BMW Z8: driving test and video
Posted on 16-03-2015 at 16:00 by CasperH – 104 Responses”
A large, luxury, lumbering cruiser. That is how the BMW Z8 in my head, but is that really justified? That glorious V8 from the E39 M5 should be good for more than a little cruising? We sought it out!
Before the best man have his own elektromerk started it was Henrik Fisker’s ever a designer at BMW. He is one of the in my opinion most beautiful cars ever designed: the BMW Z8. It was a result of the Z07 concept, or actually it was almost a copy of that car, with some mild tweaks. The Z8 is not a “typical BMW design”, there are influences from brands such as Jaguar in the design and the kidneys are not like those of other modern bmws. They must, however, reminiscent of the 507. And no, that’s not a Peugeot. And not only the kidneys, there are more lines in the Z8 to this classic reference.
The Z8 consisted of a fully aluminium chassis with hung a delicious V8 of 4.9 liters in size. This block was taken from the E39 M5 and resulted in the Z8 400 hp and 500 Nm of torque. The long nose has not only an aesthetic reason, the block is behind the front axle, which is a long hood made it necessary. The specified sprint from 0-100 was 4.7 seconds and the top speed is a limited 250 kilometers per hour.
That are figures that are there not to lie, but the Z8 feels the first kilometers everything except eagerly. The profiling that I have in my head seems to fit. The V8 hums away in the cabin, it sounds dark, but it responds quite slow on my input with the right foot. We drive, however, is still quiet, because before the gas really going to shove I want to have all the liquids temperature. And so I have all the time to the interior in me. The oddly placed clocks, the classic design of the steering wheel, diesel particulate filter, which returns in the interior and the beautiful cream-coloured leather: it is a fine mix between retro and modern where I can get used to it.
We are on the road with a car with 26.500 km on the counter. Not much for a car that was built in 2002. It is one of the 5703 instances that the factory left between 1999 and 2003. Most of the Z8’s were grey or black with matching interiors. The Z8 is the color, however, very decisive for the monetary value. The color Topazblau on the car that we at Gina Classics have borrowed is a lot rarer, and the combination with light leather ensures that this car 209.500 should cost. The rarer the color is on a Z8, the higher the price will fall.
A special feature of the Z8 is the neon lighting. The turn signals and tail lights are equipped with neon lights, that are faster to ignite and a autoleven long would have to go according to BMW. If this is not the case then BMW has in every case something behind the hand: they have immediately after the cranking of the sale announced that there will be a stock of spare parts for at least 50 years behind the hand-held.
But back to the character of this car. The Z8 feels, however, sanction suspension and that suggests that there is more to enjoy with this car than I thought. We have the engine become warm, driven, and an empty stretch of road for us. The right foot drops to the carpet, the rows running above the 4000 rpm, starts the V8 to roar and sing as we know that he can do in the e39 M5. And the acceleration is too spicy, suddenly, that penalty suspension is not so illogical.
Speed: check. Sound: check. Experience: check. But now there is a sharp bend to the right. Submit goes on this speed much sharper than I had expected. When I did last night during the scan read that some German journalists, the handling at the introduction is compared with that of a Ferrari 360 Modena I had to chuckle to the German chauvinism. I am still of the opinion that the opinion be a bit exaggerated, but the Z8 has a lot better handling than you might suspect. In combination with the addictive soundtrack of the S62 V8 engine block above the 4000 rpm, this is really a car that you are in two totally different ways.
In advance, I had absolutely not expected that the Z8 me greedy, but I now have a small spot in my heart for the BMW Z8. What a great car this is. And for the people that are still that bit more relaxed feeling like in a Z8: 555 of the 5703 Z8’s are, ultimately, Alpina V8 roadster on the market. With a different, more relax-tuned V8, automatic transmission (the regular Z8 is only with manual zesbak) and a more relaxed handling. The rarity drives the price of course, keep in mind a ton or three for a car with this Z8 similar. But hey, if you have it neatly manages to keep is ie only but worth more. You need only first one.
Gallery: BMW Z8
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