There is plenty of space for two people in the Z4, the head and legroom about what you find in a full-size SUV. Standard manual seats and tilt/telescoping steering column provide enough adjustment to suit many driver sizes; slender types will appreciate the side bolsters on the seats and larger bodies will be framed as much by the door and console. While they may not look like thick armchairs the seats offer excellent support over multi-hour drives; the sport seats are a bit more confining for wide girth and superb for a spirited drive. The driver's footwell is large enough for size-13 shoes to comfortably operate three well-positioned pedals and a good dead pedal to rest/brace your left foot on.
Inside storage has long been the bane of roadsters so particular attention was paid to that. The door pocket walls tilt out for access, and in doing so make excellent coin catchers for the change flying out your pants pocket at the first hard bend. A bin ahead of the shifter has good containment properties and there's a cubby atop the dash on cars without navigation. Other storage areas are behind the seats, and there is a pass-through door available for carrying skis or golf clubs. The armrest lid conceals two cupholders and that lid stays up on its own and clears even lanky elbows, and a third cupholder clips in to the right side of the console right about where the passenger's left knee rests. Cupholders are not the priority here, driving is.
The multifunction steering wheel is thick enough to feel good and thin enough to receive all the feedback the suspension delivers. Ahead of it are large speed and engine rev gauges, with smaller fuel and oil temperature (more useful than coolant temperature) in the bottom. Digital displays in the center handle outside temperature, mileage, trip data, and on automatics, gear indication.
Outward visibility is good, and a major improvement with the top up. The windshield curves across the top and the pillars are no impediment, but taller drivers will have to look around the inside mirror on up-and-down winding mountain roads. The three-quarter view right behind the seats is much better because the folding top added two small windows. Even the 8.8-inch stowable navigation display (1280x480p) was easy to read in direct sunlight, polarized sunglasses or not.
Climate control is manual on 30i and automatic dual-zone on 35i with an automatic recirculation mode that senses air contaminants. With the heated seats and steering wheel option the close-the-top temperature goes down 10 degrees or more. Slide the control wheel at the center dash vents from warm to cool and the response is immediate. This happens with most of the controls. There is no need to hold the trip odo button to reset it, and some are designed as multifunctional with one result from a quick tap and another from depressing and holding.
Audio options include HD radio, satellite radio, glovebox-mounted six-disc DVD changer, iPod and USB ports and a hi-fi system with 14 speakers driven by an amplifier capable of delivering 650 watts. On navigation cars much audio control is done through iDrive but common requests can be handled by steering wheel buttons as well. On cars with iDrive there is an 80GB hard-drive that has 15GB allotted to music storage, and it will contain CD contents for you.
The new Z4 gets the next generation of iDrive (with navigation) and it is improved as much as anything on the car. Buttons have been added to the controller to speed access and operation is much more intuitive while maintaining the myriad functions. It might not be the best such system in modern automobiles but should put an end to the criticism of earlier iDrive. Our only complaint is that the controller is located between the shift lever and the armrest and on gear changes we frequently bumped the controller, often executing a command or changing the radio station in the process. Automatics with paddle shifters won't have this problem, nor manual non-navigation cars.
The parking brake is electrically operated by a switch behind the shifter, and it does get hot in sunshine, even underway. Concerns about starting on a hill without a lever to work are addressed by the start-off assistant that keeps the brakes applied momentarily while you engage the clutch and throttle. Switching for the suspension and transmission, where applicable, is to the left of the shifter so you're hands never have to travel far.
On the 35i the optional dual-clutch transmission has a shift lever shared by some other new BMW products that's a bit unconventional and looks like a cross between a video-game controller and a beer tap. Neutral is the default position and park a pushbutton; push the lever forward to go backward and vice-versa, and in manual mode, it shifts like a racecar with downshifts forward and upshifts back, allowing g-forces to assist the driver with shifting.
The top opens and closes in 20 seconds without any fear it will bump you on the head and once up felt just like a coupe in terms of noise; the headliner is off-white to enhance spaciousness. Raising all four windows (use the master on the driver's door) allows conversation at 75 mph top down, and most window-down wind noise comes from the area around the seatbelts. There is no wind-blockerpanel for between the headrests specified in early option sheets though we have seen photos and it may become available through your dealer.
Cargo room is about average for the class, but better with the top up (10.9 cubic feet versus 6.4 using the DIN standard). On cars with Comfort Access you can, through the key fob, lift the stowed roof out of the way for easier loading and unloading. Next Page