The BMW Z4 Final Edition is the very last of its kind
Production of the third-generation BMW Z4 is coming to a close, and this is the final version you’ll be able to buy
The BMW lineup will be without a two-seat sports car for the first time in 30 years when Z4 production comes to an end in March 2026. The third-generation Z4 had been on sale since 2018 and was famously twinned technically with Toyota’s A90 Supra, which was also discontinued earlier this year. Before the end arrives though, buyers have one last opportunity to get their hands on it with the Final Edition.
Available to order from late-January 2026 for a ‘limited’ period, this is the very last iteration of the G29 Z4, and so it comes with a few unique touches to set it apart. Matte black paint is the most notable change and is a shade available only on this Final Edition – should you want something else though, you can choose from any other Z4 colour at no cost. Black trim courtesy of the ‘Shadowline’ package comes as standard and so do red brake calipers, giving it a stealthy edge.
> BMW Z4 M40i Handschalter v Toyota Supra – manual sixes go head-to-head
Inside there are further tweaks with the dash binnacle, centre console, door cards and Vernasca leather M Sport seats all coming with bold red contrast stitching. There’s a unique door sill trim specific to the Limited Edition, too, and the steering wheel is upholstered in leather and Alcantara to match the rest of the cabin.
Buyers have plenty of flexibility when it comes to how they specify the Limited Edition, with the package available with all three powertrains: the entry-level four-cylinder sDrive20i, middling sDrive30i and the range-topping M40i with the 3-litre turbocharged B58 straight-six. None come with any performance enhancements, with the latter retaining its standard 335bhp output for a brisk 4.5sec 0-62mph time.
While this car won’t be strictly limited by number, BMW says it will be available for just a short period of time, which could make it a fine candidate for collections. The cost of the package stands at €4200 (c£3700) for all but the entry-level sDrive20i, which doesn’t come with the required M Sport package as standard – as a result, buyers will need to stump up €7400 (c£6500) for this model, plus the standard price of the car. Opt for the six-cylinder M40i and you’ll pay in the region of £65,000 for the Final Edition.
History of the BMW Z4
The Z4 never rose to become the all-out Porsche Boxster rival that we always hoped it might. That said, we’ve always enjoyed slightly different lanes the model slid into with the introduction of the second-generation car in 2009 – one of a softer grand tourer, certainly more in line with the US market where it found the most success. The first BMW Z4 was built in the US at BMW’s Spartanburg facility in South Carolina, though for later models production moved to Europe, the latest being built alongside the Supra on Magna Steyr’s Graz production line.
The current Z4 ends a line of two-seat roadsters that began with the Z3 back in 1995, that continued with the first-generation Z4 in 2002. There was never any overlap with BMW’s original modern era roadster, the quirky Z1, and the Z3, the former ending production in 1991 four years before the Z3 was introduced.
The Z3 began life as a much more compact, seemingly driver-oriented Roadster than the Z4 became in its later years. It never quite met the expectations of such a model however, prompting BMW M to develop a stiffer, more dynamically potent hardtop model, the cult classic M Coupe ‘Breadvan’. Never the perfect sports car answer to the Porsche 911, the Breadvan is beloved by critics and fans alike for its bristling character.
The Z4 that followed was again quite a raw car but lacked the finesse to give it a firm place as a true Boxster rival. Likewise the latter Coupe and stonking M models with their singing S54 3.2-litre straight-six. BMW gave up on making the Z4 a proper Porsche-rivalling sports car with the second-gen Z4 of 2009 – a softer, heavier, larger Z4 that never got an M version. Many fantasized at the time about BMW M stuffing a derivative of the E92 M3’s howling naturally aspirated V8 under its bonnet but that only ever happened with the GT3 race car.
The outgoing model was a fine go at injecting the Z4 with some proper dynamism without sacrificing comfort. Its dynamic improvements were perhaps inevitable, given how stringent Toyota’s demands were for the platform it was to share for the Supra. It certainly struck the best balance we’d yet seen of sporting capability and refinement. The final Z4 Handschalter with its extra power and manual transmission, might have been the best BMW roadster there’s ever been, if not one of, so the model goes out on a high.
