Walkaround
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The Z3 Roadster is visually enigmatic. It looks funny, sporty, powerful, cute and homely, all at the same time. Which means people look at it for a long time, and it often makes them smile. You could say the same things about the Coupe, only much more so. People stop and stare at the odd-shaped Coupe, and often ask if it's fast. Anything that funny looking must be fast, they say.
The Z3 has a lot of curves and bulges, for such a short little body. It has a long low hood, yet looks truncated because it is, having a reasonable wheelbase but not much overhang, especially in the rear. The inline-6 engine takes up a lot of length forward of the windshield, so it's evidence of good engineering that the Roadster's weight distribution is a balanced 51-percent front, 49 rear. The hood also bulges in the center and has elevated edges that start at the width of the windshield and taper forward to surround the trademark twin-kidney grille.
There are still more dramatic shapes in the front end. Under the grille is a huge spoiler that would be at home on a racing car, including its gaping air intake between the foglights. The cool horizontal halogen headlights slide toward the grille, beginning just inside the bulbous fender flares, which are squeezed from behind by four louvers like shark gills, angled like a row of forward slashes: ////.
The back end is all bulges, with more fender flares. It's totally chopped off, almost no sheetmetal behind the tires. And this is the Roadster; the Coupe, with its boxy body, is flat-out radical looking.
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