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The 2007 BMW Z4 carries a price tag of roughly $50,000. For your money you're
going to be driving a light-bodied little beauty producing 330 horsepower (from
an inline six) that will leap from zero to sixty in under five seconds. If that
doesn't get your blood pumping, what will?
Some reviewers write about the Z4 as if it were the "hail Mary" pass of BMW's
stable. Why? Because four years ago the automaker staunchly denied the
two-seater coupe (officially the Z4 M Roadster) even existed until strong
competition and less than stellar sales forced them to put the Z4 out in the
wild where it belongs.
Since that time the Z4, in spite of a design that has been both controversial
and radical, has failed to win the kind of adherents enjoyed by its predecessor
the Z3. The 2007 model just may change that. This is a more than respectable
sports car with a completely reworked manual gearbox (six speeds) and much
heftier acceleration. Traction is also greatly improved thanks to a variable
locking differential as is handling courtesy of a hydraulic steering system, a
conventional re-tooling that actually replaces the previous electrical assist
version.
Essentially for the 2007 BMW Z4 BMW has gone back and adopted some more basic
engineering to forge an overall solid sports car package. If you dismissed this
one in previous model years, go drive the 2007. You may be more than pleasantly
surprised.
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