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Unfortunately, unlike the famous movie character that drove it, the Z8 actually needs an introduction to most, as it's a very obscure car by BMW standards. With just 5,703 produced and each costing upwards of 135,304 USD when new (about 248,155 USD in 2024), not many were in the privileged position of getting to know the elusive car, and so I thought it'd be a good idea to familiarise ourselves with the Z8 by quickly dropping some names and comparisons: It's meant to be a tribute to the BMW 507, perhaps the company's most influential car yet. It's got a near perfect weight balance thanks to its transaxle layout, just like a Porsche 924. With a 4.9L NA V8 from its stable mate, the M5, it can go from 0–100km/h in a claimed 4.7 seconds, which lets it keep up with modern cars like the C7 Stingray. It's styled by Henrik Fisker, whose last name you may recognise, only to be sawn into two halves by a helicopter in the James Bond Movie, "The World Is Not Enough". Oh, and some guy by the name of XSquareStickIt drove one in GT Sport back in 2021 and said he didn't like it very much.
But perhaps the most relevant name drop comparison is this: the Z8 drives like a beefed up, loaded out Mazda Roadster: it's much too soft to be a hardcore sports car, requiring its handler to keep the heavy, obscure gadget in check, lest they attract unwanted attention (i.e. ridicule) to themselves. Yet at the same time, the Z8 possesses incredible balance and poise, thanks to a nearly perfect 51:49 weight balance front to rear, and the Z8 is proportionate, cooperative, and—dare I even say—agile, before its springs reach the end of their travel, at which point the car quickly lets go. While capable, the Z8 very much wants to be treated like a Fairlady; it doesn't respond well at all to brute force, instead asking of its driver to be a cognisant gentleman and to be smooth, gentle, and attentive to the car, because it's certainly not shy about wanting a show of heroic saving from its driver every now and then.
And so, just like driving an old, rear–engined car like the Alpine A110, the driver has to be ultra aware of where the weight is on the Z8 when driving it hard, knowing when to use the full capabilities of each component of the car, and when to show gentlemanly restraint. The brakes on the Z8 are ABSURDLY strong, but fully depressing the middle pedal at speed unsettles the rear end greatly, and even mild trial braking will see the transaxle car swing out its laden rear end all too easily. The NA V8 not only barks out a soundtrack that would rival American muscle, and it has solid torque from as low as 3,000rpm, but just like the brakes, the full power of the engine has to be sparingly used, because the rear springs will run out of travel soon before the engine can deliver all its power on the default suspension and Sports Hard tyres, easily resulting in a fishtail. 2nd gear is just about redundant after a standing start with how much shove this M5–derived powerplant has, and so its driver will have to know when to use which gear out of which corner for the best performance. In other words, any driver looking to win the Z8 over has to remain calm and calculated at all times; after all, the last thing a spy can do even in the most dire of situations is to panic, and the Z8 is here to remind any prospective spy of that.
Treat it right however, and the driver is rewarded with an open–top luxury experience that has enough poise and firepower to stay within a second of a contemporary track toy in the 996 GT3 around Grand Valley Highway, and even make the Porsche's standard steel brakes feel like they've come right out of a luggage cart's while it's at it. In that respect, it stands alone as its own unique thing incomparable to anything else in my mind.
...buuuut, I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that, ever since our barn burner race at Brands Hatch, there's a car that I haven't been able to stop thinking about, and every time I lay eyes on it, I just melt into a puddle on the inside and giggle. It's also FR with an NA V8 going through a 6–speed manual, with on–track performance nigh inseparable from the Z8. It's not an open top car, but it has a see–through roof and a pair of headlights among the sexiest mankind has dared conjure, and v1.50 of Gran Turismo 7 has arguably given it much more of a glow–up in driving experience than the Z8.
I'm sorry, Bond, but I'm going over to the dark side.
And so, just like driving an old, rear–engined car like the Alpine A110, the driver has to be ultra aware of where the weight is on the Z8 when driving it hard, knowing when to use the full capabilities of each component of the car, and when to show gentlemanly restraint. The brakes on the Z8 are ABSURDLY strong, but fully depressing the middle pedal at speed unsettles the rear end greatly, and even mild trial braking will see the transaxle car swing out its laden rear end all too easily. The NA V8 not only barks out a soundtrack that would rival American muscle, and it has solid torque from as low as 3,000rpm, but just like the brakes, the full power of the engine has to be sparingly used, because the rear springs will run out of travel soon before the engine can deliver all its power on the default suspension and Sports Hard tyres, easily resulting in a fishtail. 2nd gear is just about redundant after a standing start with how much shove this M5–derived powerplant has, and so its driver will have to know when to use which gear out of which corner for the best performance. In other words, any driver looking to win the Z8 over has to remain calm and calculated at all times; after all, the last thing a spy can do even in the most dire of situations is to panic, and the Z8 is here to remind any prospective spy of that.
Treat it right however, and the driver is rewarded with an open–top luxury experience that has enough poise and firepower to stay within a second of a contemporary track toy in the 996 GT3 around Grand Valley Highway, and even make the Porsche's standard steel brakes feel like they've come right out of a luggage cart's while it's at it. In that respect, it stands alone as its own unique thing incomparable to anything else in my mind.
...buuuut, I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that, ever since our barn burner race at Brands Hatch, there's a car that I haven't been able to stop thinking about, and every time I lay eyes on it, I just melt into a puddle on the inside and giggle. It's also FR with an NA V8 going through a 6–speed manual, with on–track performance nigh inseparable from the Z8. It's not an open top car, but it has a see–through roof and a pair of headlights among the sexiest mankind has dared conjure, and v1.50 of Gran Turismo 7 has arguably given it much more of a glow–up in driving experience than the Z8.
I'm sorry, Bond, but I'm going over to the dark side.
A "Small" Rant:
The Z8's horizontal interior piece is supposed to be body colour. However, in GT Sport and GT7, it's stuck as silver regardless of the car's base colour, with no way of changing the look of it in the livery editor; it can't be painted, nor can decals be applied to it.
The odd thing is, they got it right in GT6! The dash is body colour!
Real life car in blue for comparison:
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