Deliciously uncivil
With a board full of car freaks at BMW, the hard-top M Coupé was a natural. The 330 hp 3.2-litre fastback-style speedster boasts 50/50 weight distribution
May 20, 2006. 01:00 AM
JIM KENZIEESTORIL, Portugal—The BMW Z4 Coupé was a “submarine” car at the company’s headquarters, admits one executive.
Submarine cars — meaning they were developed without formal approval from the company’s board of directors — are theoretically illegal at BMW.
“But once the board sees them and drives them, it’s okay,” says Ulrich Bruhnke, who has many titles including president of BMW’s M division, responsible for the high-performance cars.
He’s also responsible for driver training and individual customization programs.
Bruhnke has a huge advantage over executives at most car companies: all his board members are car freaks and all can drive with the best of them.
Turn them loose in an M version of any BMW and they get it. Right away.
The former Z3 roadster-based Coupé — the square-backed bread-wagon car — was marketed back home only in M spec as the M Coupé, although base versions (called “civilian” cars in BMW-speak) were available in other markets.
Also a submarine car, the Z3 Coupé’s lines were clearly controversial: it was probably the most polarizing love-it/hate-it car in BMW’s history.
The new Coupé, essentially a Z4 roadster with a fixed hardtop roof, is somewhat less divisive
. The Z4 roadster isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the coupe conversion doesn’t dramatically alter the appeal level no matter which way you swing on the soft-top version.
The profile is classic coupe: ultra-long hood and short overhangs front and rear, distinctly rearward-biased greenhouse, fastback rear with hatch opening.
Visually, the M Coupé is distinguished from the base Z4 Coupé by a larger front air dam, “power bulge” creases in the hood, unique 18-inch wheels, larger tires, four chrome exhaust tips and, of course, lots of badges.
Again in Canada, we will get only the M Coupé version ($68,900), our market not only being too small to justify too wide a model proliferation, but also reflecting the fact that Canadians buy proportionately more M products than Americans do anyway — Canada is apparently Number 5 in the world in M penetration.
So we will not have the option of the 255 horsepower 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder engine; we will be forced (aw, gee …) into the 330 horsepower 3.2-litre M six.
This is 14 ponies down on the European-spec M cars. The engine is identical, but a slightly more restrictive exhaust system is required for the U.S. to meet its exhaust standards, and we, unfortunately, piggyback on those factory specs.
We also have slightly less peak torque: 262 lb.-ft. at 4900 r.p.m., versus 269 for the lucky Europeans.
This engine does not use BMW’s vaunted Valvetronic system whereby engine speed is controlled not by throttle butterflies but by stringent control of valve lift and timing.
Bruhnke noted that while this is fine for civilian cars, a high-performance engine like the M Coupé’s requires a separate electronically-controlled butterfly for each cylinder, for immediate throttle response.
A “sport” mode button on the centre console changes the throttle pedal-butterfly ratio and also modifies the engine electronics to provide even sharper reaction to pedal movement.
The only transmission is a six-speed manual, surprisingly (to me, anyway) not an SMG (sequential manual gearbox) automatic-or-paddle-shifted racing-type transmission.
Bruhnke said that the third-generation SMG transmission — a seven-speed — was introduced with the M5, and while the older six-speed SMG now in the M3 coupe and convertible could have been adapted, they felt it would be better to wait until the next-generation version was ready to be fitted to its newest car.
Also, the marketing people felt the classic sports car would work better with the classic manual transmission (the Americans had already demanded and received a regular manual for the M5; the rest of the world offers only an SMG).
A variable differential lock limits forward-thrust-reducing wheelspin to a minimum based on side-to-side variances in grip. Up to 100 per cent of the available torque can be switched to either rear wheel.
The chassis begins with almost exactly 50/50 weight distribution — some consider this ideal, although all true high-performance cars have a slight rear bias so that under braking, the forward weight transfer generates this desired equality dynamically.
The suspension basics are identical with other 3 Series cars — single-pivot MacStruts up front; multi-link “central arm” at the rear — although the M Coupé (and sister car M Roadster) uses significantly different details, tailored to the performance potential of these vehicles.
The Dynamic Stability Control system — to eliminate skids before they happen — is recalibrated to intervene more gently and at higher thresholds, to allow you more opportunity to bail out of trouble.
If you’re really brave, you can shut it off altogether — most such BMW systems remain at least partially active even when switched off.
