As the BMW E89 Z4 quietly went out of production earlier this year, BMW will put us through a rather long waiting period until it launches a new 2-seat roadster on the market. That’s because the rumored BMW Z4 Roadster is bound to be launched in late 2017. The car is already being tested on the Nurburgring and has been spotted in the most varied places in the world, including the Arctic Circle but so far, no updates have been offered about it by the German manufacturer.
Having been recently spotted on the Nurburgring putting its drivetrain and chassis set up to the test, the upcoming BMW Z4Â sparked yet another round of discussions. The main issue with it is that nobody knows exactly what it will bring to the table.
Either way, we know for a fact that this will be the first car co-developed by the Germans with Toyota. Out of this collaboration more than one model will spawn. Under the blue and white badge we’ll see two lightweight cars come out. There’s the Z4 Roadster showed in the video below and a Z4 Coupe model that will come out some time after the drop top model is launched.
Both of them will be using 2-liter and 3-liter 6-cylinder engines but the top of the range versions will also be helped by hybrid technology to achieve incredible performance figures. This is where the Toyota part of the deal comes to light. The Japanese will take care of the electrification part as they have more experience in the field. In return, BMW will help with the chassis set-up and engine of the upcoming Toyota Supra that has already been spotted out testing as well.
As for the design, little is known. On the outside, the car will keep its traditional styling, with a long bonnet, short overhangs and wide stance. Inside, the instrument cluster will be similar to the one used inside the BMW 7 Series while the rest of the dash is expected to be a sort of evolution of what was found inside the E89 Z4.
