Simple pleasure, BMW style. The Z3 brings the rear-wheel-drive roadster back into fashion. Expressive engines, a confident M version, compact dimensions. Not perfect. But endearing, lively, and authentic.
The Z3, which went into production in autumn 95 in the USA (South Carolina), was the German firm's first successful Roadster, selling almost 300,000 units of all versions in over a hundred countries (297,088 units, including 279,273 Roadsters and 17,815 Coupés). A fine result for a vehicle designed in-house by Joji Nagashima and built in just 36 months! One of the reasons for this success is the wide choice of engines on offer, ranging from the 4-cylinder 1.8l to the 3.2l (not forgetting the high-performance 140bhp 1.9l 16S) in the Roadster, and from the 2.8l to the 3.2l in the Coupé. 4-cylinder engines account for 50% of sales, mainly in Europe. By covering a wide range of market segments, BMW succeeded in attracting a broad customer base, culminating in the 3.2 litre M\ Coupé or Roadster, which initially inherited the engine from the M3 E36 S50 and then the M3 E46 S54. In 2003, production was stopped altogether to make way for its future replacement: the Z4.
