Automobile owner's manuals are probably among the least-read books in existence. And anyone who buys the 2003 BMW Z4 roadster, successor to the popular Z3, can certainly get away without poring through the leather-bound volume in the glovebox.
When it comes to ease of operation and intuitive design, the Z4 is as close to plug-and-play as cars come. Its simplicity is especially welcome after the sphinxlike BMW 7 Series, whose cryptic computer controls keep owners up at night trying to figure out how to tune the radio.
The Z4's manual provides real information: the trunk -- large enough with the top down to hold two weekend-size pieces of soft luggage -- can be enlarged when the top is up by turning two knobs flanking the compartment's upper panel. The panel rises into the shallow space where the top would be stored, providing another four inches or so of vertical space. Houseplants go there.
BMW designers get high marks for smart packaging. At the touch of a button on the console, the motorized roof of my sapphire-blue Z4 3.0i test car smoothly folded into tidy pleats and vanished behind the metallic roll bars, which look like the grips of a futuristic pommel horse.
The leading edge of the roof creates a taut tonneau cover integrated into the rear deck. This fuss-free, one-touch, one-piece power roof is well worth the US$750 it adds to the US$33,795 base price of the 2.5i model or the US$40,945 of the 3.0i.
Of course the car's designers, headed by an American, Chris Bangle, could have simply made the trunk bigger, and one wonders why they didn't. The car's proportions are perplexing; the Z4 is yet another BMW that demonstrates Bangle's determinedly contrarian design philosophy.
* The 2.5i model has a base sticker price of US$33,795.
* The 3.0i has a suggested retail price of US$40,945.
* The engines are essentially carryovers from the Z3, in-line six cylinder engines that displace either 2.5 or 3 liters.
* The smaller engine generates 184hp and 175 pounds-feet of torque, peaking at 3,500rpm
* The larger six cylinder puts out 225hp and 214 pounds-feet at the same peak.
* The 2.5i comes with a five-speed manual transmission or an optional five-speed Steptronic, which is also available on the 3.0i.
* A six-speed manual transmission is available for the 3-liter car.
* BMW reports a zero to 96.6kph time of 5.9 seconds with the larger engine.
Like his 7 Series, with its raised rear end, the Z4 has derriere issues. Like a playwright who struggles to tie up the loose ends of his plot, Bangle's cars seem to lose focus at the rear. Although he had a couple more inches of wheelbase to work with, compared with the Z3, he truncated the back end, so there is little visual balance for the long, voluptuous hood and nose. The Z4 looks like a salamander with a broken tail.
The logic of incrementalism -- the Z4 must be better than the Z3 -- implies that the styling of the new car trumps that of the old one, but a comparison only points up the presence and completeness of the previous, curvaceous design. While a handsome car for the most part -- mostly the forward part -- the Z4 doesn't seem to have quite arrived at whatever its destination was to be.
Behind-the-wheel comparisons are equally problematic, mainly because Z3s, especially those with the 3-liter in-line six-cylinder engine, were just as fun to drive. The Z4 is a slightly bigger car, and the ease of entry and exit suggests that the extra centimeters uncramped the passenger compartment; the new car also seems much stiffer.
But the cars feel similar in day-to-day driving, which is surprising considering that the Z4 has electric steering, whereas the Z3 had hydraulically assisted power steering. The logarithm writers at BMW did a fine job emulating the classic BMW steering feel; the turning response is instant and micrometer-precise, and the power assist fades nicely at speed to give the driver more connection with the road.
Steering
The only time I was aware of the electric steering was when the motor groaned on full lock in parking lots.
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