2024 BMW Z4 M40i Manual Shifter | PH Review

The BMW Z4 has been described as good and bad for over two decades. It probably never likes a box of chocolates, we’d wager – but when it comes to fast ones, you never quite know what you’re going to get. After BMW’s creation of the wild child, cult hero Z4 M with the S54 3.2 inline-six, the general consensus was that the best-driving original version was the 3.0Si Coupe. So BMW did the obvious thing and dropped both the M version and the coupe for the second model, creating a fairly forgettable hardtop cruiser. Bonus PH points to anyone who remembers the 340-horsepower sDrive 35iS from 2011. Then came the current G29 a few years ago, which promised a lot but never quite lived up to its potential.

Apparently, with the advent of the Supra, and even the manual Supra version, BMW made no effort to create a more driver-focused Zed. Then, seemingly out of nowhere and with BMW seemingly ending manual transmission versions, the company decided to make a six-speed, six-cylinder, green-over-brown Z4 available. There wasn’t much to predict, but this certainly qualifies as one of the better BMW sports car surprises. At the rate things keep up, there’ll be a new M Coupe coming before we know it.

A fair amount of effort has also gone into the manual for the Handschalter Pack, the transmission that BMW describes as “developed exclusively for the M40i” with “M-specific components for the gearset and shafts that have been modified to suit the output of the inline-six engine”. There’s no mistaking the horsepower figure when it arrives, either, with the Frozen Deep Green reminiscent of the M5 CS and the stacked wheel layout – a first for this era of Z4, with 19s up front and 20s at the rear – drawing even more attention to the driven axle. Cognac leather is almost always a winner and, lo and behold, there’s a proper manual gearshift in a BMW Z4. You can’t help but be curious.

Modified for this setup, it may be good, but the six-speed gearbox remains a modular BMW transmission – and you can feel it. There’s the same scratchy, rubbery, slightly unclear feel, complete with offset pedals and a vague bite point. In some ways, it’s as faithful a recreation of a classic BMW manual as you could possibly imagine. In some ways, it’s better, too, feeling like a slicker, tighter shift than in something like an M2. The gate seems better defined and the throw not quite as long. Not perfect, then, but probably better than expected, and nicely placed in the cabin to give a good seat-to-wheel relationship. The Z4’s manual gearbox never feels like an afterthought, which is the most important thing, which was always an abiding concern.

On the road, the nature of a lever and clutch makes the Handschalter a more engaging Z4 experience. You do more, learn more, discover more of the car. All those silly little things that are possible with a manual gearbox and not really possible with an automatic – block shifting, downshifting when you don’t really need it, using too many revs to reverse – become second nature. You’d swear this Z4 is louder than previous cars with the same engine; the reality is probably that it’s using more revs, more often. Like a proper sports car, really.

That said, it’s the Z4’s traditional hot rod vibe that the manual often exemplifies. The slick-shifting automatic transmission always encouraged a more energetic driving style that the BMW never quite suited. It was always too aloof and a little too imprecise to reward such an approach. Now, pleasantly enough, when you consider that a corner has to be entered a little earlier and the gear change a lot more, the point-and-squirt nature can come to the fore. BMW’s Gear Shift Assistant does a very good job of matching revs, or you can do it yourself, though it’s still not the quickest shift in the world; once you’re back in gear, you point it into the corner, muddle into the apex regardless of whether Sport or Comfort mode is selected, and blast away on a mountain of torque, traction and inline-six swagger.

It’s not necessarily delicate or refined, but the entertainment value is undeniable. Those bigger rear wheels mean even wider tyres, 369lb ft now passing through huge 285-section Michelins, so there’s rarely a battle for purchase. Like an old Healey pre-2020s, there’s something supremely evocative about sitting over the driven wheels, looking out over a vast bonnet with a lusty straight-six rasping away, picking your own gears. Evocative, engaging, emotional perhaps – all the things we’d hoped for from the first 3.0-litre, manual Z4 in years. It’ll sit on the motorway at higher revs than the eight-speeder, use a little more fuel and accelerate a little slower, all of which feels irrelevant against the backdrop of a more engaging experience.

Previously, BMW manuals allowed the driver to make their own rev-adjustment with the DSC fully disengaged – no more. Now, the assistant can only be switched off in Sport Individual mode, along with the powertrain, damping and steering settings. Good news, because heel-and-toeing can be enjoyed with the safety net in place, bad news, because it can be a fiddle on the iDrive (if you’re in Individual and come out, then hit Sport again, it reverts to the default Sport setting). While no amount of mixing and matching of modes quite makes for an ultimate driving machine, the sportier chassis settings feel more suited to the M40i’s heavy-set, burly character. Comfort, then, is there for cruising around, looking cool.

Ultimately, the manual doesn’t make the Z4 an M-car or a Boxster-beater, although it does add a welcome dose of charisma to a car that previously suffered from its own scarcity. Given that authentic, interesting performance-car experiences seem to be in such short supply – and many of them quite ordinary – BMW should be commended for satisfying a niche it didn’t have to. The Z4 has always been a small seller and always will be, so the target audience for a £60,000 flagship offered in only one colour scheme must be small. Still, the manual is there, and it’s a good one, and it deserves to be celebrated by those who care about such things – us, basically. The Handschalter Pack is proof that the manual still has a place in modern cars. But even if the trend doesn’t catch on, there’s still a brand-new six-speed, straight-six, rear-wheel-drive BMW roadster on sale that looks good, sounds great and is a real treat to drive. If that’s not a reason to be cheerful in 2024, we don’t know what is.

Engine: 2,998cc, straight-six turbo
Transfer: 6-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 340 at 5,000-6,500 rpm
Torque (lb ft): 369 at 1,600-4,500 rpm
0-100 km/h: 4.6 seconds
Top speed: 155 mph (limited)
Weight: 1,550 kg (DIN)
MPG value: 34.0-35.3
CO2: 198-191 g/km
Price: €60,675