The third-generation Z4, coded G29, was BMW’s last two-seat roadster. It was assembled by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria rather than in a BMW plant, on the same line as the fifth-generation Toyota Supra. The two companies agreed the joint programme before either car was styled, which is why they share a platform, a wheelbase and BMW’s engine and transmission hardware while looking and driving differently. The Z4 was offered only with a fabric roof, which folds in ten seconds at up to 50 km/h. Unlike its E89 predecessor, it never got a folding hard top, and unlike the Z3 it was never sold as a coupe.
Three petrol engines carried the range. The sDrive20i used a 2.0-litre four making 194 hp and 320 Nm, good for 0-100 km/h in 6.6 seconds. The sDrive30i raised the same four-cylinder to 255 hp and 400 Nm for a 5.4-second run. Above both sat the M40i, with the 3.0-litre B58 straight-six and 500 Nm. Its power rating depended on where it was sold: 250 kW (340 PS, 335 hp) in Europe, where it covered 0-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds, and 382 hp in the United States, where BMW quoted 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds. Every version drove the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic. A six-speed manual reached the sDrive20i in Europe from July 2019, and much later the M40i through the Edition Handschalter package, which added its own auxiliary springs, a reinforced front anti-roll bar clamp and revised damper and steering maps.
Inside, the cabin sits low between wide sills, with the roof mechanism and a 281-litre boot behind the seats. Boot volume is the same whether the roof is up or down, because the fabric stack does not eat into the load bay. The September 2022 facelift made M Sport trim standard across the range and left the engines untouched. The car measured 4,324 mm long on a 2,470 mm wheelbase, 1,864 mm wide and 1,304 mm tall, with an unladen weight between 1,405 and 1,535 kg depending on engine.
BMW closed the line with a Final Edition based on the M40i, finished in black with red interior accents and priced at $78,675 including destination in the United States, where the standard sDrive30i ran from $56,100 and the M40i from $68,400. The last car left Graz in May 2026. Toyota has confirmed work on a new Supra; BMW has not said whether it will build another Z-series car, with or without a partner.
