At this moment of December, most automakers have already finished their releases cycle for the year, in order to start preparing for the next one’s. However, since there’s the Detroit event already next month, it won’t take long for all that buzz start again. That must be why BMW decided to anticipate one more release to 2012. Z4 has changed so little that it couldn’t even be called a facelift. It’s better to define it as very slight improvements to a roadster which actually is many years far from needing any deeper changes.
Z4’s current generation has arrived in 2009, but it really doesn’t look old. Maybe also because BMW is still using the same design identity, but the fact is this roadster was very well designed. There was a big evolution from the previous generation, because the same controversial straight lines and very strong creases received a whole new interpretation. The car became more opulent without losing the initial concept. The volumes became more aggressive, with a change of size and proportions which did nothing but increase the pure, crude sportiness impression this line has transmitted for more than thirty years, since Z1. Since Z4 is one of the few BMW who aren’t part of an entire family (another one is 7-Series, for example), the designers had full freedom while working on it and really used it – it’s easy to observe that looking at this roadster reminds of all the BMWs in general, but not too much of any particular one. Besides that, since this generation is still young, there’s no need of performing big updates: the car received new LEDs daytime lights and new wheels designs, in 17” or 18”. In other words, it’s probable that only the biggest fans will manage to recognize a 2013 Z4 while in movement, but it still isn’t a reason to complaint: it would be so hard and expensive to perform partial changes to this design without losing the balance that it’s really better to only touch it when it’s time to give a whole new generation.
Therefore, the Germans focused at improving the interior. Z4 received a new coating that joins Alcantara to the usual leather for the seats, along with some piano-black-painted details. It still brings very good trim levels, including the big touchscreen which controls the iDrive infotainment system. There are three new external colors, but only the option showed at these pictures brings the Hyper Orange pack: this is the responsible for the internal details using this same color, matched with white and piano-black ones to create a very creative cabin; Audi, for instance, never lets the black and aluminum-silver go away from its cars. These pictures’ roadster also received a whole new trim level with an also new engine: sDrive18i comes for the entry level with a 2.0L turbo, whose 150 hp can be paired with manual six-speed transmission or automatic eight-speed, in order to go from 0 to 60 mph in 7s9 and to the top speed of 137 mph. This car will hit the North-American streets in next March.
