what car is this?

[Pandemic]

[GeoffM]

BMW Z series.
3 or 4, I'm not familiar with them to say for sure.

[10thAnnivCB7]

Yeah the front gives it away.

[wildBill83]

2001 Z3 Hatchback


One of the rarer, more sought after coupes of BMW.

[PUMASTi]

I thought these were just called M Coupe.

[Sordz]

I thought these were just called M Coupe.

They come in base and M models

[AAPOQ]

I was able to test drive one of those when I worked for a body shop years ago. sweet little ride, but I wouldn't want one for a daily....

[Honda_Lady]

there is a BMW i have never seen before but knew what it was as soon as i saw the picture.

[deevergote]

I've seen a number of them around. Really cool cars. Car and Driver included the M Coupe as one of their "top 10 used performance cars under $20,000". Basically, the M Coupe and NSX took top honors, without major hits for being unreliable and abnormally expensive to own and maintain.
I considered one myself, actually. 240hp and about 3200lbs... it's very much like an S2000 (only with an inline 6.)

Here's a black one for sale for $13,000... 1999 model.
http://www.mcoupebuyersguide.com/lis...ListingID=1498

[Sordz]

Judging by the front bumber I don't think that's a M-coupe, just a regular z3 coupe.

[deevergote]

Probably. The M is just more interesting!

I think I see more Ms than not, unless it's common to slap an M badge on non-M cars..

[wildBill83]

...unless it's common to slap an M badge on non-M cars..

Extremely common. The M version of this hatch has the M badge and chrome line on the side vent too.

EDIT: added a photo to show the M version...

[crazymikey]

Probably one of my favourite BMWs in recent years.

I always thought there was only the M coupe, I never knew a Z3 hatch existed. I thought it was just Z3 roadster and M coupe.

Such badass cars. One of those love it or hate it designs, and I love it.

[wildBill83]

I use to follow BMWs with a passion, that's why I notice the little quirks like the difference between the Z3 hatch and the M coupe so quickly. I use to be a german car affectionado up until a few years back when life got expensive and I had to start driving cheap cars.

I agree the design is a good looking one, the M coupe has 325 hp for the desirable years (2001-2002) I believe. But they also had a major recall for that generation too. I'm fairly certain the one in the OP is a 2001-2002 model, the 1998-2000 models look slightly different than that one. Also this line of BMW was the first (I may be wrong) BMW line assembled in the US.

[Jarrett]

First off, as Sordz is trying to reiterate, this is just a Z3 coupe.

There's a BIG difference between the early models and the later models of M coupes and roadsters. The 1998-2000 is much cheaper because it comes with the S52 I6 that the E36 M3s had. It made 240hp and is decently fun to drive. The 2001-2002 model has the S54 I6 from the E46 M3 and has 315hp. A dealer flash will put that at the 333hp mark that the M3 has. A decent exhaust on those sounds awesome. I've driven an E46 M3 and it is a VERY fun car to drive. To have that engine in a smaller package just adds to the fun.