Picture courtesy of Patrick.
| Performance | 8.8/10 |
|---|---|
| Practicality | 6.1/10 |
| Reliability | 9/10 |
| Value for Money | 8.4/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 8/10 |
| Overall Rating | 7.8/10 |
By garygfx
on 29th Aug 2003
| Value for money | 10/10 |
|---|---|
| Overall value | 9/10 |
| | |
Styling, performance, still turns heads when the roof is down.
Not much boot space, but you wouldn't buy a car like this to do the shopping!
The BMW Z3 2.8 is a good looking car with a distinguished bonnet and good lines. The back end isn't as strong in terms of design as the front, not even the updated rear end (2000 models onwards) manage to make it match the rest of the car. The engines below 2.5 don't do the car justice, but the 2.8 and 3.0 make this a great sports car. Okay, it's not as potent as some other cars, but for the money it gives more bhp. Since you can only buy Z3s second hand now it's fair to assume that most buyers will be upgrading from lesser models so if you've never driven a sports car with a 2.8 engine you're in for a surprise! It has a lovely deep tone and never fails to give you extra power when you need it, even at motorway speeds I can accelerate and overtake rapidly. It has more power and speed than you need in practical terms, and on warm days with the electric roof down it's even more good looking.
Forget what the magazine reviews say about body roll. Unless you're a professional sports car driver or car journalist you won't notice and you'll need to be driving dangerously to feel it. I haven't, even on speedy tight bends. I love this car and couldn't bring myself to sell it as I intended to after year 1. Mine is now over 4 years old and is as thrilling to drive as it was on day 1.

| Helpful | Unhelpful | Agree | Disagree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Total Respect: +7