BMW introduced the Z4 for the 2003 model year as the spiritual successor to the Z3, launching it as a modern two-seat roadster with a more dramatic, athletic design and a clear emphasis on BMW’s rear-wheel-drive sports-car tradition. The first-generation Z4 was built in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and became the brand’s open-top halo for the early 2000s. In the middle of that first run, BMW also expanded the nameplate with the Z4 Coupe and Z4 M Coupe, giving the model line a more hard-edged enthusiast following.
BMW revived the Z4 for a second generation in 2009 with a very different concept: a retractable hardtop roadster that traded the original car’s soft top for a folding metal roof and a more grand touring character. That generation kept the Z4 visible as a premium two-seat BMW, but it eventually ended in 2016.
After a brief gap, the Z4 returned again for the 2019 model year as a third generation, this time restoring the fabric soft top and returning to a more traditional roadster formula. BMW positioned it as a purist open-top sports car, and the later Final Edition announced in 2025 marked the end of production in 2026. Across its life, the Z4 has stood out as BMW’s modern roadster nameplate, important both as a continuation of the company’s long two-seat sports-car lineage and as one of the brand’s most enthusiast-focused models.