Like me on Facebook

Attention! This site is for information purposes only, does not promote any driving style and is not of a training nature. All cars covered by the descriptions and photos posted on this site are used in accordance with traffic regulations and with the highest security measures in order not to cause any damage to road users. The author of the blog is not responsible for other road users who in a manner inconsistent with traffic regulations or with the exposure to the health and life of others, will use vehicles on public roads and outside them.

„Lady in Red"

As a teenager, I paid much attention to the appearance... of the car. Of course, at the beginning of my career behind the wheel, as soon as I ran out of the test center with a driving license in my hand, I used all the possible benefits offered by motorization, at the time. I had at my disposal such phenomenons as Polonez, Lublin 3 (I do not know if it was four and five), but certainly the "three” in Lublin car fiercely competed with the Mercedes Sprinter... let's say it competed. Well and the convertible? The convertible was something unattainable, a kind of realization of automotive dreams, that were frozen in time and far from reality. One day I came up with the idea so that at least for a moment feel, how it is at the controls of the car in the cabrio version (in the case of the Polonez such a procedure was associated with the necessity of removing the roof permanently). The problem was that first of all we live in Central Europe where there is a temperate climate, and that means that driving a Polonez 1.5 convertible in case of sudden rainfall I would rather have a problem. I once watched a program in which it was tried to prove that at a speed of about 200 km/h, it is possible to drive with an open roof and we should not get wet because the momentum of air repels water molecules from the vehicle. Only I could not imagine me trying to escape the rain speeding through Wojska Polskiego street, traveling with Polonez Convertible at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour. Probably at the time of detention, I would be considered insane. There was another problem that kept me awake at night. I knew that if I cut this roof then Mariusz (my father) would cut off my head practically at the same moment, so I will not even have the opportunity to drive a car in which I will feel the wind in my hair. Finally, I abandoned this project and decided to wait patiently for the moment when I would be able to sit behind the wheel of a real convertible. My first open dray was the Rover 200, which belonged to my friend during crazy university times. Well, that was something! it did not bother me at all that inside this car smelled musty, it stinks like someone was driving this Rover on the bottom of the Western Oder river, the problem was also not the roof, which leaked due to a damaged closing mechanism. However, something else was important, the “FREEDOM”, which gives driving a car in the rays of the summer sun. And the glances of passers-by who seem to be saying in their minds “lucky him” or probably just as often “I wonder where he stole such wheels”. The old Rover was improvising, it seemed more expensive that it was in reality and it drove the classmates back and forth around the city under any pretext. In the meantime, I managed to drive also Mercedes SLK and some old Opel with an opening roof. However, the real miracle fell into my hands at the end of September 2011. When I first saw the BMW Z4 35is in a beautiful yellow color, my knees just buckled. The car was flashy to the power and under the hood had a six-cylinder power unit installed, which was the only one that was right for the car. This 340-horsepower power generator was able to rock this small toy in 4.8s, up to 100 km/h, and that was impressive 8 years ago... and it’s huge. I remember that this Z4 was very confident, at least it gave the impression. The problem appeared when I pressed the gas early when I left the bend. I could clearly feel the understeer at that moment, which was probably caused by the fact that the engineers placed the power unit quite far, behind the front axle, relieving it. I will tell you honestly, I got scared a bit and let go on sharp bends, not wanting to provoke a visit to a nearby forest. After this ride I forgot about the BMW Z4 for a long time until now, because in 2019 the newest version of this iconic model appeared, which I just prepared for you.

These words were spoken by a lady who while doing jogging saw the latest model, which I photographed with pleasure and a smile on my face. While the front of the BMW 8 Series is full of aggressiveness, Z4 on the contrary is very elegant and dignified, and round LED adaptive headlights clearly underline (emphasize) the stylistic gentleness (delicacy) of this sporting baby. The whole looks like a sweet candy wrapped in a beautiful, delicate box decorated with the logo of a well-known and respected manufacturer of refined sweets. Only if the car is completely devoid of a character, characteristic for the Bavarian brand? Not exactly because if we look at the back of this car, and elements if the stylistic package M which includes big, black, 19 inch alloy wheels then we will see that the new Z4 has more in common with sport than we had expected at the beginning. I wondered for a long time why BMW didn’t install a stiff roof in this car, but I came to the conclusion that the canvas is a bullseye. First of all, the rigid roof is heavy and takes up a lot of space in the trunk, which by virtue of the car’s destination is not large. Secondly, after a few years of use, the roof construction elements just start to creak, and no one has ever invented anything clever in this matter. Fortunately, this roof looks fine and does not resemble the old pensioner’s hat waiting in the queue for the family doctor. The interior of this latest BMW has been completely redesigned and no previous generation of this model can be seen in it. Ok, I give up, the Live Cockpit in this car looks beautiful and fits perfectly with the character of this car. I didn’t find anything that would irritate me and worsen the mood in this interior. The Menu panel operation as it usually happens in BMW is intuitive and should not cause any problems. The touch screen works, it does not get stuck and you can easily read the information that is displayed when driving in full sun. Is it really perfect? Almost because I found two things that bothered me (including one annoyed me). I tried to turn off the air conditioning and turn on the air supply because I just do not like air conditioning and unfortunately I did not find such an option (if it exists and I am a gawk I’m sorry) however, the option of either an air conditioner or nothing, I personally do not like it. The second drawback is reflected in the sun the windshield screen off transparent display or so-called HeadUp display. Maybe it was not as annoying as driving with the white sheet of paper on the underpane, but unfortunately in the long run it irritates. Closing the roof solves this problem… but would not it be an absurdity? But shutting the roof in the convertible from the sun? The most interesting features include the option to configure the individual sport and eco pro modes. We can easily influence the characteristics of the engine, transmission and steering, and this is not a myth acting on the subconscious, but the honest truth felt under the gas pedal. Of course we can change the menu appearance depending on the driving mode, adjust the vehicle interior lighting, and change the content of messages displayed on the main monitor. Moreover, we no longer have to click the key indefinitely to open the car because it is enough to set the function of automatic opening and closing the door while approaching or moving away from the vehicle (of course, we must have the key with us). Our BMW will take care of us on cold days during which we can set the automatic activation of the seat heating if the temperature drops below 10 degrees, for example. If you forget about traffic regulations, you will find information about the country on which we want to get some knowledge. The news, weather, internet or the smartphone screen synchronization with a central monitor are obvious in premium cars today, so there's no point writing about it. The whole is completed by the Harman Kardon Surround Sound, which includes 12 speakers and a powerful amplifier. Getting into the Z4 always reminded me and still reminds me entering the basement through the window, of course, it is not the fault of the car design itself, but more of its purpose. The two-person cabin is not impressive size, but after a short while, all the symptoms of claustrophobia are gone forever. I liked the sports seats in this car and I did not feel any discomfort, but you must remember, you do not settle here, and you will probably sit decently than comfortably. Heated steering wheel is a revelation, it works and is especially useful on such days like the one in which I tested this car (sunshine, polar sea air and 8 degrees Celsius at noon).

