Yesterday I made a new friend who drives a very lightly modified BMW M Coupe. After switching cars, then switching back and doing a little speed comparison, we decided to trade cars for a couple days. (The M Coupe was definitely my 2nd choice over a Cayman) Right now through our rigorous and scientific testing, we've confirmed the M Coupe is slightly faster at sub 100 speeds, and absolutely identical in performance above 100 MPH. Definitely a very different car, aside from the similar power plants and pricing. My first impressions are quickly becoming "It's what the Corvette should've been.". Raw, aggressive, and savage, yet reasonably composed, tight and well built. Very exciting to drive, but definitely not as refined or elegant as the Cayman. The power delivery at lower speeds will make a Cayman owner frown with jealously though; BMW definitely can make an engine. Visibility is an issue, as is the aggressive clutch. (Delay valve removed) A thorough write up will be forthcoming.

Odd the M Coupe has been slower than the Cayman S in every head to head test I've ever seen along with my own track testing, perhaps 'lightly modified' means different things to different people...

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K-Man S

As a former Z3M Coupe owner I thought long and hard about the Z4M from the day it came out. I've driven four of them (all stock) at one time or another. I think they have killer looks. My spouse, on the other hand, thinks the Z4M is downright ugly. She loves the CS.

I never bought one because:

1. That hood seems to go on forever, and I really don't like that effect, of driving from the back seat. Although the Z4M isn't much bigger than the Z3M, for some reason the effect annoyed me more. This was actually the singular deal-killer, in my case. And the mid-engine CS has ruined me forever for these all-hood cars.
2. The car came out heavy, at over 3300 pounds. My Z3M weighed ~3050 with a full tank of gas.
3. I can't warm up to the Z4 interiors. Even with extended leather the dash has a covering I wouldn't put in a cheap SUV (though it's also in our mid-price X3), the seats were uncomfortable for me, and the audio and HVAC facias and controls are just ugly.
4. You get very little luggage space, because, for some reason, the battery that was under the floor in the Z3M is now a lump above the floor on the Z4M.

Power-wise, I agree, the M Coupe feels a lot faster than the CS. It clearly isn't faster by the stop watch, but the low-end torque is so much more immediate and stronger that you'd think it was 1/2 sec and 5mph faster in the quarter mile. Part of this is due, IMO, to different gearing choices. 1st-2nd gear in the M Coupe means hold on tight. The CS doesn't feel that way.

Steering feel in the M Coupe is surprisingly good, IMO. Of course, steering feel for a 328i surprises me too, and I think they both equal or exceed the CS. Yes, I'm serious.

The engines? Which do I like better? I'd have to call it a draw. Very different, but I can't call a favorite. The CS transmission and clutch kills the Bimmer's though. In one shot.

I don't have a Z4 M coupe but I do have the '01 S54 engined M Coupe and recently got a CS. I picked the CS over the Z4 MC mostly because of the exterior styling and that I already had an S54 engine. The CS seems a little more exotic for a similar price point (if you can live without options).

Both Z3 and Z4 based MCs feel faster than the CS but I've never timed either and I think the speeds and acceleration are so close that it wouldn't be part of the decision making process.

The Z3 MC and the CS are beautiful and shapely and voluptious. The Z4 MC is definitely not that, in my eyes ... maybe good looking but not sexy.

I feel I can push both MCs a lot more than the CS and I think the CS loses it's rear end quicker (contrary to popular opinion) but that could just be comfort level on my part. Anyway, I feel priveleged to own both and I'm never really sure which car I actually like more.

The thing that really turned me off on the Z4 based M roadster was the mileage vs tank size. Assuming BMW's EPA highway mileage is close the thing has a cruising range of maybe 250 miles. That's PITA territory for me. Does it do better in reality? Don't know, dealer wouldn't go for that kind of test drive .

The CS does enough better on the highway to be useful if still marginal. Then too the CS is much better looking.

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Les

I like them and while I wouldn't buy one I always like to see them on the street or at the track. At the track I have never driven my CS with somebody of comparable skill which is frustrating as it would have been nice to dance on the track and see where each of the cars is fastest.

If I had to have a BMW I would buy the last generation of M3. Love that car.

G.

