Take a drive on the wild side (or not): 2.5 vs. 3.0

Every once in a while I toy with the idea of getting a small roadster as a second car. Probably a Miata. I drove one again recently, and if I ever find the time to review it you’ll learn why I think it’s great fun to drive, as long as you don’t have to live with it every day.

Unfortunately, I bothered to share this pipe dream with Epinion’s resident BMW huckster, Bobmc. He used to work on BMWs, and now he sells them. So it should come as no surprise that he sought to aim my sights a bit higher, on a BMW Z3. Quite a bit higher, actually. The Z3 costs at least 50% more than a Miata. But, according to Bobmc, it’s about 1272% more car. He urged me to at least drive one. So, to please a friend I made the great personal sacrifice of spending one of my rare free afternoons flogging a pair of Z3s around the best collection of curvy roads in my area. One was a 2000 with last year’s 170 HP 2.5 liter and the other was a 2001 with the new 225 HP 3.0 liter.

If I bought any of these cars I would order them with little more than standard equipment. Fancy gadgets and luxury touches are simply not what these cars are about, at least not for me. They're about driving enjoyment, pure and simple. What I want is an elemental sports car. Given this, the MSRP would be $22,685 for the Miata. I’d opt for the Suspension Package (larger wheels and a limited slip differential), but nothing else. In a convertible, cloth seats work best in my mind. They don’t get scalding hot in the sun. If the 2000s are any indication, I could actually buy the car for much less, probably around $21,000. The Miata is not nearly as hot as it once was, and dealers are dealing.

With the Z3, I’d end up paying a lot more. The base price with destination is $31,870, but I’d have to get more options. First, metallic paint is a $475 option, even though it’s free in just about every American and Japanese car. Also, cloth is not available. The standard upholstery with the 2.5 is leatherette (vinyl), and with the 3.0 is leather. I’ve been told that the standard leatherette looks and feels so much like the leather that many people cannot tell the difference. Since I suspect the leatherette maintains its appearance longer with less upkeep, I’d be more than happy to save $1,150 and go with it. Except it only comes in black. In a convertible, I want a light color, especially if I cannot have cloth. To get a light-colored interior in the Z3, you must get leather.

I drove the 2.5 with the standard seats and the 3.0 with the sport seats. The standard seats resemble those in the Miata. They are comfortable, but are lightly bolstered like the seats in those classic roadsters. The sport seats have far more lateral support, a good thing to have in these cars. The lumbar support in the sport seats seems overdone, but I suspect I’d get used to it. So I’d probably spend the $600 for the Sport Package that includes them.

BMW requires that I also spend $500 for heated seats if I order the Sport Package. Heated seats are nice in a convertible, especially with leather, but suddenly I’m spending $1,100 on seats. I could go either way if I were buying right now. They’re very nice seats, but that’s a good chunk of change, and the standard seats are about as good as those in the Miata. Finally, I’d have to spend $200 to get a CD player. This brings the total, assuming I break down and get the seats, to $34,795. I don’t think I could get much off this price, if Bobmc can be trusted. (Can he? Can he? He does sell cars, after all.) So about 60% more than a Miata. It’s more car, without a doubt, but that’s a lot more money.

It’s possible to spend still more. Let me explain why I would not. The 2.5 I drove had a power top, wood trim, and chrome rings around the instruments. The power top is superfluous. Even with it you have to manually raise the top a few inches before the power assist will take over. With such a small top, it would be easier and faster to just throw it behind you, like in a Miata. And you’d save $750.

The wood trim looks out of place in this car (as it does in those versions of the Miata where it is included). The standard material on the center console is a hard plastic that seems a bit cheap for the price, but I am after a minimalist sports car here. The chrome detailing, though nice, seems a bit pricy at $150. And don’t even talk to me about an automatic in any of these cars. It should be against the law.

One thing I would like to see in the Z3 is a way to disarm the passenger airbag so my children could ride in that seat when they're a little older. The Miata's can be turned off with the key, and the one in the Mercedes SLK automatically turns off when you use a Mercedes car seat. Another item that would be nice is a glass rear window. Even the cheapo Miata has one, complete with defroster. The Z3's is plastic. If my past experience with these is any guide, plan on having it replaced every three years.

The Z3 3.0 costs even more, of course. To be precise, $5,450 more, for a total of $40,245. Because of the performance I’ll soon tell you about, the optional sports seats are a “must have” with the 3.0. Other than the larger engine, the 3.0 also includes 17” wheels, wider rear tires, a $675 premium sound system as standard, and a power height adjustment to the passenger seat. This is a good chunk of change for the larger engine, but it’s a few thousand less than the price gap between the 325 and 330. Looked at that way, the 3.0 in this car is a steal. As you’ll read, it’s a great car, but forty grand is enough to buy two Miatas. If I ever get one of these, I suspect it will be “pre-owned.”

