2024 BMW Z4 M40i Handschalter | PH review

For more than two decades, the BMW Z4 has been described as many things, both good and bad. You probably never like a box of chocolates, we’d bet – but when it comes to the quick ones, you never quite knew what you were going to get. After BMW created the wild child, the cult hero Z4 M with the S54 3.2 straight six, the general consensus was that the best driving original version was the 3.0Si coupe. So BMW did the obvious thing and dropped both the M version and the coupe for the second model, resulting in a rather forgettable folding hardtop cruiser. Bonus PH points to anyone who remembers the 340hp sDrive 35iS from 2011. Then came the current G29 a few years ago, which promised a lot and never quite lived up to its potential.

The emergence of the Supra, and then even the manual Supra, seemed to do nothing to sway BMW to make a more driver-focused Zed. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, and with BMW clearly calling time on manuals, it decided to make the green tan six-speed Z4 available. It wasn’t much to predict, but this certainly qualifies as one of BMW’s better sports car surprises. At this rate, there will be a new M Coupe before we know it.

Some effort has also been invested in the manual Handschalter Pack, a transmission described by BMW as “developed exclusively for the M40i” with “M-specific parts for the transmission and shafts that have been modified for the inline six’s performance. ‘. There’s no doubt the HP will arrive, and its M5 CS-like Frozen Deep Green and staggered wheel setup – a first for this Z4 era, with 19s front and 20s rear – draw further attention to the car it’s driving. correction. Cognac leather is almost always a winner, and check it out, there’s a real manual shifter in the BMW Z4. You can’t help but be curious.

Modified for this installation it may be, but the six-speed remains BMW’s modular gearbox – and you can feel it. There’s the same knurled, rubbery, slightly dull feel, complete with offset pedals and a vague engagement point. In some ways, it’s as faithful a recreation of a classic BMW manual as you can imagine. It’s also better in some ways, but feels like a smoother, tighter shift than in something like the M2. The gate seems more defined and the throw not as long. Not perfect, but probably better than expected and nicely positioned in the cabin to give a good seat-to-wheel relationship. The Z4’s manual never feels like an afterthought, most importantly, which has always been a lingering concern.

On the road, the very nature of the lever and clutch makes the Handschalter a more immersive experience than the Z4. You do more, learn more, explore more from your car. All the silly little things that are possible with a manual that aren’t really with an automatic – blocky shifts, sharp downshifts that don’t really need to be done, using too many revs to reverse – become second nature again. You’d swear this Z4 looks louder than previous cars with the same engine; the reality is probably that more turns are used more often. Basically like a proper sportsman.

That being said, it’s the traditional Z4 hot rod vibe that the manual tends to exemplify. The slick-shifting car has always encouraged a more energetic driving style, which BMW has never quite been comfortable with. Rewarding such an approach was always too distant and a little too imprecise. Now please think about cornering a little earlier and shifting a lot more, the point and splashy nature can come to the fore. BMW’s gearshift assistant is very good at matching revs, or you can make your own, though it’s still not the fastest shifter in the world; once you downshift, point it into a corner, slip into apex whether you’ve selected Sport or Comfort driving mode, and then launch yourself into the inline-six’s mountain of torque, traction and swagger.

It’s not necessarily subtle or sophisticated, but the entertainment value is undeniable. Those bigger rear wheels mean even wider tyres, with 369lb ft now going through huge 285-piece Michelins, so there’s rarely a battle for purchase. Like the old 2020 Healey, there’s something extremely evocative about sitting above the driven wheels, looking over the big hood with the raucous inline-six and choosing your own gears. Evocative, engaging, perhaps emotional – everything we’d hoped for from the first 3.0-litre manual Z4 in yorkshire. It’ll sit on the highway at higher revs than the eight-speed, uses a little more fuel and accelerates just a little slower, which feels irrelevant against the backdrop of a more engaging experience.

BMW manuals used to allow the driver to adjust the revs themselves if the DSC was completely switched off – not anymore. The assistant can now only be deactivated in Sport Individual mode along with the powertrain, damping and steering settings. Good news because you can enjoy the heel and toe with the safety net on, bad news because it can be on the iDrive fiddle (if you were in Individual and exited, then hit Sport again, it reverts back to the default Sport setting). Although no combination of modes makes for a perfect driving machine, the sportier chassis settings seem better suited to the M40i’s heavy and burly character. The comfort is then for sailing around, it looks cool.

In the end, the manual doesn’t make the Z4 an M car or a Boxster, although it did add a welcome dose of charisma to a car that previously suffered from a shortage. As it seems, authentic, interesting performance car experiences are so few and far between – and many very ordinary ones are plentiful – that BMW should be applauded for carving out a niche it didn’t have to. The Z4 has always been and always will be a small seller, so the target market for a £60k flagship offered in just one color scheme must be small. Still, there’s a guide, and it’s a good one, and it deserves to be celebrated by those who care about such things – a lot of us, basically. The Handschalter Pack is proof that the manual still deserves a place in modern cars. But even if the trend doesn’t catch on, there’s still a brand new rear-wheel-drive six-speed BMW roadster for sale that looks, sounds great and drives very nicely. If that’s not reason to be happy in 2024, then we don’t know what is.

Engine: 2,998 cc, straight-six turbo
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear wheel drive
Power (hp): 340 at 5,000-6,500 rpm
Torque (lb ft): 369 at 1,600-4,500 rpm
0-62mph: 4.6 s
Top speed: 155 mph (limited)
Mass: 1550 kg (DIN)
MPG: 34.0-35.3
CO2: 198-191 g/km
Price: £60,675