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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé - a car like a sneaker

Name: BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé 2000
Brand: BMW

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Created on April 16, 2019

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

BMW AG

Bruno von Rotz

Rallye Racing / Springer Verlag

BMW Group

Daniel Reinhard

BMW AG

Bruno von Rotz

Rallye Racing / Springer Verlag

BMW Group

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - does it look like a sneaker or not?

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - the front does not differ from the Roadster

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - sneakers as a design influence?

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - exciting design

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - with practical tailgate

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - powerfully shaped rear end

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - no huge and above all no convertible luggage compartment despite the tailgate

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - fits like a glove

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - less than 1.8 meters wide

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - completely different to the Roadster from the rear

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - still doesn't look old-fashioned today

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - The joy of driving

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - when the driver still decided what the car had to do

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - either you like it or you don't, there's nothing in between

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - towards the horizon

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - they all had the twin-pipe exhaust

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - strictly for two people

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - direct and willing to corner

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - sits firmly on the road

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - King of the highway

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - hard to believe that more than 20 years have passed since its launch

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - the driving performance is still up to date today

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - the AMS test car already featured this color combination

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - Leather cost extra

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - sporty bucket seats

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - easy-to-read displays

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - classic BMW instruments

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - the M leather steering wheel came as standard

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - wide center console, here with BMW's own hi-fi instruments

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - five gears are shifted from the wrist

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - visible leather seams

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - Hifi loudspeakers integrated in the roof

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - the trunk isn't really huge, but a pair of sneakers and a box fit inside

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - the six-cylinder engine produced 193 hp

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - typical nineties, all you can see of the engine are covers

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - longitudinally mounted in-line six-cylinder engine with 2.8 liter displacement

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - front-mid engine

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - BMW kidney grille

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - powerful exterior mirrors, versatile in use

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - 17-inch wheels from BMW

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - artistic air outlets on the flank

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - Type lettering at the rear

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BMW Z3 2.8 Coupé (2000) - the Nürburgring sticker can certainly be found on some of these coupés

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Rallye Racing issue 12/1998 - BMW Z3 Coupé compared to the Audi TT and the Porsche Boxster

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Also these BMW milestones - the BMW Z3 Coupé and the M version of it - Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2016

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Summary

Anyone standing in front of a BMW Z3 Coupé and looking at it from the side will immediately understand why the car was also known as the "sneaker". No other car at the time looked like this BMW and its successor did not continue the shooting brake design. Nevertheless, the compact Granturismo coupé found many friends and they remain loyal to it to this day. This driving report portrays one of the only 7671 2.8-liter two-seaters built and tells the story of this unusual youngtimer coupé.

This article contains the following chapters

Classic Shooting Brake
Technology from the roadster
Not cheap
Heart is the trump card
20 years later
From the 2.8 to the 3.0
For just over four years
Further information

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

In the summer of 1995, BMW introduced the Z3 "Roadster", which made its appearance in the James Bond film "Golden Eye" shortly afterwards. Unfortunately, viewers didn't get to see any of the Q refinements and the car even survived the movie undamaged, but the new convertible still brought BMW a boom in orders. In their spare time, some BMW engineers developed the open version into a coupé. The result of their activities, which had already been reported in the press in 1995, could then be admired at the IAA in Frankfurt in September 1997. And the car was an instant hit. Because the company wanted to stay as close as possible to the roadster for cost reasons, the coupé only differs from its open-top brother in the rear section. Instead of simply modeling a fixed hardtop, the BMW stylists opted for a shooting brake end, i.e. an almost upright tailgate. At the same time, they extended the cheeks slightly and gave the car an incredibly powerful appearance from behind.

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