Quote:
Originally Posted by The HACK
Compromise is not the word I'd use. Constrained.
The Z3 M and Z4 M are what they are. They're M cars derived from their run of the mill counterparts, just like M3s derive most of it's parts from the run of the mill 3 series.
In the case of the Z3 M, as the Z3 was introduced in 1997 and was designed to use the single trailing arm design to save weight, money, and fit the compact rear subframe, they had to take the parts and design from the E30 to fit. So when the M variant of the Z3 was made, it was stuck with the single rear trailing arm design for the rear suspension rather than the multi-link rears in the E36 M3. There were no compromises to be made, but the constraints of what the regular Z3 chassis afforded.
The Z4 M was basically assembled from taking the rear end from the E46 M3 and the front end of the E36 M3, both at the time, the best parts bin parts BMW has to offer. But, since the chassis for the Z4 is built in Spartanburg, South Carolina, unlike the E46 M3 which is built in Regensburg Germany, the Z4 M is constrained to the tire available at Spartanburg for the size that it required, which is Continental ContiSportContact 2s. While the Regensburg plant in Germany had access to both Continental ContiSportContact 2 AND Michelin Pilot Sport 2s at the time due to it's location. Some E46 M3 won the tire lottery and were equipped with Michelins, some were equipped with Contis. While ALL Z4 Ms were equipped with Contis because they came from South Carolina, constrained by what is available at the plant.
If Z4s were built in Germany like the rest of the E46 line-up, chances would have been good that Z4 Ms would have been like E46 M3s, some coming with Michelins, some coming with Contis as those were the two suppliers BMW uses for the 225/45/18 and 255/40/18 non-runflat tires. Memory is a little hazy, as I recall on the E46 M3s if you ordered 19" wheels, you're virtually guaranteed Michelins because Continental did not supply tires in that size for non-runflats for BMW.
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Same thing, really. If they want to compete with Porsche they might have to ship some tires across the Atlantic ocean. Excusing them for only being able to pull parts out of the E36 or E46 bin or not source current production tires is letting them off the hook. GM can develop / source some exotic dampers for a short production-run Camaro but BMW can't do better than E36 suspension components from 1995 in 2006.