Recently, my husband has had the chance to test drive various classic cars owned by acquaintances. I’m truly envious… Just the other day, he got to drive the BMW Z4 M40i and kindly wrote up his impressions. Please have a look if you’re interested.

The Joy of Driving, BMW

The other day, I had the opportunity to experience the BMW Z4 M40i, and I’d like to share my impressions from that drive.

I’ve mentioned this a bit before on the blog, but I really love BMW as a brand. My previous car, the E36 318is, taught me that a car can be fun even without a lot of power, and I was impressed by its strong body and very controllable suspension.

Around the same time, I often drove a friend’s Z3, and until recently, my wife was driving an F30 320i.

So, I was curious to see how the BMW Z4 M40i had evolved, and since it’s a sibling to the new Supra, it was a car I was personally very interested in.

Its length × width × height is 4335 × 1865 × 1305 mm, but at first glance, the design feels a bit more substantial, making it look slightly larger than the numbers suggest.

This model switches from a hardtop to a soft top, which really conveys BMW’s passionate commitment to driving.

The interior features striking orange seats that look very stylish, sporty, and luxurious. Sitting down and adjusting the position, the M Sport steering wheel remains thick as ever, and many people wouldn’t want it any other way.

Starting the engine, the 3-liter silky inline-six awakens with a satisfying volume.

First, I set off slowly in Comfort mode. My initial impression was that the ride quality is very comfortable. The 19-inch wheels are handled perfectly, and if you didn’t know, you might even be fooled into thinking they were 17-inch wheels because the ride is so smooth.

Typical roughness or sharpness on the road surface, often found in sports cars, is almost nonexistent. It feels like the car is fitted with very thick rubber bushings, so few people would complain about the ride comfort.

By the way, I drove there in a 981 Boxster GTS, which also has quite good ride comfort, but the approach is different. To use an analogy, even though both are lightweight high-performance sneakers, the BMW Z4 M40i feels like it has a thicker sole than the Boxster, making it feel milder overall.

Driving some winding roads in Comfort mode, the car allows a fair amount of body roll. However, it’s not unsettling roll but rather a moderate amount that helps load the front outer tires in a very BMW-like way.

After a few corners, it feels very comfortable, showing no signs of a sweaty, hard-driven effort. It smoothly and cleanly clears each corner with ease.

Next, switching to Sport mode to observe the changes. The suspension feels a bit firmer, but not as dramatically as the Boxster. The shift schedule changes, encouraging higher revs.

Still, at a pace suitable for winding public roads, it remains gentle rather than sharp or edgy, set up to corner smoothly and enjoyably rather than with razor-sharp directness.