BMW Z4 Review & Prices

The BMW Z4 is a two-seater sports car icon, but where it was once a hard-edged brute of a roadster, the latest version is a bit softer and more relaxed to drive. It’s super-stylish, has a high-quality interior and a cracking engine option, but it’s not as agile as its alternatives.

It’s a bit like a retired runner, because where once it was a gold-medallist through and through, the Z4 is now best enjoyed at run, as opposed to an all-out sprint. You can still see the sporty genes, though.

There are far fewer sports cars on sale now than when the Z4 was first launched, but you’ll likely cross-shop the Z4 against a Porsche 718 Boxster or Ford Mustang Convertible. If you’re on a budget then a Mazda MX-5 channels the same vibe in a much dinkier package, or you can look to the BMW M240i for the same awesome engine in a more practical shape.

But the Z4 is a very good looking car, with glamorous long-bonnet, short-tail proportions and small overhangs. The elongated headlights and slim, wide grilles give the front end a unique look compared to the more divisive options in BMW’s range, while the pert tail has a boot lid with an integrated ducktail spoiler.

The interior isn’t quite as striking, but it’s still good looking - with a digital driver’s display and a dashboard that’s canted towards the driver in classic BMW fashion - even if the Z4 doesn’t get the latest infotainment setup. The sports seats with their funky stitching and the intricate air vents add some pizzazz to the cabin, but a Porsche 718 Boxster feels more special inside.

Still, build quality is very good and you can set the seats nice and low, with the pedals and steering wheel dead ahead of you. It’s very easy to get comfortable despite the sporty proportions.

That’s especially important in the range-topping, M40i ‘Handschafte’ manual version, where the clutch pedal and teardrop-shaped gearknob are very well placed; great for driving enthusiasts.

You can’t expect much practicality from a two-seater convertible, but the Z4 has some rather useful solutions such as the netted shelf behind the seats with an extra, hidden away storage cubby behind you, long door bins and a small tray in front of the centre console. The cupholders are annoying, as you have to keep a flap open in the centre console to use them.

Around town the Z4 is well behaved, more comfortable than a Porsche 718 Boxster on rough roads, where it does a good job of absorbing ruts and dips. Rear visibility is poor, but the large mirrors and reversing camera help when parking.

Motorway journeys are also comfortable in the Z4, as its suspension settles into a cruise nicely, and though some noise is to be expected from a soft top, it’s kept to a minimum at high speed.

It’s a country lane where you’ll have the most fun, but for a thrilling experience you’re best off avoiding the entry-level 20i model. It’s perfectly capable for everyday driving, but it lacks the drama and performance of the 3.0-litre M40i models.

The M40i versions come with beefy brakes, grippy tyres and a sporty differential between the rear wheels which keeps power going to both wheels evenly around corners. While the automatic model is a good trade off between ease-of-use and sportiness, the manual version is an enthusiast’s delight as it’s a far more involved driving experience - though it never feels as sporty as a Porsche Boxster.

For a fun, stylish and comfortable two seater, check out BMW Z4 deals on Carwow, or BMW Z4 lease deals instead. There are used Z4s for sale through our network of trusted dealers, and other used BMWs for sale too. Carwow can even help you sell your car, when the time comes.

The BMW Z4 starts at around £47,000 in 20i guise, which places it in a bit of a no-man’s land price bracket. That’s around £8,000 less than the entry-level Porsche 718 Boxster with a 2.0-litre engine, but dynamically it’s nowhere near as fun to drive as the Boxster…or the Mazda MX-5 for that matter, which is almost £20,000 cheaper than the Z4.

The M40i model costs £4,000 more than the most basic Boxster, and while it’s not as agile, you get a far better engine in the BMW, as well as more standard equipment. You’ll pay a whopping £6,500 on top of the M40i’s price for the manual version.

While you get some under-the-skin tweaks and a more exhilarating drive, that’s an eye-watering amount of money - especially considering Porsche doesn’t charge you a penny should you wish to change your own gears in a Boxster.

