Used Car Review: How Does the E89 BMW Z4 Hold Up?

The BMW Z cars have always occupied a bit of a weird space in the BMW world. Despite having two seats, they are not quite dedicated sports cars. Usually a roadster, they’ve been called a more adult Miata or poor man’s Porsche Boxster. The Z cars also aren’t generally the first place for even die-hard BMW enthusiasts to look when they’re shopping for a car. They’ll usually chase the M3 or M5, or even a coupe 3 Series before looking to the Z3 or Z4.

So, what’s the deal? Less seats = more performance, right? Shouldn’t enthusiasts be clamoring over these things? Well, yes and no. I spent a couple of days living with the last-gen E89 Z4 to see if it was a misunderstood wunderkind I suspected it might be.

A Glimpse at the Past: the E89 Z4 at a Glance

The BMW Z4 evolved from its predecessor, the Z3, in 2003. Interestingly, the first-gen Z4 was designed by Anders Warming – the current Design Director of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. The second generation debuted in 2009 as the E89 and ditched the ragtop for a Rube Goldberg-ian folding aluminum hardtop. The newfangled top partially contributed to a higher curb weight, and in total, the E89 weighs just about 300 pounds more than its predecessor. It probably won’t surprise you to know that this E89 Z4 is longer, wider, and sits higher than the one before.

For those of you paying attention, this probably sounds pretty familiar. Year after year, BMW releases exciting new vehicles for us to enjoy. And year after year, we Control+F the press release for “curb weight” and lament that our favorite sports car models now have more in common with a school bus than we thought possible. Fortunately for the E89 Z4, a 3,241-pound curb weight is practically featherweight by 2024’s standards. Sure, it’s no Miata, but the one also makes around double the power as the last Miata I drove.

Yellow, Not Exactly Mellow

And power is what the Z4 sDrive35i does absolutely right. The Z4 sDrive35i model – like the 335i it shares most of its everything with – uses the 3.0-liter N55 engine. You get 300 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque from the turbo six-cylinder. It pairs up with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic with ergonomically-challenged paddle shifters. Push to downshift, pull to upshift. Weird, but not an insurmountable hurdle. FYI, model year 2012 and newer comes with the newer style of paddle shifters.

A bit of a miss on the hardware, then. However, something it did come with is a flashy yellow paint job. Atacama Yellow paint with yellow Alcantara interior highlights are part of the zanily-named Exclusive Citrus Yellow Package. This $1,500 addition adds the paint and interior combo – exclusive to these cars. It also gets you piano black trim, which in this car, was well-stained and fingerprinted to a predictable level.

Performance and Driving Impressions of the E89 Z4

So, the thing looks the part and has a pretty solid drivetrain – but is it all for show? Well, not entirely. The Z4 sDrive35i has amazing fundamentals. The N55 engine is a sweetheart that sings a throaty, if not exotic tune, and the dual-clutch is still one of my favorite transmissions – wonky shifting be damned. Power is swift and accessible throughout the rev range, and the Z4 always feels pretty light on its feet. Granted, the sense of agility might be more of an indictment of the modern state of the sports car. The car feels connected to the road and is shockingly similar to what my old 135i felt like (in fairness, the two models share mechanicals).

But it’s the last part that gets me. A two-seater – especially one that looks this good – should not feel like a regular car, no matter what speed you’re driving. The steering is good but not great. It was a strange sensation; turn-in is balanced, but there’s a lot of guesswork after that. To combat the wallowing steering feel, I toggled some settings and found that Sport+ only succeeds in making steering an artificially colossal effort. Dialing things into Sport mode takes away some of the weight but doesn’t fix it entirely – a more apt name would be Compromise mode.

No Goldilocks, Despite the Color

I guess the last thing to cover is whether the E89 Z4 is worth considering against the newest generation. It’s close. The G29 Z4 swells another 400 pounds despite regaining a soft top. But it also has a more usable trunk. It makes a fair bit more power in the Z4 M40i trim, but the auto is a little less engaging – if more refined – than the E89’s DCT. The B58 is overwhelmingly the better mill, but I’m not completely sure it’s enough to merit the tens of thousands of dollars more I’d spend getting into it. Maybe call it a draw and give me whichever one has a manual transmission.

While the Z4 sDrive35i isn’t perfect, it does have a lot going for it. I wish this had been the N54-powered iS version for some added personality, but I don’t think the verdict would have changed. Thirteen years later, the E89 Z4 is enjoyable overall, but perhaps not the sports car value of, say, a 981 Cayman or Boxster. It is, however, a car I think flies under the radar for many enthusiasts.

It’s worthy of a test drive, at the very least. With prices currently floating between $20,000 and $30,000, it’s good power and looks for the money if you don’t want to drive a Vette or platform-mate like the 335i or 135i. I don’t think the Z4 is misunderstood – it just isn’t as good as we desperately want it to be.