[mjposner]

I will be solo starting in May and considering a very long road trip



It would be me and these two:



Is the Z4 just too small to pull this off? I figure I can fit a weeks worth of clothes and supplies in the trunk plus a laptop. I would stay at dog friendly motels (most have laundry facilities).

[Horseman]

Pretty sure your brown pup could be in a cozy bed at the foot of the passenger seat and the white one in the passenger seat. Though... might be good for a little while, I can imagine that they'd get antsy pretty quickly. Though the Z4 doesn't have a super stiff suspension... could be a pretty bumpy ride for them.

[SpeedyATL]

Well, I bought my car 10 days ago in Tulsa and drove it home to Atlanta in two days. The first day was 300 miles and the second day was 500 miles.

Surprisingly, even after 500 miles on day 2 I was perfectly comfortable and easily could have done a few hundred more the following day.

No dogs onboard so that might change things, but for you, should be no problem.

[COKen]

I just returned from the Texas Spring Drive which took me from Colorado down to the Big Bend area of Texas then to the Texas hill country and back to Colorado. Beautiful and interesting drives everyday. In total the trip was almost 3000 miles. My Z4 was comfortable over the entire trip. My only complaint was the tire noise on some roads was annoying. Not sure if different tires would have made a difference, but suspect that the road surface in Texas was built with larger aggregate. So a long road trip in a Z4 is very possible and doesn't need to be uncomfortable. Not sure about the dogs, but I would expect that you would need to plan on frequent stops for them to get out and run around a bit, which, depending on where your trip will take you, could also be fun/interesting for you.

[StanDiego]

Originally Posted by mjposner

I will be solo starting in May and considering a very long road trip

Is the Z4 just too small to pull this off? I figure I can fit a weeks worth of clothes and supplies in the trunk plus a laptop. I would stay at dog friendly motels (most have laundry facilities).

One dog would probably work but definitely not both.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Yes & no. Just my wife & I the choice is the Z4 about 90% of the time. If the dogs are going along or we have a lot of "stuff" to carry its the M4C.

[mjposner]

I am used to long drives, did South Florida to Cleveland in 2021 and to Baltimore in 2022 (in an suv).

I plan on stopping alot anyway (with that small gas tank, I will only go 250 miles at most.

Will try a trial drive with the girls first.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by mjposner

I am used to long drives, did South Florida to Cleveland in 2021 and to Baltimore in 2022 (in an suv).

I plan on stopping alot anyway (with that small gas tank, I will only go 250 miles at most.

Will try a trial drive with the girls first.

You can get well over 250 miles on a tank. If you are driving high speeds on a highway and put the car in Adaptive mode or Eco Mode you should easily get 325-350 miles on a tank.

Good luck on your test drive with your dogs.

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

You can get well over 250 miles on a tank. If you are driving high speeds on a highway and put the car in Adaptive mode or Eco Mode you should easily get 325-350 miles on a tank.

Good luck on your test drive with your dogs.

Second the range point here - we got over 350 miles on a tank, averaging 27 mpg in mixed-use driving. Highway only was 30 mpg in adaptive and eco (about 80% adaptive/20% eco). If we had done highway only, imagine we might stretch for 400 miles on a tank (13.7 gallons x 30 less reserve is safely 390?).

[Living Dead]

Since I had my 1st Z4 my wife and I have been taking at least 1 week long road trip every summer. The G29s trunk is as good as the E85 however the E89 we had to drive with the top up. The G29 will take two 22 inch rollers a duffel and a garment bag with various shoes and a carryon plus some odds and ends behind the seats. I just got her an A5 convertible so we'll probably be taking that from now on and the Z4 will just get my commuting and weekend duty.

[COKen]

Originally Posted by mjposner

I am used to long drives, did South Florida to Cleveland in 2021 and to Baltimore in 2022 (in an suv).

I plan on stopping alot anyway (with that small gas tank, I will only go 250 miles at most.

Will try a trial drive with the girls first.

I was getting over 30 mpg on my about 3000 mile trip through Texas. At most fill-ups the Z4 was telling me I had 400+ miles until empty. This was with the car in Comfort mode most of the time and spirited driving from time to time. You should get more than 250 miles on a tank of gas.

[GerryC]

Solo, I wouldn't hesitate. With the two dogs it would depend on them. Some are great passengers and some aren't. I'd definitely try a couple shorter trips with them to see how they handle it.