With such a difference in price, why am I even mentioning the Miata in this review? Because the Miata is the closest thing to a Z3, and vice versa. One of my key criteria when buying a car is a low cowl and beltline. Especially in a convertible, I like to feel air rather than car around me. The MR2, SLK, TT, and Boxster all fail miserably on this criterion. In contrast, with their low bodywork the Miata and Z3 both pass with flying colors. In either car you feel very in-touch with your surroundings, especially the road. Styling similarities extend beyond the low bodywork to include a long hood and short rear deck, very rounded styling, and a retro theme inside and out. In these ways both cars recall the classic European roadsters of the 㣠s. Like these roadsters, both have tight interiors and small trunks. Though I am only 5ֽ,” I set the front seat all the way back in both of them. If you’re a tall person, you’re going to be cramped in either, though a bit more so in the Miata. The cabin of the Z3 is a useful couple of inches broader. Finally, the raised top on the Z3 has considerably more room beneath it, such that it just manages to avoid feeling claustrophobic.

The two cars do vary in size and weight. Though the BMW is four inches longer in overall length, and its wheelbase is a very significant seven inches longer. The BMW is also a couple of inches wider. Moreover, the BMW is styled to look more powerfully aggressive, more masculine. Unlike the lines of the cute (too cute?) Miata, the Z3’s lines scream potency. For these and other reasons, the BMW looks and feels like a more substantial car. The difference in weight bears this out. The Miata weighs about 2300 lbs, the BMW about 2900.

To move the greater mass, the Z3 comes with much more powerful engines. The Miata is only available with a 1.8 liter four, which made 140 horsepower for 2000 and 155 for 2001. While the Z3 only came with a four when first introduced, it is now only available with sixes. Glorious BMW inline sixes. The base engine for 2000 was a 170 horsepower 2.5 liter. For 2001 this engine gets a boost to 184 horses, and should be a bit more vocal. Peak torque is actually down a bit with the new engine, dropping from 181 ft-lbs. to 175, but this remains far more than the 125 in the fortified 2001 Miata. And the Miata’s torque peak comes 2000 RPM higher, at 5500. The uplevel engine, new for 2001, is a 225 horse, 214 ft-lbs. 3.0 liter. To put this in perspective, last years high performance M Roadster had a 240 horse 3.2 liter. So this year’s 3.0 approaches the M in performance (and may even match it due to the 3.0’s lower weight), for a lower price.

Either six is much more refined than the Miata’s four, especially since you do not have to rev the bejesus out of either of them to get some torque. Either six moves the car nicely. With the 2.5, you have to work the gears more. Frankly, I find this a benefit. Maybe I’m rationalizing, but here’s my reasoning: I like a car that is fun to drive safely at legal speeds. Like the Miata, the base Z3 is such a car. Both cars have enough power to be entertaining, but not enough to propel you at extreme speeds at a moment’s notice. The low beltlines and cowls on both cars do much to enhance the sense of speed.

The 3.0 liter is another matter altogether. It is an extremely quick car, and the minimalist body makes it feel even faster. A huge amount of power is available even at low RPM, and it only gets stronger from there. I found it very difficult to drive this car in a rational manner. It was just too much of an adrenaline rush to dip deep into the throttle on the way out of every turn. If this is the experience you are after, dig up the extra cash for the 3.0.

If you are after a more balanced car, read on. The tiny, featherweight Miata handles like a go kart. It’s very darty, but this is part of its charm. The BMW handles differently. In fact, it handles unlike any other car I have ever driven. From the driver’s seat, the hood looks much longer than the Miata’s. This is partly because it appears to rise up a bit in front of you , instead of dipping down as just about every other car’s hood does these days. I suspect the view from the driver’s seat of a Jag E-Type is similar. This emphasizes the fact that you are sitting way back in the car, practically on top of the rear axle. This sensation is enhanced underway. The rear suspension feels considerably softer than the front, so in hard turns the car squats.

Taken together with the driving position, the driving feel reminds me of being in a speedboat, with a low bow rising before me and the vehicle’s center of rotation well aft. I’m not implying that the Z3 wallows in turns like a boat. It emphatically does not. But the handling is so unique I can think of no better way to describe it. I’m not sure this behavior produces the best numbers on a track—it probably hurts—but it does make the car more enjoyable to drive. Even at legal speeds, where a more balanced chassis is often boring.