 Although the BMW Z4 lacks some of the agility of alternatives in corners, it’s a comfortable, refined cruiser

In town

There are usually some compromises to be made when driving around town in a sports car, and that’s somewhat true of the BMW Z4. You sit low to the ground and the car’s long bonnet and wide rear mean it’s not the easiest thing to place on narrow streets, and rear visibility in particular is hampered with the roof up. At least you get front and rear parking sensors as standard that will warn if you’ve misjudged the car’s extremities.

All that being said, the suspension is comfortable, so potholes and rough road surfaces are ironed out better than most alternatives. That’s the trade off for not being the most dynamic option. The steering is light too, so tight manoeuvres require little effort.

The manual version is no harder to drive than the automatic, so long as you’re prepared for the effort of using three pedals around town. The clutch pedal isn’t too heavy and the gear lever doesn’t take too much force to row, while the 3.0-litre engine’s plentiful torque makes setting off in second gear a piece of cake.

On the motorway

Being more comfort-oriented than some of its sports car peers, the BMW Z4 lends itself well to life cruising on the open road. This is especially the case when you close the fabric roof, with wind noise being kept to a minimum and, despite the big 19-inch wheels on the M40i, not much road noise by sports car standards, either. You won’t have to raise your voice to be heard.

The manual version is a little less relaxing as there are only six gears, not seven, so you end up cruising at a slightly higher RPM than you would in the automatic - meaning a touch more engine noise.

On bright sunny days, the BMW is great to cruise about in with the roof down, though at motorway speeds there is quite a bit of wind buffeting. Fortunately, you get a wind deflector (a piece of material that slots between the headrests to reduce wind buffeting) as standard to keep your hair in-check, and there's also a heated steering wheel upgrade that'll make drop-top driving cosier during winter.

All models get regular cruise control as standard, but you’ll have to pay extra for adaptive cruise as part of the Driving Assistant pack. This also adds lane-keeping assistance, but feels a bit stingy given the Z4’s upmarket image and price. You can’t opt for it on the manual model, either.

On a twisty road

If you want the most exciting BMW Z4 you can buy, go for the M40i in manual guise. It has more power than the sDrive20i as well as better brakes, a sporty differential that helps put power down, and adaptive suspension that lets you switch between a sportier or comfier setup.

It even gets a few tweaks compared to the regular M40i, with the bigger wheel and tyre package that comes on BMW M models. However, while the gear ratios are well matched to the engine, the shift action doesn’t have that click-clackiness that the best manuals do, feeling slightly rubbery instead.

That being said, the automatic rev-matching function is superb; it feels very natural and helps make for very smooth downshifts.

In isolation, the M40i is great fun on a twisty road, because it has the power to punch you out of a corner and sounds fantastic doing so - the 3.0-litre engine really sings. It’s a shame that the steering doesn’t give you a crisp feel of how much grip the front wheels have, though.

The Porsche 718 Boxster does a better job of this, so it feels more direct when turning into a corner and inspires more confidence, which ultimately makes it more capable as well as more fun.

Compared with similar sports cars, the BMW Z4 is pretty spacious inside and its boot is a good size, but the lack of rear seats could be off-putting

If space and practicality are important, a two-seater sports car is probably the wrong place to look. But if you’re looking to maximise space from this type of car then the BMW Z4 is a great choice.

You sit low to the ground but there’s a decent amount of space around you so you’re not rubbing shoulders with your passenger, and even tall drivers won’t find their head touching the fabric roof when it’s in place.

There are also some useful cubby holes, with narrow door bins, a small space beneath the dashboard to charge your phone, and the armrest has a couple of cupholders – though it’s slightly annoying that you have to drive around with this open if you want to keep your latte secure. 

Space in the back seats

There are no back seats in the BMW Z4, because it’s strictly a two-seater. This is also the case with the Porsche 718 Boxster and the Audi TT Roadster. If you want a four-seat convertible, there are a few options to consider, including BMW’s own 4 Series Convertible. The Ford Mustang Convertible sits at the top of the Z4’s price range, while the Porsche 911 Cabriolet could be in the mix, but it is around twice the price of the BMW…

Boot space

The BMW Z4 has 281 litres of boot space – regardless of whether the roof is up or down. That’s almost exactly the same size as the Audi TT Roadster’s boot (280 litres)and a bit more than the combined pokey front and rear load bays in a Porsche 718 Boxster (275 litrea).

