BMW Revisits Z8 and Z4 M From One of Its Boldest Eras
From the Archives
BMW North America has a whole treasure trove of classics we'd like to drive someday. From early pioneers such as the 2002 and E9 Coupes, to modern classics like the E39 M5. The company is currently running a YouTube series on these, featuring some of the many cars in the collection.
The series stars Steve Saxty, the author of countless automotive books, including BMW by Design, and Tom Plucinsky, the head of BMW Classic North America, a legend within the company's halls, and an all-around car guy. So far, the duo has covered the 2002 tii, 3.0 CSL, E26 M1, E39 M5, and most recently, the E52 Z8 and E86 Z4 M. It's definitely worth watching, especially if you're a huge fan of the brand.
The Spotlight on the Z8 and Z4 M Coupe
As mentioned, the latest episode features the limited-run Z8 and not-so-limited Z4 M Coupe. On the surface, the two cars couldn't be more different, but Saxty and Plucinsky mentioned that they are intertwined in ways that connect the past to the present and even to the future of BMW sports cars.
More specifically, the Z8 featured in the episode was an Alpina Roadster V8, an even rarer version of the Z8, wherein only 555 were ever made. As for the Z4 M Coupe, one can say that it's the opposite of the Roadster, in a cool way, though.
Alpina Roadster V8
Many Alpina models have defined the brand over the decades, and it's safe to say the Roadster V8 is one of them. Sure, there are rarer models that wore the Alpina badge, but this was the one and only time the company built an eight-cylinder roadster.
It's easy to dismiss this model as a soft boulevard cruiser because of its automatic transmission. At the same time, it doesn't use the E39 M5's S62 V8; under the hood is an M62 V8 found in a 540i or 740i from the same era. Mind you, it's fettled by Alpina, meaning it's bored up from 4.4-liters to 4.8-liters, and power rose to 375 hp and 384 lb-ft.
The design, done by Henrik Fisker, was unashamedly retro, marking a clear link to the 507 Roadster from the '50s. It's possibly the only time a BMW production model was intentionally designed to look like a classic model, and one that deliberately looked to the past to build a model for the present.
BMW Z4 M Coupe
The BMW Z4 stands in stark contrast to the Z8 in design. It's also worth noting that Z8 production ended the same year the Z4 started, in 2003. Think of this then as a passing of the baton of sorts, even if the Z4 was smaller. But instead of looking to the past for its design, BMW looked ahead to define its modern roadster.
It was, of course, designed at a time when Chris Bangle was at the helm of the company's design studios. Radical ideas were welcomed, and Anders Warming certainly got the memo when he penned the Z4 Roadster. We had to wait until 2005 for the Coupe, though, and that one was designed by Thomas Sycha. Then, in 2006, both M versions of the Z4 were finally unleashed.
The Z4 M was effectively an antithesis to the Z8 Alpina Roadster V8. It was exclusively manual and had the same screaming naturally-aspirated S54 inline-six from the E46 M3. With its lighter body making better use of 330 hp and 262 lb-ft, it was raw, twitchy, and a thrill-a-minute ride when pushed. The irony here is that the Roadster V8 had a more relaxed and mature persona wrapped in a retro body, whereas the Z4 M offered old-school thrills with a futuristic (at the time) and forward-looking design.
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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 6:00 PM.