The steering and ride contribute to this driving enjoyment, if not to relaxed cruising. The steering wheel dances in your hands, communicating every last ripple the front tires touch. This makes it very easy to know what is going on where the rubber meets the road. Happily, this steering is also very precise, allowing you to place the car exactly where you want it. The ride is busy, so you also feel what is going on at the tires’ contact patches through the seat of your pants. Very entertaining, but I fear tiring on long drives. Still, the ride is a bit better than that in the Miata. The extra weight helps here, as does the longer wheelbase and further aft driving position. The last two ensure that the car never pitches fore and aft over ripples in the road, as the Miata sometimes does.

When coupled with the 3.0, this handling makes the chassis feel distinctly overpowered. To use another watersports metaphor, I often felt as if I were waterskiing very quickly over chop. For those snow skiers reading this, think about moving quickly down a mogul field. I felt a bit unsettled coming off of each bump, and wondered if I could possibly come down still in control. Then with a bit of a surprise the car came down exactly where I wanted it to, with myself still in control. Again and again and again, without fail. The huge tires that come with the 3.0, which are nearly an inch wider in the rear, undoubtedly help to maintain grip. (Their shorter, stiffer sidewalls also make the ride a bit more busy.) Ditto the standard stability control, which does a good job of limiting the chassis’ inherent tendency to oversteer, especially when given power in turns. Without the stability control, I suspect this car would be downright unsafe in the hands of many drivers. With either car the brakes are very powerful. You can easily scrub off speed in a hurry.

The wheels of the two Z3’s summarize their characters. The 16’s on the 2.5 appear perfectly proportionate to the body, befitting such a balanced package. The 17’s on the 3.0 fill the wheel wells to bursting. The cross-hatch design enhances this effect, since the large number of small spokes cover fill more of the wheel than the five large spokes on the 16’s. (I personally favor the look of a five-spoke wheel on just about any car.) To my eye the larger wheels look a bit too large for the Z3’s petite, classically styled body. This, of course, is the look many people are going for. It may not be the look I would prefer with the Z3, but they are perfectly in tune with the over-the-top character of the 3.0.

Between the engine and the chassis, driving the 3.0 is a huge adrenaline rush. But I’m not sure I’d want to live with it all the time. Overall, the 2.5 is a more balanced package without ever being boring. The engine is not nearly as powerful, but it is always energetic, and it forces you to use the excellent clutch and shifter more often in regular driving. The rear tires are not as wide, but they stick well enough. This should not be surprising, since they are 225 mm wide. The 2.5’s tires are actually more up to handling the power of the engine than the higher performance tires of the 3.0. So you can have a great deal of fun in the 2.5 without constantly testing the limits of the chassis. Unless you like the feel of constantly living on the edge (and that could be exactly what you are looking for), the much less expensive 2.5 is actually the better car.

But what about the Miata? It’s far less expensive than even the 2.5. Is the Z3 worth the extra cash? Not if you simply want a car that’s fun to drive on the weekends. Though not as powerful, the Miata in its own way is just as fun to drive as either of the BMWs. What you get in the Z3 is an equally enjoyable driving experience in a more substantial car. Either Z3 has a six that is much smoother and makes a great deal more low-end torque than the Miata’s four. Though hardly smooth, the Z3’s ride is relatively less frenetic. Ditto the amount of road, wind, and engine noise when cruising. The Z3 has more shoulder room, and more headroom with the top up. It also offers amenities such as heated seats. For all of these reasons, the Z3 might just barely qualify as a long-distance tourer, while driving the Miata on the highway quickly becomes a chore. (An SLK320 is a much better tourer than any of these, but is much less fun to drive. See my future review for details.) If you want leather in the Miata, the price gap closes a bit. In the end, I could make a case for any of the three cars I have discussed here. You’ll have a great deal of fun in any of them. But if the extra degree of civilization provided by the Z3 2.5 is worth fourteen grand or so to you, then go for it. And if you really do want to live on the edge, then by all means spring for the 3.0. If you do get tired of it, I happen to know someone who’ll take it off your hands for the weekend.

BMW Z3 Reliability

People often email me asking about the reliability of the cars and trucks they are considering. Existing sources of reliability information just aren't helpful enough.

In response, my website, truedelta.com, will more clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy a Z3 rather than something else by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). Those who help provide the data--which will require just a few minutes a year--will earn free access to the site's reliability information. To encourage participation, this access will otherwise cost $24.95.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.