy across the board from all manufacturers in future. Ok, we can dream can’t we?

Even in this state a few details are still under wraps, like the front and rear lights, the latter though giving clear clues as to the styling direction the Z4 is taking. We can see how the rear bumper convexes toward the concave boot lid. Z4 is expected to show its first public face at Detroit in January 2009, with production commencing a few months later in Germany.

[petrolhead]

The front looks very similar to the newly facelifted E90 3er

[Moe]

The rear lights are photoshoped..

[Bruno]

ps

[the eldest boy]

Accepting that the design may yet change, and that you can't actually see all of the car, i'm not sure i like this at all. It seems to have lost the sleek lines and it looks more like a junior american muscle car - and man, i hate muscle cars..!

I'm not a fan at all of hard or soft tops on small cars. Although the designs are clever in being able to get the roof off and stored, it's always at the detriment of the aesthetic design. Just look at the original Audi TT. The hatchback is lovely imo, with a nice line rear design from the side profile;



Compare that to the soft-top, where the design has been altered to accomodate the roof;



Sorry to go slightly there, but i think the Z4 looks bad because of the need to accomodate the hard-top. I look forward to seeing the coupe.

[the eldest boy]

...but at least they made an effort with the masking tape I like it!

[Haissam]

+1 eldestboy, the top always affects the design of the car.. the E92 hard top & trunk look so ugly just to work properly..


back on topic:

to me it looks like a photoshop of a Z4 Coupe, imola red ///M to be specific..

the front half is as close as it could ever get, with an E90 facelift bumper :D

:msolved:

[SSense]

Mixture of cars that is, + the aggressive look is missing..

[petrolhead]

Update:

After yesterday's hardtop roof reveal on the a new BMW Z4 Roadster, here are the latest spy photos of a silver prototype with the return of more psychedelic camouflage but still with an exposed folding hard top.

Following in the footsteps of the 3-Series convertible, plus its Mercedes SLK rival, with a retractable folding steel top, these dynamic pictures at the Nurburgring Nordschleife show better than ever before, a more muscular presence.

BMW isn’t content with stealing customers away from the SLK as it also takes aims at the Porsche Boxster with BMW's new range of powerful engines particularly the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter straight six-cylinder unit and possibly the 4.0-liter V8 from the M3 for the top of the range M model.

Our sources state the Z4 is expected to debut at Detroit this January. However other reports are saying a production ready concept will appear in Los Angeles next month. Either way, production will begin by spring in Germany.

[petrolhead]

Update:

The next E89 generation BMW Z4 spy photos are still flowing at WCF. Over the past two days we have seen Z4 prototypes here and here wearing the least amount of camouflage thus revealing a folding metal roof and the best body form details yet. This time spies have perfectly executed the over the shoulder blind spot approach showing us a glimpse of the interior.

It appears the Z4's interior will move away from the minimalist look of the current E85 generation in favor of more refinement and functionality. We can see wood trim throughout plus additional and larger dials just below the central air vents. Above, we can see the folding infotainment screen similar to the previous model but this one is much larger. Just like the new 7-Series and forthcoming 5-Series, electronic parking brake and Driving Dynamics Control buttons have migrated down onto the center console surrounding the gear shift lever. Most inevitably, we can also see an iDrive controller knob also positioned just south of the gear shifter. The steering wheel is all-new with multi-function buttons as well.

We are looking for a debut of the E89 Z4 Roadster hopefully in Los Angeles next month, but our money is on Detroit in January. Production will begin shortly thereafter in Regensburg plant in Germany.

[Haissam]

it's not photoshopped guys, that's the real thing but it's very similar to the previous generation if you check my pics out :)

i got flamed on another forum for saying this might be photoshopped hehehe :rofl:

[petrolhead]

Being similar to the previous design is a good thing, but the problem is (I think) there won't be a coupe version anymore (because of the hard-top), it was the better looking shape than the roadster