BMW Z4 sDrive30i review: a proper roadster for the seven cool months in Bahrain
3.3/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
The sDrive30i is the sweet spot of the Z4 range for Bahrain: enough power to feel genuinely quick, cheaper to insure than the M40i, and a fabric roof that goes up in about ten seconds when the midday heat arrives without warning. Buy it as a second car for a couple, verify the roof mechanism operates cleanly on any used example, and accept that the boot rules out anything more than a weekend bag.
Pros
- Fabric soft-top is lighter, quicker and frees up boot space versus the old folding hardtop
- sDrive30i's 2.0-litre turbo four is genuinely quick without the M40i's running costs
- Firm but not punishing ride around Manama; composed at causeway speeds
- Roof insulates well enough for a hot Bahrain summer with the air conditioning working
Cons
- Strict two-seater with a small boot rules it out as a family or only car
- Roof mechanism reliability needs checking carefully on any used example
- Firm ride and limited visibility make it less relaxed than a saloon in daily Manama traffic
- Six-cylinder M40i is the more memorable drive if budget allows
The G29 Z4 was co-developed with Toyota's GR Supra, sharing a platform and much of its running gear while wearing entirely different bodywork and character. The sDrive30i's 2.0-litre turbo four is the one most Bahrain buyers should want: quick enough to be genuinely entertaining, and considerably cheaper to insure and fuel than the six-cylinder M40i above it.
The roof question, solved sensibly
BMW switched back to a fabric soft-top for this generation after two generations of folding hardtop, and it is the right call for the Gulf: lighter, quicker to operate at around ten seconds, and it frees up genuine boot space the old retractable hardtop swallowed whole. It still insulates well enough with the roof up and the air conditioning running hard in August.
Living with it in Bahrain
This is a strict two-seater with a small boot, so it works as a second car or a weekend car far better than as anyone's only car. Around Manama the ride is firm but not punishing, the eight-speed automatic is smooth in daily traffic, and the causeway run to Saudi Arabia with the roof down on a cool evening is the car's best use case by some distance.