The BMW Z3 was the first modern mass-market roadster produced by BMW, as well as the first new BMW model assembled in the United States. The Z in Z3 originally stood for Zukunft (German for "future"). The very first BMW assembled in the US was the E36/5, 318i that rolled off the Spartanburg Plant assembly line beginning in October 1994.
The Z3 was introduced as a 1996 model year vehicle, shortly after being featured in EON Productions' 1995 James Bond film, GoldenEye.
Overview[]
The first Z3's were equipped with a 16 valve 1.9 units developing 140 hp, later replaced by a 8 valve version of the same engine that had power output of about 115 hp. Weighing 1150 kg this nimble machine could easily accelerate to 100 km/h in less than 8,5 seconds.
There were a few variants of the car before its production run ended in 2002, including a coupé version for 1999. It was manufactured and assembled in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The Z3 was replaced by the E85 Z4 introduced in late 2002 at the Paris Auto Show. The BMW Z Series are a line of roadsters considered to be the successor to the BMW 507.
Bond's Z3[]
The Z3 was the start of BMW's three film plan deal between BMW and The Bond franchise. The deal started with GoldenEye and it concluded with The World Is Not Enough it was introduced as a 1996 model year vehicle. At that time Karen Sortito created the BMW campaign for the film GoldenEye. Afterwards, while the film was number one at the box office, sales of the car spiked. The entire 1996 BMW Z3 roadster production run, more than 15,000 roadsters, was sold out by the time the car was introduced.
Only appearing in 1995's GoldenEye, the BMW Z3 was a controversial choice for some Bond purists, it being the first non-British production car to feature in a Bond movie as the spy's primary mode of transport, unlike the Aston Martin DB5 or Lotus Esprit S1.
A convertible, it comes fully equipped with "all the usual refinements" including a self-destruct system and stinger missiles located behind the headlights. The car in the film is only driven briefly in Cuba, and Bond ends up trading it for Jack Wade's plane. As a result, it has the dubious honor of being one of the few cars Bond gets from Q-Branch which is not destroyed in the field.
This wasn't very well received by purists and people of the car world, complaining that the Z3 should have got more screentime after boasting about the weapons and that all the publicity of the car was for nothing. However, this was fixed with the BMW 750iL in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies.
Appearances[]
GoldenEye (film)[]
TBA
007 Racing[]
The BMW Z3 as it appears in 007 Racing.
The BMW Z3 is featured in the 2000 007 Racing video game for the PlayStation as one of the several Bond Cars from various films used throughout the game's missions. It is prominently used to rescue Valentin Zukovsky and race against Xenia Onatopp's Ferrari F355 before falling off a cliff with a parachute. In the first of the vehicle's three levels - each taking place in a jungle, if Bond was to destroy the Z3, therefore failing the mission, Q will scold him, saying even he could obtain his objective in the blue BMW roadster. It remains the car's last appearance in any James Bond media.
Gadgets[]
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Stinger Missiles — Though not seen in use, there are front firing stinger missiles hidden behind each of the headlights. |
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Parachute — Concealed in the trunk of the Z3 is an emergency parachute braking system. It was tested in Q-Branch's labs, but never saw action in the field. |
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Radar Scanner — The Z3 comes equipped with an all-points radar system which is displayed by an LCD monitor in the dashboard. |
- It is also noted during Q's briefing scene that the car features a passenger ejector seat and self-destruct system. As with the stinger missiles these were not seen in use during the film. The 007 Spy Files additionally included a forward-firing machine-gun, ejector seat and grenade launcher hidden in the boot (with four heat-seeking grenades).[1]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Due to its appearance in GoldenEye, BMW released 100 special edition versions of Z3 based on the film in 1996. Initially, the company planned to build 20, but was increased due to popular demand.
See also[]
References[]
