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The new BMW Z4 is getting closer to its 2018 launch. Here’s all you need to know, plus an interview with its designer Marc Girard

The BMW Z4 made its global debut at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, but it wasn’t until later that year, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, that the concept for the BMW roadster was revealed to a European audience. The concept car shown at the two events revealed what the 2018 Z4 will look like, and despite the fact that not all the concept will find its way into showroom models, roughly 80% of the ‘Energetic Orange Matt’ design will migrate.

The new design language is a strong statement from BMW, and paired with the looks of the new 8 Series Concept it reveals where BMW is taking the styling of its next generation of cars. Lithe aggression appears to be the order of the day for BMW, which should suit the Z4 roadster down to the ground. The car features a low, pointed front end which rises to muscular wheelarches. Similar to the larger 8 Series, there is also a glimpse of carbon fibre jutting out from the front spoiler.

On the concept Z4, there are a variety of design features that have not previously been bestowed on a BMW, particularly at the front end. Take the new kidney grilles, now wider than ever, they have a new mesh design rather than the familiar slatted look that BMW fans are accustomed to. The width of the kidneys has forced the headlights out to the extremities and while they still contain the expected twin light set-up the lights themselves are stacked one on top of the other, which is a first for a BMW.

The bonnet is a wide clamshell design which stretches part way down the front wings and the bonnet itself is devoid of design elements bar two bold strakes designed to allow heat from the engine bay to escape. Where the clamshell bonnet ends on the wings is the start of a powerful swage line that runs up the side of the car, through the doors, and ends at the top of the L-shaped LED rear light clusters. Aft of the front wheels are large air-breathers capped with a piece of carbon fibre and these are the start of a scalloped area on the Z4’s flanks, which again rises up the to accentuate the powerful rear arches and rear-wheel drivetrain.

In profile it’s apparent the driver is more centrally situated in this generation of Z4 than in the previous two incarnations and Marc Girard, the car’s designer, says this is to really accentuate the fact that the driver is the main focus. This Z4 should be lighter than the outgoing car too as it now features a fabric hood rather than a folding hardtop. For the Concept the hood has been removed which allowed the design team to fit the sculpted fairings behind the headrests which look wonderful, but we’re not sure whether it will be possible to integrate these with the hood for the production car.

It’s been designed first and foremost to be a driver’s car and this is echoed within the cockpit where the passenger side features the same hue as the outside of the Z4 but the driver’s side has its own black colour scheme, again focussing on the driver. Like the 8 Series Concept the major controls are sited in what BMW calls ‘islands’ so all the driving modes are clustered around the stubby gear lever and the heating controls are around the air vents. The dashpod is an all-digital affair while the main central monitor butts up to the dashpod allowing a flow of information from the main monitor to the instrument cluster with the driver able to choose what information is displayed.

New BMW Z4 engines and performance

As this is a Concept BMW is keeping tight-lipped over what engines will power the Z4 but both the 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbocharged units will feature with outputs ranging from 187 to 355bhp and we would expect a PHEV ‘e’-badged version too. Whether there will be an M version remains to be seen – the last Z4 didn’t feature a full-fat M version – but as this next generation Z4 promises a more focussed driving experience we would expect an M Performance version at the very least.

Q&A with Marc Girard, head of BMW Concept Design

What is the inspiration behind the Concept Z4?
“From our heritage, but we want to reinterpret everything at the same time. We’re not doing retro, we want to reinvent key items like the kidneys and headlights and the goal is to make all our cars full of character, keeping the iconic design cues but newly translated for each model.”

How would you say the Concept Z4 differs from the outgoing model?
“The top topic when designing the car was the ‘Ultimate Driving Machine’. To make it more agile we reduced the wheelbase – from a semantic standpoint it clearly tells the story that the driver is in the middle of everything.”

So it sounds like it will be sportier than the previous Z4?
“What we want to convey with the proportions is clearly performance – it’s a driver’s car, it’s a sports car, it’s super agile, it’s light-footed and extremely dynamic.”

How close is the Concept to the production car?
“We are basically previewing the production car. Here we have 80 per cent of the hard core engineering requirements in terms of aerodynamics and cooling and things like that so we are, in effect, previewing a close to production model.”

What’s your favourite part?
“That’s hard to say, but I particularly like the fairings behind the headrests with the carbon fibre insert that goes all the way inside and the milled one-piece aluminium which is semi clear coated and semi matt – they’re gorgeous pieces of sculpture."

And what’s underneath the Concept?
“Oh, a normal BMW engine… we had plenty of choice!”

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/z4/...d-full-details