BMW G29 Z4 M40i Handschalter – Review
By Liam Bird
There’s something very pleasurable about changing gear. It’s the involvement, the connection; it’s knowing that you’re operating a machine, the feeling that you’re actually driving. It’s also that certain something that’s forever missing in an automatic. And flappy paddles just aren’t the same. Changing gear is something you learn, something you have to practise: it’s something you have to master. It’s the timing, the rhythm, the balance, the rise and fall of the engine revs… And done right, changing gear is an art.
Sadly though, it’s becoming a dying art. As we’re pushed (reluctantly?) ever further towards electrification, hybrid drive systems, and the soulless single-speed transmissions that accompany them, the good old manual ‘box and its partner, the clutch pedal, are slowly, it feels, becoming museum pieces. There are, however, thankfully, still the odd glimmers of hope.
“How times have changed”
When it was first launched in 2018, ironically a time when picking the automatic gearbox option usually meant paying a premium for doing so, BMW’s G29-type Z4 was available exclusively as an 8-speed auto. As well received as it was at the time, BMW’s new and rather stylish two-seater roadster quickly gained a reputation as being considered more suited to the Kurfürstendamm than it was the Nürburgring. As a result, keener, more enthusiastic drivers tended to shop for their soft-tops elsewhere. Now, at last, you can buy a Z4 with a manual gearbox.
The BMW Z4 M40i Handschalter – which translates as Hand-shifter – goes some way to silencing those earlier critics. Available currently only as a 3.0-litre turbo in Frozen Deep Green and with a fudgy/tan-coloured leather interior, the Handschalter not only gets three pedals and six gears you have to select yourself, but it also gains a new front anti-roll-bar clamp and wider 20-inch rear wheels (the fronts are 19-inch). I should perhaps also point out that ticking the box for a manual Z4 now means BMW will relieve you of an extra £5,350 over and above the £60,675 it already asks for the Z4 that swaps its cogs for you. Funny how times have changed, eh?
“So smooth, so well-engineered”
Fortunately, the pleasures of managing a BMW straight-six yourself live on, and despite the manual ‘box’s slightly notchy and, to some degree, imprecise shift (so typical of modern BMWs, in fact), and a pedal box that’s offset to the right, the extra involvement it provides is most welcome.
You can choose to either take the revs right up to the red line or short-shift and slot a ratio higher early, allowing the turbocharged six’s torque to effortlessly pull you along. The M40i engine is just lovely – it’s so smooth, so well-engineered.
The ride is good too, firm enough not to feel as if you’re driving some kind of four-wheeled Berlin boulevardier, yet compliant enough to let you soak up mile after mile, hour after hour, without needing to call an osteopath to meet you when you reach your final destination.
As a long-distance tourer – the boot will happily swallow a couple’s week-or-two’s luggage – the Z4 makes a lot of sense. And the 32.5 mpg on the combined cycle BMW claims seems easily achievable.
“Rumble”
There are niggles, of course. Those large rear tyres do tend to rumble quite a lot, the steering wheel rim is too thick – again, so typical of “sportier” BMWs – the roof in our car creaked when raised, drivers with shorter legs (i.e. me) will find themselves having to sit a little too close to the upright dash in order to fully depress the clutch, and try as I might, I never could find a way of switching the almost overactive Lane Assist (Hindrance, more like) system off. Sometimes it felt as if I was trying to fight the damn thing. Or was it trying to fight me?
I wouldn’t be doing this job properly if I said everything was perfect, now would I?
Nevertheless, there is what is now probably known as an old-world charm to the Z4. The interior is full of buttons, and all the better for it – no aimless poking at recalcitrant touchscreens required. You can heel-and-toe. The engine is at the front and power is sent to the rear. And best of all, you have to drive the Z4 Handschalter rather than merely guide it while its software sorts out everything else for you.
“Useful character”
OK, it is still more of a GT than it is an out-and-out sports car, but one could argue that in being so, it has a wider-ranging, broader, and perhaps more useful character; you could happily use it day in, day out.
Quite how long cars like this will continue to be made is unknown. BMW has already confirmed that it will not be replacing the Z4 again. So think of the Handschalter not as a run-out model, but rather as a celebration – a modern classic if you will. If you’ve always fancied a Z4, get one while you still can. And my advice is buy the Handschalter – the Z4 with the manual gearbox.
BMW G29 Z4 M40i Handschalter
Engine: 2,998cc, 6-Cyl, 24V, turbo, petrol
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power: 335bhp @ 5,000 rpm
Torque: 369lb-ft @ 1,600-4,500 rpm
0-62 mph: 4.6 sec
Max Speed: 155 mph
CO2: 197 g/km
MPG: 32.5 (WLTP)
Price: from £55,350 (as tested £64,940)
Liam Bird first stepped into automotive journalism in 2009, and since then has gone on to write motoring-related content for numerous titles. A former approved driving instructor – he also holds a motorcycle, and a HGV licence – Liam is a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers and, despite being born on the other side of the border, is treasurer of The Welsh Motoring Writers. He lives in the South Shropshire Marches with his partner Rebecca, her VW Up!, and his ever increasing collection of cars both large and small. When he’s not writing, more often than not, Liam can be found test-driving something worryingly expensive.
@bird_liam