The CS has shown in every test to be faster than the z4m...i think most has the cayman S at ~.7 faster to 100, and the lead only gets larger from there. in reality, its a drivers race...the cayman S' final gear ratio is higher at 3.88 vs 3.62 in the zm4. i hated, HATED the gearing in my e46 m3, which is why i went with 4.10 differential. the m3 i feel the opposite..its feel better down low. the m3/z4m dont start to really pull until ~5500-6000 rpms.
every aspect of the cayman S is better than the z4m; steering, LOOKS by a mile, fit & finish, grip, slalom speeds, etc, etc, etc...the cayman S has been put against even the new m3 in two tests and has won both of them a well.

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I had a Z4 and drove an Z4M roadster before buying my CS... and I'm very happy with my decision. The M I drove felt very heavy and rode like a rock on wheels. The ride and clutch was worse than my 3.0 Z4 with the sport suspension and 19" RFs. Added to that was the sound... guess you gotta like ZZzzzzzzzing noise they make. And one more thing, BMW is having a hard time giving the things away!

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'07 CS, Meteor Grey, stone grey, 19" Carrera Sport with meteor grey spokes/polished rim, headrest crests, bi-xenons, Bose, power seats, rain sensor, fire extinguisher, heated seats, dimming mirrors, FabSpeed Maxflo II catback
'06 CLS 500, white, beige
'04 Black Ranger Edge

I've not driven the Z4MC, but I certainly do like the looks of them as they are different to everything else out there just like the original M Coupe was.

I was torn at looking at both, but after driving the CS I was sold, so it really would not have made any difference I think if I had driven the Z4. Added to this my other half said that if I was looking to spend this sort of money then the Porsche would be the only one she'd back, because of teh looks and the brand.

As an FYI BMW has cancelled the Z4MC btw, I read that in a magazine last month, as someone said above they couldn't give them away, dealers were left with extra inventory they have had a hard time selling. If you want one, get it now because they won't be around much longer.

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K-Man S

Yeah, unfortunately the bulk of this market is looking for a drop top. Can't tell you how many people have asked if my Cayman comes in a convertible! I had a non-M Z3 coupe, loved it, but BMW took a BATH on the residual, losing around $8k on my car alone (it sold at auction for $11k, residual was $19k+). Yes, they buy insurance for that, but I'll bet their carrier has sharpened their pencils by now.

The Cayman vs the Z4 coupe, also a comparison that I made, came down to one feature: mid engine vs. front engine. You can put as much lipstick as you want on a front engine car, but it will never drive like a mid engine with relatively the same quality and fit/finish...in other words, vs. say a Fiero. I've never looked back.

Visually, the Z4 coupe is reasonably attractive; with beer-goggles it even looks like an A-Martin that was left in the dryer too long, or a kit car version thereof. Whereas the Cayman...well, drop-dead gorgeous. At least half the people who've commented on it say it's the best looking P-Car ever. I'm partial to the '73 911 RS myself, but at 1/10th the cost the Cayman ain't bad! And just the fact that folks out there are saying it's a modern day Dino is pretty impressive....sure beats the modern day Mustang comparisons the Z4M is getting. A side by side view of the Cayman with a Dino is not so flattering...what a fatso our Cayman has become! You might feel better though knowing that if you were to crash both at say 100 mph, in a Cayman you might very well walk away, whereas in a Dino, well let's just say you won't have to worry about how expensive a car you just wrote off...your estate executor can handle that!

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It's funny you say this. I totally agree that it looks extremely masculine, and every single woman I know hates it. This is a well-understood effect of it's styling, it looks a little too priapic (too much like a penis as it were) making it (ironic or obvious, depending on how you view psychology) very desirable by men and totally abhorrent to women.

BMW designed the Z4 to be more masculine than the (rather feminine) Z3 but seems they over-cooked it. Subsequent result was a 85%+ male buyer client base, which adds to the "can't shift them" point some of you mentioned.

This is also why the next generation Z4 will be a lot less aggressive in it's styling, with the c0ckpit looking less like it's perched above an erection and the bonnet not so 'bulging'.

Strictly on performance terms, that 3.2 engine is an absolute rock-star. So many awards won over many years can't mean anything other than it's sensational, despite it's iron block. The M-power LSD is also extremely potent.

I test-drove one when it was first out and I must say I was not impressed with how uncivilized it's traction control cut it, how abysmally bad the side-view was (particularly over the B pilar), and how cheap the interior looked. The gear-change was good but I felt the CS was better. The engine, as expected, stole the show. But the bonnet, Christ on the donkey, the damn thing DOESN'T END... And the boot is way smaller than the combined space of the Cayman.