Through the small window

Inside, everything looks good from the driver's perspective. The instrument binnacle features BMW M's variable engine speed pre-warning field in the rev counter and trademark white instrument numbers and red needles. All controls fall easily and ergonomically to hand, with BMW M's leather multi-function steering wheel standard on the M Coupe.

A choice of four leather colours - Black, Imola Red, Light Sepang Bronze and Sepang Brown - are available, with the further upgrade to full leather interior offered in Black or Light Sepang Bronze, adding additional leather covering to the entire door panel, storage compartment lids, centre console, sun visors and 'A' pillars. Dashboard trim panels can also be personalised with Madeira walnut wood and brushed aluminium available in place of the standard Carbon Structure Black leather trim.



Drivetrain

The previous Z3 Coupe was only offered to British customers with BMW Motorsport's 3.2-litre engine, delivering supercar levels of performance for a fraction of the price. The arrival of both the 3.0si and M models ensures that the new Z4 Coupe will appeal to a far broader church. Customers can now choose from a compact Coupe powered by the lightest volume-production six-cylinder engine in the world or one of the most award-winning engines ever produced.


M Coupe - award-winning pedigree

In the history of the International Engine of the Year awards no other vehicle manufacturer has won as many awards as BMW, with a current stock of 31. BMW M's in-line six-cylinder has made the largest contribution to this record, with an outright win in 2001 and six consecutive category wins to date. Only one other engine has won as many awards as the 3.2-litre engine now powering the BMW Z4 M Coupe.

Delivering its 343hp at 7,900rpm (through a six-speed manual gearbox), the 3,246cc engine easily surpasses the magical 100hp per litre benchmark for a naturally aspirated engine. The actual 107hp per litre is a figure more akin to a high-performance racing car than a road-going coupe. To bring the high-revving nature of the 3.2-litre M engine into context, at its 8,000rpm red-line, the pistons are travelling at more than 24 metres a second - only one metre per second slower than that of a BMW Formula One engine rotating at 18,000 rpm. What makes this even more of an achievement is that while the Formula One engine only has to last two race weekends, the engine in the M Coupe has to last a lifetime.

And the powerplant in the new Z4 M Coupe does not necessarily have to be worked hard to deliver exceptional performance. Its flexibility is highlighted by the peak torque of 365Nm at 4,900rpm, 80 per cent of which is available from a lowly 2,000rpm.

These levels of power and torque translate to scintillating on-road performance and in-gear acceleration. Sprinting away from standstill, the Z4 M Coupe reaches 62mph in 5.0 seconds. The more 'real-world' acceleration from 50 to 75mph is achieved in the same time. Top speed is electronically limited to 155mph. However, the speed restriction doesn't stop the new Z4 Coupe posting a faster time than both the Z4 M Roadster and M3 Coupe on the infamous northern loop of the Nürburgring, achieving a time of less than eight minutes and 15 seconds - only 20 seconds slower than the scintillating performance of the M3 CSL.

These high levels of performance do not, however, lead to unbearably high levels of fuel consumption. The Z4 M Coupe delivers a respectable 23.3mpg on the combined cycle. Naturally, the car meets the stringent EU4 emissions regulations, recording a CO2 output of 292g/km.

One of the world's most advanced engine management systems is required to keep these supercar levels of performance balanced with low emissions and frugal economy. A 32-bit microprocessor and two co-processors are employed to monitor all aspects of engine function. No less than 64 million instructions per second are handled by the engine management system that has to react instantly to the changing requirements of the driver. For example, the throttle butterflies can travel from fully closed to fully open in 120 milliseconds, ensuring the system always stays one step ahead. 

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