The last BMW Z4 G29 left the Magna Steyr factory in Graz on schedule. BMW has confirmed there is no successor in its current product plan. With the Z4 gone, the only open-top car BMW sells in Europe is the 4 Series Convertible.
The Z lineage — BMW’s two-seat roadsters spanned 35 years and four distinct models, each with a different character.
The Z1 arrived in 1989 and went on sale in 1991. It is best remembered for its doors, which dropped vertically into the sills rather than swinging outward. BMW built 8,000 of them over three years. Mechanically it shared its 2.5-litre straight-six with the E30 3 Series, but the Z1’s composite body panels and the door mechanism made it genuinely unusual.
The Z3 (1995–2002) was the first volume-production Z-series car. It was assembled in Spartanburg, South Carolina — BMW’s first US factory — and appeared in GoldenEye before it reached dealers, which did its sales no harm. The M version eventually made 325 hp. A coupé variant, with a roofline that drew comparisons to shooting brakes and shooting irons depending on who you asked, remains a cult object.
The Z8 (1999–2003) used the 4.0-litre V8 from the E39 M5, producing 400 hp. BMW built 5,703 of them. It also appeared in a Bond film — The World Is Not Enough — where it was famously sawn in half, which few owners replicated. It remains the most valuable Z-series car on the used market.
The Z4 G29 (2018–2026) shared its platform with the Toyota Supra, a co-development agreement that covered both cars from the outset. The Z4 was offered only as a soft-top; a coupé version was never made available. The range-topping 3.0i produced 340 hp, and BMW added a six-speed manual gearbox to the lineup late in the car’s life.
What comes next — Toyota has confirmed it is working on a new Supra. Whether BMW joins that programme again, or builds a Z-series car independently, has not been announced.
