Introduction

The 2002 BMW Z3 brings the rewards of six years of consistent and conscientious development and improvement. The exciting, odd-looking Z3 was BMW's contribution to the rebirth of the sports car that began with the Mazda Miata and has included the Mercedes-Benz SLK, Toyota MR-2 Spyder and other two seaters. However, the 1996 Z3 didn't reach the company's high standards of refinement, in particular with its suspension, but all of that began being corrected almost immediately. And now we have the 2002 Z3. Its sawed-off looks haven't changed much (though now they're fully accepted). But the engine has jumped from the original 138-horsepower 1.9-liter four-cylinder to an available 225-horsepower 3.0-liter six-cylinder, reducing 0 to 60 mph acceleration performance from about 8 seconds to less than 6. As the last model of its generation, the original Z3 won't get any better than this.

Walkaround

The Z3 Roadster is visually enigmatic. It looks funny, sporty, powerful, cute and homely, all at the same time. Which means people look at it for a long time, and it often makes them smile. You could say the same things about the Coupe, only much more so. People stop and stare at the odd-shaped Coupe, and often ask if it's fast. Anything that funny looking must be fast, they say. The Z3 has a lot of curves and bulges, for such a short little body. It has a long low hood, yet looks truncated because it is, having a reasonable wheelbase but not much overhang, especially in the rear. The inline-6 engine takes up a lot of length forward of the windshield, so it's evidence of good engineering that the Roadster's weight distribution is a balanced 51-percent front, 49 rear. The hood also bulges in the center and has elevated edges that start at the width of the windshield and taper forward to surround the trademark twin-kidney grille. There are still more dramatic shapes in the front end. Under the grille is a huge spoiler that would be at home on a racing car, including its gaping air intake between the foglights. The cool horizontal halogen headlights slide toward the grille, beginning just inside the bulbous fender flares, which are squeezed from behind by four louvers like shark gills, angled like a row of forward slashes: ////. The back end is all bulges, with more fender flares. It's totally chopped off, almost no sheetmetal behind the tires. And this is the Roadster; the Coupe, with its boxy body, is flat-out radical looking.

Interior Features

During the same week we tested the Z3 Roadster, we had a Honda S2000 in our driveway, so comparisons are inevitable. The Z3's standard leatherette seats are neither as smooth feeling nor firm gripping as the Honda's. There is decent lateral support in the standard Z3 seats, but they must be designed for smaller backs than ours; also, the pleats in the fairly hard seat cushion were more intrusive than the Honda's. In the S2000, we knocked off a 200-mile afternoon drive with nary a kink; the prospect of the same ride in the Z3 was inhibiting. Later we got five days in a Z3 Coupe with the optional sport package that includes seats whose contour is both racier and more supportive, and this made all the difference in the world, changing the feel of the whole car. At $600, this package also includes great-looking cross-spoke composite wheels, making it a great bargain as well as a necessary option. In addition to their comfort, support and raciness, the seats in our Coupe were heated (another $500). The interior trim in our Coupe was brushed aluminum, which also added to great looks of the cockpit. The cargo area in the Coupe, separated from the seats by a short bulkhead you have to reach over, is quite tidy and convenient. The leather-wrapped, three-spoke steering wheel has bumps inside the rim at 10 and 2 o'clock. BMW apparently believes in this traditional position for your hands, which allows your thumbs to use the bumps for better grip; but nowadays some instructors teach 3 and 9, which puts your hands below the bumps with your thumbs hooked over the big wide spokes. There's a dead pedal for your left foot, but during hard cornering to the right, the edge of the otherwise convenient door pocket dug into the side of our left knee. The instrument panel and gauges were redesigned in 2001. As one might expect from a performance-minded company like BMW, they're no-nonsense, intended to provide information to drivers. The switches were blessedly simple. Our test car was not equipped with the power top ($750), including wood interior trim. The power top would be a luxury indeed, as operation of the manual top is effortless.