"Well, it's so beautiful"

Under the hood of this red frenzy, a four-cylinder motor was installed, with a capacity of 2 liters and a power of 258 horsepower (in a package with two turbochargers) and a torque of 400 Nm. The car is characterized by an almost ideal weight distribution between the axles (50:50), which greatly affects the driveability, especially during fast overcome the bends…When the start button is turned on, the pleasant, slightly specific sound of the engine comes to our ears. First impressions, without boring? Pleasantly, somewhat sporty and quite comfortable, but in turn. The steering is tuned clearly sports and reminds me very much of the one we find in Porsche cars and in my opinion that's how it should be. I was most afraid of the suspension, which does the titanic effort trying to keep the car in check, suppressing unevenness on the road, that are not lacking here. Despite the fact that the car is quite "hanging" above the ground, it did not happen to me to hitch about the speed bumps. So how to characterize the work of this suspension? "It's comfortable" - that's much said, “ as stiff as a poker” – this is not true. I think that such a comparison is the most appropriate for this car, and the truth is somewhere between the two. Only if such suspension work characteristics will work during dynamic driving.., in order to find out about it, I had nothing else but to activate the sport individual mode, which I configured as sportily as possible. Well, the fun began. A lady in red came out of the humble convertible, the prom queen and great dancer... Literally. The rear of the car is happy to “dance” on every occasion whenever we want to press the gas harder, but what's interesting, everything is good and easy to control. A quick start reminded me of a little BMW M4 fun, as if we feel that the back in a moment will start to slip, is on the edge of grip, a little bit begins to accuse, but the car is fighting and keeps on the track... I do not know about you, but I like it, but the rear drive is adrenaline and that's it. In this whole game I missed only one thing, namely the possibility of configuring the traction control system, to allow us a little more because as soon as the fun begins in the corners, unfortunately it ends soon because our "ESP-mom" quickly and effectively intervenes, suppressing our athlete's intentions. The communication of the 8-speed S-tronic transmission with the drive unit is almost perfect. The car reacts well to gas, and gear change especially in sport mode is extraordinary fast (to the extent that it is impossible not to pay attention to it). The new Z4 almost loves bends and overcomes them with extreme ease, but beware and they are not jokes, namely if you are driving hard and you hit the “bumps” being in the bend, unfortunately you have a chance that you will fall out of the game. Is it the fault of the suspension, the weight of the car weighing 1490 kilograms, the drive or maybe the driver's skills? I do not know, maybe a little bit of everything, but it's worth bearing in mind what I wrote about. Personally, I did not feel power deficiencies in this car. I can not imagine the M40i version with rear-wheel drive, but I imagine myself traveling in this car on a warm summer day because unfortunately 8 degrees Celsius is not enough for a ride with an open roof… The fuel consumption is not frightening, if you can travel comfortably then Z4 will repay you with fuel consumption below 10 ltr/100 km. In my test, the car burned just over 11 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers so there is no drama considering the performance of this car.

Is the BMW Z4 a car for me? This car definitely appealed to me, it is beautiful, fast, impractical (but it does not matter) and just nice.., only that there is a certain drawback, and this does not apply in principle to the car itself, but the climate in which we live. This car gives a lot of fun in warm weather when we can open the roof, enjoy the sun and the smell of summer, so how many times do we drive revealing all the qualities of our beautiful lady in red? The price of the BMW Z4 S-Drive 30i starts from 55,000 thousand Euro. Summarizing; if you decide to buy the latest Z4, you will be satisfied. Best wishes and see you !

Artur Rojewski

"Toy for flying"