The boot opening isn’t particularly deep but it’s wide enough to lift in a set of golf clubs without any hassle, or there’s room for a pair of small suitcases with space left over for a few soft bags. You get some tether points and an elasticated strap, as well as a ski hatch fitted between the seats to let you carry long luggage poking through from the boot.

You’ll need to make sure you tie things down carefully when using this, though, or you may find items sliding forwards and hitting the gear selector when you brake hard.

The BMW Z4’s interior is well-made with a great infotainment system, but the design is a bit dull

The BMW Z4 looks smart inside, but it doesn’t feel particularly sporty – especially when you compare it with the flashy cabins in the Audi TT Roadster and Porsche 718 Boxster. Sure, you get body-hugging seats as standard and a raised centre console to make you feel cocooned inside, but the infotainment display, air vents and digital instrument display look no different to those you get in a well-specced 3 Series.

That being said, almost everything you touch feels very plush indeed. Bar a few hard surfaces by the sides of the centre console, the plastics on the dashboard and doors feel soft and the brushed metal-effect trims are pretty lovely, too.

BMW’s infotainment system is one of the best in the business. You get a 10.0-inch touchscreen on the dashboard and a 12.0-inch display in front of the steering wheel, which replaces old-fashioned analogue dials, though this isn’t quite as elaborate as the one in the TT.

Regardless, the infotainment system is a breeze to use, whether you use the touchscreen, voice assistant or rotary dial. It’s quick to respond to inputs and the menus are all logically laid out, while Apple CarPlay and Android Auto mean you can sync easily with your phone.

You have a choice of two petrol engines in the BMW Z4, both of which come with rear-wheel drive and have an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddles that let you shift manually if you’d prefer. You can opt for a manual transmission for the bigger engine, though.

The entry-level model is the sDrive20i, which uses a 2.0-litre engine and makes 197hp. With a 0-62mph time of 6.6 seconds it’s fairly quick, but it doesn’t have the performance the Z4’s looks deserve.

What you really want, budget-allowing, is the M40i. This uses a 3.0-litre engine that makes a much healthier 340hp, and brings the 0-62mph time down to 4.5 seconds as an automatic, but the manual version only loses out 0.1 seconds in the 0-60 time.

The trade off for that extra performance is worse fuel economy. While the 2.0-litre model hits up to 40.9mpg in official tests, the 3.0-litre version tops out at 35.8mpg. Though this isn’t drastically worse, the reality is that you’ll be spending more time at the pump with the M40i.

CO2 emissions are also higher in the M40i, hitting up to 184g/km compared with 166g/km in

the sDrive20i, meaning you will pay a bit more in first-year road tax and company car tax.

The manual version suffers again, as fuel economy drops to a claimed 32.5mpg while CO2 output rises to 197g/km, but road tax stays the same. We achieved 34mpg on the motorway in our manual Z4 test car, but only achieved 21mpg around town and after some spirited B-road driving.

All models are subject to the luxury car tax from years two-six, as they all cost over £40,000.

The BMW Z4 scored five-out-of-five stars in Euro NCAP safety testing, and its 97% rating for adult occupant protection and 91% in the vulnerable road user section are particularly noteworthy. Tests have become a bit more strict since it went through in 2019, though.

As standard you get front and rear parking sensors, basic cruise control and a forward collision warning system. M40i models don’t get any extra safety kit, aside from the improved brakes.

If you want more advanced assistance technology, you will have to jump into the pricey option packages. The Driving Assistance pack adds adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance, while you can opt for an automatic parking assistant on its own, or as part of the Technology Pack, which also includes a fancy Harman Kardon sound system and head-up display.

BMW came a fairly impressive eighth out of 31 manufacturers entered into the 2025 Driver Power survey for owner satisfaction, but it’s worth noting that as a premium brand, any repairs and maintenance you carry out on your BMW Z4 are likely to cost more than a typical car.

The BMW Z4 gets the same three-year, unlimited mileage warranty as the rest of the company’s range. That’s on par with a Porsche Boxster, and all ‘approved used’ models come with a 12-month manufacturer warranty, and you can pay for longer coverage if desired.