A new rumor suggests the BMW Z2 is ‘game on’ for Frankfurt. Was BMW just trying to throw all of us off the scent by denying the Z2’s existence? Or are rumors getting jumbled that overlap with the Z10 ED? We don’t have all the answers yet, so we’ll just keep scratching out heads until September.
Last month Lamborghini reminded us all that the Estoque was just a concept, and now it’s BMW’s turn to disappoint. According to a source inside BMW, the little Z2 roadster is just a figment of the media’s imagination.
A source inside the company told iMotor, "Everyone in the motoring media seems to be talking about this car but it’s not on my product plan and that lists the forthcoming models for the next 10 years." The source further explained that he had not even heard internal rumors about a little brother for the Z4.
We like the new Z4, but something smaller, lighter and cheaper had us hopeful for a car that would deliver the performance of the Mazda MX-5 without the emasculating stigma. While we understand that the Z2 would cannibalize the sales of the 1-Series convertible, we still are hoping that BMW is just playing a bad April Fools joke on us.
BMW left a hole in its line up with the new Z4. The car is not too big, but it does put a wide enough gap between it and its predecessor, the Z3, to take it out of direct competition with like the small, lightweight Mazda MX-5. Not likely to leave a market wide open for other companies, BMW is rumored to be working on a Z2 model for featherweight fun.
The Z2 will be built on a modified Z4 platform, and unlike its bigger brother will only be offered with a choice of four cylinders engines with a maximum capacity of two liters. The base version will be a 1.8-liter with 150 hp, while a “M” version could be a turbocharged car with an output of around 300 hp. Like previously reported, a hybrid version is also in the works and a M version might also be a possibility.
The Z2 will be offered with BMW’s latest technologies, including active steering, dual clutch gearbox and active suspension. The price will be somewhere around the $30k area and the official debut will be made at the end of 2010, with sales to begin in 2011.
It seems BMW won’t wait for Detroit to take the wraps off the new Z4. It was rumored that although the car was complete, the German roadster missed its LA debut do to a rights issue. Since the car is fully-baked, BMW is eager to get it out to the public. It’s now rumored that BMW will do its own reveal of the new Z4 before the Detroit Auto Show in January.
Sometime in December official images of the convertible should appear, and sometime later a coupe version will follow. We are expecting some styling differences between the coupe and convertible, which is good considering the convertible will be offered as a folding hardtop. The coupe version is also likely to be more performance-tuned with a stiffer suspension and lower ride height. Base engines should start around the current lineup of six-cylinder engines, and could possibly top out with a future "M" version with a V8 from the M3.
Another rumor that is starting to get some attention is that BMW might also working on a smaller roadster possibly called the Z2. The Z2 is designed to take up some of the slack that was created when the original z4 went upmarket from its Z3 predecessor. The new convertible (and possibly roadster) will be small and light enough that BMW would use it to showcase its hybrid technology called eDrive.
After BMW will be done with the revealing of the new generation Z4 (official launch at the Los Angeles Auto Show and sales set to begin in April 2009) it will start working on a more affordable roadster. Likely called the Z2, it will be based on the 1-Series and will be revealed sometime in 2012. The base version will likely be powered by a 1.6 liter four cylinder engine that will deliver 120 hp; while the top version will offer around 210 hp.
This is ambitious considering the amount of new projects coming from BMW between now and the Z2. Some of the plans expected from BMW over the next four years include the PAS, X1 crossover, 1-Series sedan as well as new generations of the X3 and 5-Series.
Ther German automaker BMW is preparing another iteration of their affordable open air roadster, the Bavarian version of the Z car, that competes head to head with the world’s best selling drop top, the Mazda MX-5. With the release of the all new BMW Z4, the automaker has introduced a much more attractive version of their fun to drive convertible by trading in the rounded bodylines for a much more sculpted and angular figure. However as the cars get newer and equipped with even more features, the one time affordable compact sports car has turned into a much more luxurious and expensive vehicle straying from the original Z1’s roots.
As automakers are looking to downsize their lineups in an attempt to move more units, it would appear that BMW is trying to tap back into what made the original Z1 so popular with a future Z2 compact roadster. Combining the agility of a lightweight fun to drive vehicle with the best in German engineering at an affordable price point a new Z2 roadster for 2011 would be quite a treat.
Continued after the jump.
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