Yahoo Autos The 2024 BMW Z4 Gets a Six-Speed Manual Option
The third-generation BMW Z4 hasn't set the world on fire. The roadster is a fine car, but it's overshadowed by its hardtop sibling, the Toyota Supra. In the five years both have been on sale, Toyota has sold more than twice as many Supras as BMW has Z4s in the U.S. So to spice up the Z4 for 2024, BMW has made an interesting move—it's introduced a manual option.
Our colleagues at Car and Driver report that the manual will only be available on the six-cylinder, 382-hp Z4 M40i. It comes as part of an option package likely costing around $3500 that also includes a stiffer suspension setup, retuned power steering, and wider staggered wheels and tires, with 19-inch wheels up front and 20s in the rear.
BMW has offered a manual on the current Z4 since it launched in 2019, but only on the non-U.S. entry-level 20i model. Toyota launched the Supra with no manual available, but introduced a six-speed for the 2023 model year. The Z4 will use the same ZF-sourced gearbox as the Toyota, but without the tweaks made by Toyota for the Supra. Car and Driver reports that, consequently, the Z4's shifter has a more typical BMW feel; light, rubbery yet still precise.
This won't be a limited-run model. BMW will build as many as it needs to satisfy demand, with production commencing early next year. The manual option isn't on BMW's configurator for the 2024 Z4 yet, and final pricing hasn't been announced. But if we take Car and Driver's estimated $3500 and add that to the Z4 M40i's $67,295, we get $70,795. That's over $15,000 more than the cheapest manual Supra at $55,595, though a bit more affordable than a base Porsche 718 Boxster's $72,050.
The manual Z4 is the only non-M model BMW will offer in the U.S. (Despite the M40i in its name, this is an M Performance model.) At the risk of sounding greedy, and perhaps overly optimistic, we hope that BMW adds some more manuals to its lineup. A manual M340i sounds wonderful to us.
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