SPY PICS: Art for whose sake?

In September 2007 we ran a selection of Carparazzi spy shots in which nobody else seemed to notice that BMW was working on a convertible steel hardtop for its Z4 sports car (more here).

Now the CC Z4 appears again, this time with an eye-spinning paisley body finish that is a guaranteed to confuse the issue of final body shapes.

So much so that it's hard to say whether or not the next Z4 has an all-new body, or whether it is a cosmetic job on the existing long-bonnet, short-boot look that sets the BMW sportster apart.

What can be gleaned, apart from the metal folding roof that is now almost painfully easy to spot, is that the rear spoiler lip appears a little wider-reaching than before, and that the lower crease in the body sides terminates differently at the front wheel arches. And is there, for some inexplicable reason, a new bonnet shut line in the upper front guards?

It also appears there's a change in the sweep of the lower window line, rising at the back to give a more hunky, enclosing look than the current canvas-top Z4.

If it is indeed an all-new Z4 (Z5?), there is no question the BMW two-seater will remain easily identified and more closely connected with its predecessor than was the original Z3.

In our September 2007 story we mentioned the probability of an engine range that reflected the current BMW inline six-cylinder lineup by including the twin-turbo 3.0-litre now used extensively by the Bavarian company. And diesel shouldn't be ruled out either, now that BMW has its 3.0-litre, 200kW hi-po oil burners in Australia.

The big question is; will there be an M version using the M3's 4.0-litre 309kW V8?

With BMW expanding its activities in the USA to build more X5 and X3 SUVs, there is also the rumour that production of the next Z4 will be at the Regensburg plant in Germany, rather than South Carolina.

-- with Carparazzi