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Man Maths: BMW Z1

1 month ago

Writer:

Maximilian Chester | Content creator

Date:

1 November 2025

So why, at the ripe old age of 23, did I decide to buy what my friends mockingly refer to as a rebodied BMW E30 beach buggy, better known to you and me as the BMW Z1? First unveiled at the 1987 Frankfurt Motor Show, it was the first of the BMW Z-cars, later spawning the Z3, Z4 and my dream car, the Z8.

Ironically, it was a Z4 in which I learned to drive, an E89 with an underpowered 2-litre four-cylinder engine belonging to my parents in Spain, which they never drove. As soon as I turned 18, I put more miles on the car in one week than they’d managed in a year. If you thought a 181bhp, 2-litre Z4 was underpowered, wait until you try the 168bhp 2.5-litre six in the Z1. It’s glacial, at best.

But it’s not all about power, is it? If it were, I wouldn’t have gone out and spent my money on a small, not-very-quick, 35-year-old BMW with all the interior space of a shoebox. One thing about me and cars is that I seldom buy any that other people have. This can be said about my Volkswagen Passat W8 wagon, which remains the only one I’ve ever seen on the road, my Vivianite Green R129 Mercedes SL, my E38 BMW 7 Series, an example of which I see about once every three months, and, of course, my Z1.

The Z1 is best known for its radical drop-down doors

So why buy it? I’m sure all Z1 owners would agree: it was, of course, the doors. What was BMW smoking in the 1980s to have produced a car that was more expensive than a 7 Series, with doors that effortlessly slid down into the bodywork like it were some sort of spaceship? Even the French couldn’t have come up with such a ludicrous and audacious idea.

But there is no better feeling than driving with doors and top down on a sunny day, with bus drivers saying they’ve not seen one in 20 years, tradies asking what it is and dads asking if their kids can sit inside for a photo. Everyone, no matter their age or gender, loves the Z1. Besides a Renault Twizy or a ghastly Tesla Cybertruck, there is really nothing else on the roads that turns as many heads.

Z1 uses the 168bhp 2.5-litre six from the E30 BMW 325i

This is helped by the fact that the car came in UR Green Metallic, splendidly paired with an extremely eye-catching Lemon Yellow interior. However, let’s talk reliability. Everyone’s biggest concern, of course, is the long-term dependability of those doors. It’s a shout common to every Z1 owner as a passenger climbs aboard: ‘don’t lean on the doors!’ That’s what the roll bar above the windshield is for. Yes, it’s also there to protect you should the car turn over, but it can be used to hoist yourself into and out of the car without leaning on the door and putting unwelcome strain on the mechanism.

In the eight months I’ve owned the Z1, I’ve not had a single problem with the doors, which could also be due to the fact that the car has covered a mere 4000 miles. Knock on wood. What’s more, the underpowered but characterful straight-six has been utterly dependable. From motorway cruising to city driving, it has given me no problems whatsoever.

The Z1 is relatively rare. Only 8000 were built between 1989 and 1991, and as it stands there are only 50 or so taxed examples in the UK. It’s therefore sure to be a desirable future classic, if it isn’t one already. All Z1s are left-hand drive, which isn’t ideal in the UK but it does make them easier to export to Europe or the US. Prices start at around £35,000, but you can pay nearly twice as much for an immaculate, really low miles example.

That’s enough from me. If I don’t get out now to drive my Z1 with the roof off and doors down, I won’t get to do so until spring.

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