1998 BMW Z3 Roadster M spec from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing yet.

Finished in M blue with 17 inch alloys and 245 rear tyres, the muscular appearance of this Z3 shakes off the slightly girly image of its four cylinder cousins.

The 2.8 straight six is a real beast of an engine. 200hp and 206lbs of torque leave the latest wave of hot hatches in its wake.

Spec is superb with M steering wheel, hide seats both heated and powered. electric hood and trip computer. intrior plain solid BMW. nothing exciting, but timeless.

Awesome dry grip from 245 rear / 225 front tyres. a handful trying to put the power down in the wet, not even the standard stability and traction save you if you floor it in 2nd on the exit of a roundabout!

A bit shaky on bumpy roads, but this is more down to the bigger wheels than body rigidity. not as stiff as my previous MX5 but the mazda had a frustrating surplus of grip over power. it had a decent 146hp, but only 125lbs of torque which led to a fare share of abandoned overtaking attempts on b roads. still a great car though...

It was embarassing how easily I beat a boy racer in his tinny Mini Cooper S with a mere 163hp and a laughable 155lbs of torque. Italian Job? you would need a Works to stand a chance of getting away!

Bring on the S2000. A very nice looking car with a hand built engine and quality that shames a Boxter. The only problem is the complete lack of torque from its 4 cylinder engine. It did eventually catch up after its driver managed to wring 9000rpm out of its admittedly glorious engine. then it seemed to back off out of respect.

Next a Caterham 7. this must have been one of the lower engined variants, but you forego all the comforts of a modern roadster with the assumption that you are going to blow everything on the road away. acceleration to 70 was evenly matched, then the caterhams poor aerodynamics allowed me to steam past, and forge further ahead.

Audi TTs offer a close race in 225hp form, but are starting to look dated and are as dull as dishwater in silver. they also sound about as sporty as jo brand.

The best thing about the Z3 is the glorious sound of the big six howling as you accelerate. the biggest surprise is the fuel economy which averages almost 30mpg despite hard driving. 6mpg more than I used to get out of the MX5!

It is not as pure a sports car as a Boxter, but in parts of cheshire these are as common as a focus, and the z3 feels more exclusive and individual. don't get me wrong, if you gave me a new boxter I would gladly accept, then I would sell it, pocket 20 grand and search for a 15 grand Z3!

I thoroughly agree with your very sensible comments. I bought a 3.0 litre Z3, £15500, 2 years old, 14,000 miles and its great value speed for money. They say it's a ladies car, but it's a lot more involving and skill required than a Z4 at twice the price---'though I wouldn't say no to one of those! Vroom!

Haha, I can't believe what I'm hearing from the first commentor.

So, you have 193hp, a badly built haridressers convertible, and you 'say' it is more than a match for the 225 audi tt, an honda s2000 and a caterham 7?

Even a 1.4 caterham would out accelerate you from the lights as would all the other cars I've mentioned.

The only z3 worth its salt is the m-power z3, the others are quite weak by comparison, 7.5 seconds to 60 for the 2.8i.

The only audi tt you would have a chance against are the lower models i.e. 180 version single exit exhaust.

However its not just about performance, how about the quality? well the z3 falls short in these areas as well, poor quality materials, and built like a paper mache plane. any of the other sports cars even the mx5 and mr2 offer better interior appointments! ha.

Nuff said.

Wouldn't even get close to the s2000.

There isn't a Caterham in existence that wouldn't urinate all over your Z3 to 70 mph. Its driver wasn't trying.

I must admit if I were out in my humble 1700cc Ford Crossflow engined example (132 bhp and 595kg - both measured!) and saw someone in a Z3 trying to race me, I'd have to back off through tears of laughter. I even had a Z3 driver trying to race me off the lights on my ZX9R. I mean, what's that about?

I would relish the opportunity to take on all of the above mentioned vehicles appart from the fire breathing ZX9 crotch rocket, with my current Z3 Motorsport with a professionally fitted supercharger. The car produces a modest 447 bhp and genuinley outruns anything including my best chums brand new Ford Mustang Shelby 500!

CSR 260, interesting match for any car I guess. I would like to compare the 1/4 mile times. perhaps at Santa Pod with my Yamaha r1 turbo producing 207 bhp. its really rather quick considering it weighs in at 167 kg. I own this along side a e46 m3, and I genuinley have not came accross anything as quick either on 2 or 4 wheels. Lets not get carried away gents with the 2.8i z3, as with a shade under 200 hp, its not going to be as quick as the cars mentioned above ie, s2000 and most if not all caterham cars. I have owned one of these until last summer and it reaches 60 mph in 6.7 sec's and tops out at 142 mph. not bad for just a simple 2.8 straight six, however lets not carried away with this roadster! More comments would be much appreciated. Cheers.

A yes the CSR 260 of course, yes a lively big boy's go cart with 0-60 in 3.1 seconds, it's a pity that it stops accelerating when it reaches 155 mph, I have taken my Z3 M S to Germany and it reaches a more modest 182 mph, I guess I would be seeing your cart in my cabin mirror as you slowly disappear in the background. Enjoy all of your whopping 260 hp in your Caterham.

0-60 6.7 and 142mph from a 2.8 straight six!!

Is that it?

JDM honda integra type r dc2 (now a 12 year old car)

0-60 6.2 and 147mph from a small 1.8 16 valve 4 pot.

Yes, that pretty impressive for the Integra, although its fair to say that it weighs as much as a hoover and possibly sounds like one. Have a good one.

Yeah good engine if you don't mind working the engine and yourself to death to get the speed out of it. And wear some earplugs for the harsh noise.

You wouldn't see me in germany with the csr mate, that's not what its built for, come to any race track anywhere in the world against a decent caterham and you will be enlightened!

"it's a pitty that it stops accelerating when it reaches 155 mph, I have taken my Z3 M S to the Germany and it reaches a

more modest 182 mph,"

Outside of Germany, as we are, that is completely and utterly irrelevant. You get jailed for even 155 in the UK these days. Besides which, no Z3 does 182 even derestricted. And even if it did, the CSR's 0-60 in 3.1 seconds is of far more use. The CSR is at a ton by the time the Z3 gets to 60. lol.

"I guess I would be seeing your cart in my cabin mirror as you slowly dissapear in the background."

You would. Of course you would. Fact is, you wouldn't find my Caterham on a straight enough stretch of road to find out. Feel free to try it in the lanes, but don't bank on even keeping up.

"Enjoy all of your whopping 260 hp in your Caterham."

Alas, mine has to make do with a more modest 185, but I will enjoy it. Thank you.

Come along now gents, lets move on from who has the faster machine of the CSR 260 and the Z3 M Supercharger. They are both cars with extreme power and both are worthy of our respect! Lets be honest, they are both totally different animals and both have no doubt their strengths and weaknesses, like all performance cars. I can however say that being part of various BMW clubs over the years and having being very much involved in tuning and racing various BM's, that a healthy Z3 motorsport correctly fitted with a supercharger could achieve 180 mph, bearing in mind that the car would produce easily 430 bhp + with not a great deal of weight to deal with. Some of these hyper BMW's have been raced on the Nurburing circuit in Germany, possibly the finest and fastest circuit in Europe and perhaps worldwide. Bye for now...