BMW Z8 (E52)

BMW Z8 (2000-2003)

The BMW Z8 (internal type E52 ) is a sports car of the Munich automobile manufacturer BMW. From March 2000 to July 2003 5703 copies were produced by hand (of which 555 " Alpina ").

The design with wider BMW kidney grille and side air intakes, which is modeled on the 1956 BMW 507 Roadster produced until 1959, Henrik Fisker designed. The interior is designed Ninic Mike and Bruno Amatino, the steering wheel David Carp. One in close coordination supervised by Adrian van Hooydonk and David Carp with the designers and Fisker Ninic study under the name Z 07 was already shown at the 1997 Motor Show in Tokyo and 1998 in Detroit.

Design Features

The 4.40 meters long, 1.83 meters wide and 1.31 meters high Roadster has called the 5.0-liter V8 engine of the BMW M5 ( E39S ), S62B50. The engine delivers a maximum of 294 kW and accelerates the Z8 in 4.7 seconds to 100 km / h Centrifugal Regulated Ölabsaugpumpen ensure that the oil film does not break at high cornering speeds and corresponding lateral inclination of the car. The force is transmitted to the rear wheels via a mechanically actuated 6 -speed transmission.

Z8 is the structure of a self-supporting aluminum frame ( space frame ) and a screwed-on outer skin. The cavities are not sealed because aluminum does not rust. This type of construction, the body is relatively light and extremely rigid. The side skirts and the front and rear bumpers with integrated antennas for radio, navigation and telephone are made of polyurethane and are up to an impact speed of 4 km / h elastically deformable.

The interior offers space for two people. The seats in leather are heated and electrically adjustable. The steering wheel with three spokes, each consisting of four thin metal rods, reminiscent of the style of the 1950s. Classical impression is reinforced by the arranged in the center of the dashboard dials and the starter button.

The roadster soft top is power-assisted closed by hand and placed the cover in the 203 -liter boot space. For the winter, the Z8 has a standard hard top with heated rear window.

Rear view

Interior

BMW Z8 Hamann ( 2003)

Equipment

The BMW Z8 was exclusively appointed with full equipment. These included, among others, airbags, alarm, ABS, cruise control, air conditioning, electric steering column longitudinal adjustment, full leather interior, radio, telephone with speakerphone, navigation, hard top, hardtop, alloy wheels, headlamp washers, xenon light, automatic headlamp leveling and a "Birth Book" and 1:18 model Kyosho in the ordered color combination. The price was initially DM 235,000 or 122,700 euros at the end of the construction period.

BMW Alpina Roadster V8

Mid-2002 appeared the Alpina version. The difference is mainly due to the production vehicle in a stronger torque V8 engine with 280 kW ( 381 hp ) and an automatic transmission to make it more interesting for the American and Japanese market. This vehicle has been sold as the Z8 by BMW AG in the United States.

Until the end of 2003 a total of 450 Alpina Roadster V8 were sold in the United States. The remaining 105 units left for Europe and Japan.

Specifications

The Z8 in the film

• The World Is Not Enough with Pierce Brosnan (1999), as well as in the music video of the title song of the associated group Garbage.
• The Tuxedo - Danger in suit with Jackie Chan ( 2002)
• Police 110 ( episode 248) " Foot in the Grave " (2003), writer Sabine Thiesler, with Alexander Hosfeld
• Crime scene: In Cold Blood - Ludwigshafen (2013 )
• Downtown Torpedoes ( opening sequence )

Trivia

• The BMW Z8 was chosen by readers of the magazine "Motor Klassik" in 2003 as the " Classic of the Future " in the " Open vehicle ".
• BMW is for the spare parts an availability guarantee of 50 years.
• Since March 2005 there has been in Germany the first Z8 club with factory support.