Article by hi joiney

From concept to production The original Z07 had been designed with production in mind As a result practical and regulatory considerations necessitated very few changes for the production model Nevertheless the windshield of the Z8 was extended upward and a larger front airdam was fitted Both changes were implemented to provide aerodynamic stability and a reasonably placid cockpit environment The four spoke steering wheel of the concept car was replaced by a three spoke design The hardtop was changed from a double bubble form with a tapering faring to a single dome with a truncated convex backside The concept s exotic driver s side helmet fairing was eliminated to allow easy operation of the power soft top Despite these changes the Z8 remained extremely faithful to the concept car The side mounted turn indicators were integrated into the side vents in a fashion that rendered them invisible until activated The vintage simplicity of the interior was preserved by hiding the modern equipment under retracting panels Complex compound curves were preserved through the use of an expensive MIG welded aluminum space frame The Z8 even retained the concept s five spoke wheel design albeit without the race style center lug nut Features The 128 000 car had an all aluminum chassis and body and used a 4 9 L 4941 cc 32 valve V8 that developed 400 160 hp 294 160 kW and 500 Nm 363 160 lbft torque This engine known internally as the S62 was built by the BMW Motorsport subsidiary and was shared with the E39 M5 The engine was located behind the front axle in order to provide the car with 50 50 weight distribution The factory claimed a 0 to 100 160 km h 0 to 62 5 160 mph time of 4 7 seconds Motor Trend magazine achieved 0 to 60 160 mph 97 160 km h in 4 2 seconds Road and Track measured the car s lateral grip at 92 Car and Driver magazine also tested the car and found that it outperformed the contemporary benchmark Ferrari 360 Modena in three important performance categories acceleration handling and braking As with most BMW products its top speed was electronically limited to 155 4 160 mph 250 160 km h the car s maximum top speed with an unlocked chip was 186 160 mph 299 160 km h citation needed The Z8 included an innovative use of neon exterior lighting The tail lights and turn indicators are powered by neon tubes that offer quicker activation than standard lightbulbs and are expected to last for the life of the vehicle The vehicle has been erroneously described citation needed as the first production vehicle to use neon instead of incandescent bulbs but the 1995 1997 Ford Explorer and 1997 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII among others also featured neon bulbs and predated the introduction of the Z8 citation needed Every Z8 was shipped with a color matching metal hardtop with rear defroster Unlike many accessory hardtops which are provided for practical rather than stylistic considerations the Z8 hardtop was designed from the outset to complement the lines of the roadster BMW Z8 interior In order to keep the interior uncluttered a number of convenience functions were integrated into multifunction controls For example the power windows and mirrors were controlled by a single instrument Also the center mounted instrument cluster was canted slightly toward the driver The displacement of these gauges to the middle of the dash was intended to offer an unimpeded view of the hood and the road ahead In order to promote the Z8 to collectors and reinforce media speculation about the Z8 s instant classic potential BMW promised that a 50 year stockpile of spare parts would be maintained in order to support the Z8 fleet Due to the limited volume of Z8 production all elements of the car were constructed or finished by hand thereby compounding the importance of ongoing manufacturer support for the type The price point and production process allowed BMW to offer custom options to interested buyers A significant number of Z8s with nonstandard paint and interior treatments were produced over the course of the four year production run by BMW Individual a division of BMW AG 2003 model year changes Alpina Z8 Alpina V8 Roadster For 2003 the final model year the Z8 model was augmented by the Alpina V8 Roadster The Alpina was a departure from the hard edged sporting focus of the original car and elements of the new grand touring intent were evident throughout this final edition Instead of the original six speed manual and 4 9 liter S62 engine featured in earlier Z8 s the Alpina came only as an automatic using a 5 speed BMW Steptronic transmission allied to a downgraded 4 8L Alpina tuned V8 motor from the Alpina E39 B10 V8 S In order to complete the car s transition from sportscar to boulevardier relaxed suspension tuning was used The standard Z8 s run flat tires and 18 160 inch wheels were discarded in favor of conventional tires with softer sidewalls and 20 160 inch wheels A new softer grade of Nappa leather replaced the Z8 s less supple specification and special Alpina gauges were featured on the dash cluster An Alpina steering wheel with three solid spokes replaced the original which could not be retrofitted with shift paddles for the automatic Gear selection was displayed in an Alpina specific display mounted in front of the wheel Performance of the Alpina Z8 differed from that of the standard car in that peak power was reduced to 375 160 hp 280 160 kW while peak torque was raised to 383 160 lbft 519 160 Nm this torque was available at significantly lower rpm than the original in order to enable more relaxed cruising Curiously the electronically limited top speed was officially raised to 161 160 mph 259 160 km h Only 555 of these Alpinas were built most of which were exported to the United States market In the United States this special edition of the Z8 was sold directly through BMW dealerships marking a first for Alpina whose cars had never been sold through retail channels in the USA Criticism The Z8 held BMW s production car performance records for several years and many journalists praised the car but some in the UK motoring press most notably Jeremy Clarkson who while reviewing the Alpina edition of the Z8 on Top Gear Series 2 Episode 3 described the standard Z8 as having terrible handling and being an example of a car that never knew what it was supposed to be a supercar or a roadster Reports that the front shock towers could deform from a severe pothole impact gained attention in early 2006 The very hard run flat tires are responsible for the problem In response BMW AG engineered and released a strut tower brace kit to stabilize that area of the frame as part of the Performance Package by the end of the year As a Bond car The car was featured in 1999 s The World Is Not Enough and in the game James Bond 007 Agent Under Fire In the film it was cut in half by a helicopter in Azerbaijan US sales Calendar year U S sales 2000 317 2001 970 2002 524 2003 439 2004 110 2005 17 2006 5 Notes 2001 BMW Z8 Reviews by Cars com Experts and Consumers Cars com http www cars com go crp research jsp makeid 5 amp modelid 4787 amp year 2001 amp section reviews Retrieved 2009 07 25 160 2002 BMW Z8 Summary Cars com http www cars com go crp research jsp makeid 5 amp modelid 4787 amp year 2002 amp section summary Retrieved 2009 07 25 160 a b BMW Group Shatters All Past Annual Sales Records in 2004 Theautochannel com 2004 11 17 http www theautochannel com news 2005 01 04 313805 html Retrieved 2009 07 25 160 References Csaba Csere BMW Z8 Preview Car and Driver May 2000 6670 160 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to BMW Z8 Frame DamageThe BusinessWeek article about frame deformation v 160 160 d 160 160 e previous BMW road car timeline 1980sresent Type Series 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Small family 3 Compact E36 5 E46 5 1 Series E81 E82 E87 E88 Compact exec 3 160 Series E21 E30 E36 E46 E90 E91 E92 E93 Executive 5 160 Series E12 E28 E34 E39 E60 E61 F10 Luxury Coup 6 160 Series E24 E63 E64 Luxury 7 160 Series E23 E32 E38 E65 E66 E67 E68 F01 F02 F03 F04 Roadster Z Series E30 Z1 E36 7 amp E36 8 Z3 E85 E86 Z4 E89 Z4 Supercar GT E26 M1 E31 8 series E52 Z8 Sports Activity X1 E84 X3 E83 X5 E53 E70 X6 E71 E72 Progressive Activity 5 GT F07 Categories BMW vehicles Sports cars Roadsters Rear wheel drive vehicles Convertibles 2000s automobiles Vehicles introduced in 2000 The World Is Not Enough Retro style automobilesHidden categories Articles needing additional references from July 2009 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October 2009 Articles with unsourced statements from February 2010

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