LOCAL LAUNCH
BMW’s new Z4 touches down in SA
New-generation roadster is 100% BMW and very much a driver’s car
Two-seater roadsters have been among the worst-affected casualties of capricious automotive market trends, with their sales plummeting in recent years. It has led Mercedes-Benz to announce that it is culling its SLC (formerly known as the SLK) and there are also rumblings that the Audi TT may not be around much longer. BMW and Toyota have decided the segment is not yet a lost cause, and to save development costs they’ve built their respective Z4 and Supra on a shared platform, with BMW also supplying the engines. The new Z4 is the first to touch down in SA, with the Supra to follow later in 2019 , and BMW’s version of the roadster becomes available here in two models: the sDrive 20i and the M40i. Priced at R755,900, the sDrive 20i is the entry-level point into BMW’s hair-ruffling family and it’s powered by a 2.0l four-cylinder petrol turbo with 145kW and 320Nm outputs for a claimed 0-100km/h time of 6.6 seconds. At R1,030,500 the range-topping Z4 M40i provides more pace and snarl wi...
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