BMW Z4 M40i BMW Z3 M ROADSTER vs

A pair of muscular M-badged roadsters provides a real tale in quick car development

LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE IN GRILLE SIZE!

Sure, but that’s the lazy comparison to jump to. It’s what lies behind those grilles that matters. The 1998, BMW Z3-based M Roadster on the right possesses a 3.2-litre straight-six with 321bhp. Its 2019 equivalent, the Z4 M40i, utilises a 3.0-litre straight-six turbo with 335bhp. Not much progress, you might ponder, but that’s rather the point; as the Z4’s rivals flock to tax-evading 4cyl engines, it’s stuck steadfastly to the M Division rulebook. Sometimes more is more.

THE Z4’S NOT A PROPER M CAR THOUGH, RIGHT?

Right. Yet it comfortably possesses the most tricolour badges here, with one on each brake pad to accompany the Ms across the wheels, kick plates, wings, dials... But then perhaps it justifies them, being nearly a second quicker to 62mph than the Z3 M (4.6secs playing 5.4secs) and possessing three extra gear ratios, the whole lot managed by the familiar suite of electronics that really tell the story of the last 21 years of performance car development.

SO IT’S MUCH MORE NANNYING

Only if you want it to be. Press the right buttons and it can still feel savage, especially next to its older relation. The Z3 M may look ready to rip your head off, but it’s actually more of a comfy cruiser than you’d expect, and a contemporary M3 will prove to be a much bigger handful. Its five gears are long – you’ll rarely find the red line, even in second, on the road – and its power delivery is languid. No nasty surprises lurk when you press the throttle. No random tests of your reflexes arrive without warning.

BUT THE Z3’S STILL FUN, SURELY?

It’s a 321bhp RWD roadster. Of course it is. You just have to look harder for its limits than you might imagine, and even extracting the best out of its nat-asp engine requires fighting the instinct to change up early. In comparison, the Z4 serves up its entertainment like you’ve inputted a cheat code. Loads more torque to get the rear axle squirming, super-short gears to make wringing out the revs much easier, lots of electronics to massage your ego. Despite carrying another 200kg over the Z3 M, it feels much, much quicker.

QUITE A LOT OF PROGRESS HERE, THEN

In isolation, the Z4 feels a bit of a softie, and like the not-quite-M car it is. With a bit of late Nineties context, though, you realise BMW roadsters have never been hardcore... even proper M products like this Z3. Joyous though it feels to revisit simpler times – its classic dials, titchy proportions and saucer-sized alloys are a delight – the Z4 extends the cruiser mentality with a load of cosseting technology. While also acting as a real barometer of how much quicker and easier to drive performance cars have simultaneously got in the last two decades.