Despite being nearly 10 years old, the styling is still eye catching and distinctive. A number of times people comment that the car looks new. By now everyone is familiar with the Z4 roadster but the coupe catches people off guard. The car has been quite reliable for me through the years. Outside of the typical oil changes, filter changes, ties and maintenance I have had only a few repairs. The cupholders, one coil pack and one sway bar end link have broken in 140,000 miles. With proper winter tires, it can even handle a good amount of snow. The engine is very solid. The only knock against it is that the valves have to be adjusted. There are instructions on how to do it yourself if you are mechanically incline or you can take it to the dealer. To be honest this is the only thing that I take it into the dealership for. Everything else such as the brakes, oil and suspension I have handled myself. The suspension is tuned for a softer ride. This hurts the cornering ability a little bit, but I have to drive on some fairly bad streets. I will likely stick with the stock tuning as opposed to get something firmer and even more uncomfortable when encountering bumps. Since this is a performance European car, you have to use premium gas. This may be a con for some people. The insurance rate is not bad. People that have owned 'Vettes have said that my cost is a lot less than their's.

If you're looking for a convertible, you can go wrong with the BMW Z4. The model I have is the last year they were still doing the fully-automated soft top, and they've since switched to a fully-automated hard top; but I haven't had any problems with my soft top so I think you'd be fine either way. (Guess the main point would be what type of "look" you want.) The acceleration is great, especially when moving through rush hour traffic. And if you want to go the automatic transmission route (like I did), you'll still get quite a bit of responsiveness. (One of my friends who swears by standard stopped giving me grief after driving it himself.) Past that, styling is great; interior looks good; and you'll get plenty of compliments from strangers.