Here's the latest chapter in the ongoing BMW Z3 story: It's called the M Roadster. And it's real speed reading.First there was the Z3. It's gorgeous, but with just 138 horsepower from its 1.9-liter inline 4-cylinder engine, it's a bit too tepid for serious sports car enthusiasts.
BMW followed up last year with the Z3 2.8. Its 189-horsepower inline 6-cylinder engine pretty much silenced the power pundits, but it was overshadowed by the new Porsche Boxster.
Now comes the M Roadster, with raw performance that makes the Boxster look just a bit tame. In the BMW alphabet, M stands for Motorsports. The engines and suspensions are developed in a separate skunkworks that's also home for BMW's racing activities. The Z3 is assembled exclusively at BMW's new facility at Spartanburg, South Carolina, and the M Roadster is the first M model BMW has ever assembled outside of Germany.Click here to read more