I would put a seat cover on the passenger seat just to be safe.

[StanDiego]

Originally Posted by mjposner

I am used to long drives, did South Florida to Cleveland in 2021 and to Baltimore in 2022 (in an suv).

I plan on stopping alot anyway (with that small gas tank, I will only go 250 miles at most.

Will try a trial drive with the girls first.

If I was committed to doing the trip with the two dogs, I'd consider removing the passenger seat, covering the floor with a blanket and protecting the door panel with plastic sheeting.

[JustChris]

Yes I would, without hesitation

[mjposner]

My last fill up showed 204 miles too empty....guess I drive to hard (and in sport plus 99%)...

Removing passenger seat is an idea...

Dogs love the car

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by mjposner

My last fill up showed 204 miles too empty....guess I drive to hard (and in sport plus 99%)...

Removing passenger seat is an idea...

Dogs love the car

Unless you are addicted to the sound from the exhaust and the power when in Sport Plus mode there is no reason why you shouldn't get far better mileage (mid 30's) per tank and use either Adaptive, Comfort or Eco Mode. I would opt for Adaptive where I am averaging about 32-33 mpg on a regular basis just driving approximately 40 miles from Hallandale Beach to a good friend who lives in Delray Beach. This is a combination of local streets and highway where most of it is on I-75 where I am averaging 80-85 mph.

One important point regarding dogs in a car. I would never simply let them lie loose on the floor or seat. I had a doggie car seat for my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and attached a harness fitted on the dog to a ring that was part of the seat so she was secured properly and wouldn't go flying and injure herself in case of a hard stop, a sudden maneuver or even worse an accident. Small dogs in a car should be given the same treatment as a small child and protected.

[jvilla107]

Picked up my car on Friday from PCD and drove straight through to Tampa.
461 miles of comfort, except for the agony of 2 hours on traffic.

Would I do it again?
Oh Yeah !

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Originally Posted by mjposner

My last fill up showed 204 miles too empty....guess I drive to hard (and in sport plus 99%)...

Removing passenger seat is an idea...

Dogs love the car

Its the type of driving that determines the range. On any expressway or interstate, with 2 up + stuff, I get 31/32mpg at 85mph in adaptive with the robot driving.

Local & back road driving in individual (all sport+) range tanks under 20mph.

Can drive to the beach & back early on a Sunday, 400 miles, without refueling. Car uses less than 1/2 tank each way.

Always refuel before each segment for a just in case event (construction/accident) with weekday traffic.

Would say with the Z4 on a trip I don't make anymore a run Raleigh NC to Spring Lake NJ, 481 miles each way, would make one stop for fuel at 1/4 tank.

Have excellent mileage results with all my BMW's making that trip.

From personal experience the N54 to the N55 to the B58 to the S58 the 3.0L inline six punches way above its displacement in both power and mileage.

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by mjposner

My last fill up showed 204 miles too empty....guess I drive to hard (and in sport plus 99%)...

Removing passenger seat is an idea...

Dogs love the car

Mine too- so before we left for our road trip, I had been doing mostly sport or sport plus short jaunts around town with a bit of comfort mode but rowing the gears up to about 5k rpm. Most of the time I’m not concerned about mileage, just enjoying the car. After all I have a tesla to offset my carbon emissions . Anyway, we had 208 miles of range on 83% tank when we started the trip. 50 miles into our trip on adaptive mode we still had 208 miles of range left, since it was constantly recalculating with much better mpg (close to 30mpg).

Taking two dogs on such a long road trip - not sure but if you take 70+ mph interstates won’t be as fun for them as top down on 60 mph byways and highways! I’d be super tempted to try it though and see how it goes.

[GerryC]

Originally Posted by jvilla107

Picked up my car on Friday from PCD and drove straight through to Tampa.
461 miles of comfort, except for the agony of 2 hours on traffic.

Would I do it again?
Oh Yeah !

Let me guess. Great drive until you reached Ocala.

[mjposner]

Yes i would harness bog dog in passenger seat, small dog in special car dog bed.

Highway means top up and eco mode, so I hope to see high 20s mpg.

Local driving (excluding rain), and as low as 40 means top down sport plus

[Horseman]

If you're in eco mode on the high way, no reason why you shouldn't even see 30mpg tbh. Not too much difference in fuel economy between the 30 and 40i, and I can see upwards of 34-35mpg if i'm straight eco on highway.