Massive floating disc brakes lifted from the highest-performance M3 variant so far, the M3 CSL, bring the M Coupé from 100 km/h to rest in about 2.5 seconds, or within 34 metres.
That’s good to great, folks.
Portugal has perhaps benefited more from entry into the European Union than any other country, save perhaps for Ireland or Spain.
The improving economy has helped finance lots of road-building, and the hilly, scenic, seaside region around the capital city of Lisbon is laced with well-maintained and lightly-travelled sports car-testing opportunities.
Not to mention the former Formula One racetrack at Estoril, a challenging set of widely-varying corners designed to expose flaws in a car’s dynamics.
There aren’t many in the M Coupé.
It’s a cliché to say that the heart of any sports car is its engine, but it’s no less true for that. BMW almost alone sticks with the inline six (as opposed to V6) concept because it is simply the smoothest way to arrange about three litres worth of displacement.
Bruhnke and his team make a big deal about this being a high-revving engine, and like all (okay, most) BMW engines, it loves to rev.
Sounds terrific, too, the exhaust note ranging from quiet under low-stress cruising conditions to deeply sonorous as revs rise to absolutely bonkers as it reaches the 8000 red line.
While the torque peak occurs at a fairly elevated 4900 r.p.m., about 80 per cent of that peak value is available from 2000 r.p.m. on up. So again, like all BMW engines, this one has amazing flexibility and tractability.
The gearbox may not be quite as snick-snick as a Miata or Porsche Boxster/Cayman, but it’s pretty good. I did have some trouble co-ordinating the clutch, however, especially when trying to drive the car slowly in traffic — sometimes you just have to — and double-especially when the sport button is pushed.
Throttle reaction is just too sharp, and you get a fair whack of “rubber-banding” — lurching back and forth — as the drivetrain tries to accommodate all that torque.
Rev the whee out of it, though, shift fast and hard at the red line and no problem. That’s why they do offer the sport button — ironically, so things can be a bit less sporty when conditions so demand.
You can still drive the car moderately briskly on a track with the DSC engaged. The intervention is quite gentle and progressive, but for maximum speed, you’ll be shutting it off, as the engine power-cutting function rears its ugly head.
With DSC off, you still have the diff lock to help keep things under control.
BMW still rules the universe when it comes to suspension tuning, at least for volume-produced cars. This one is set up to be firm, of course, but it’s reasonably comfortable even on harsh bumps. Yet there is virtually no discernible body roll, even in pretty hard driving.
Want understeer? Turn in too quickly.
Want to dial that out? Lift, settle the car, then squeeze the loud pedal again.
Want to toss it sideways and hammer it toward the apex with the steering on full opposite lock?
If you’re talented and brave enough, go nuts. (Racetracks only, please.)
In BMW’s tests at the Nürburgring race circuit, the M Coupé is measurably quicker than its roadster counterpart, despite a five kg weight disadvantage due to the steel roof and larger glass rear window.
But the coupe’s suspension can be tuned for better performance, with fewer compromises called for by the less-stiff roadster body.
As Bruhnke put it, “The lack of body flexibility gives the suspension engineers more flexibility!”
In road use, the M Coupé is a fine travelling companion. Provided, that is, that you fit. The low roof means you have to really get down to get in or out.
The cabin is snug.
Visibility isn’t great in any direction. The low windshield header means you’ll be craning your neck to see overhead traffic lights, the rear three-quarters view is tough in any coupe, and even the vista to the rear is limited by the shallow rear glass and tiny rear-view mirror.
My test car had tan leather upholstery and what BMW calls “carbon black leather” dashboard trim, which looks like carbon fibre but is actually leather. Brushed aluminum or high-gloss walnut are the other available dash treatments.
The trunk measures 300 litres — about 10.5 cubic feet — and apart from a covered box for the battery, it’s reasonably usable, apparently passing the golf clubs test.
At $68,900, the M Coupé is a grand less than the M Roadster, but a whopping $15,000 less (and 35 horsepower more) than the Porsche Cayman, which would be its closest competitor.
The Coupé is entering a market that was considered almost dead at 60,000 units worldwide in 2001, but has risen to more than 140,000 this year.
Bruhnke notes that the engineers thought this would happen — the Z4/M Coupés were developed in a scant 17 months, despite concerns on the part of the marketing guys who didn’t think the market would be this strong.
Only a few hundred will be offered in Canada each year.
If the idea of a serious high-performance, closed sports car that is equally at home on a romantic weekend for two or a racetrack day appeals to you, the M Coupé could be your ride.