BMW Z4 Makes A Brief Return With More Power And An Astronomical Price

The man who designed the original X5 gives the roadster a subtle makeover.

Photo by: Bovensiepen Automobile

By: Adrian Padeanu

Sep 11, at 3:20am ET

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The Bovensiepen Spider is based on the BMW Z4 M40i and gets styling from original X5 designer Frank Stephenson.
Its turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six makes 435 hp and 428 lb-ft, with a 183-mph top speed when equipped with the Performance Package.
Limited to just 99 units, the Spider starts at €115,500 ($134,000) in Germany.

We recently said goodbye to the Z4 as BMW ended production of its two-seat roadster. Well, technically, Magna Steyr did, since assembly was outsourced to Graz, where the Austrian contract manufacturer built the car alongside its mechanical twin, the Toyota Supra. Although the sports car is effectively dead, it’s making a brief return with 99 units modified by Bovensiepen Automobile.

If you know your BMWs, that name will certainly ring a bell. There’s a common misconception that BMW bought the entire Alpina company in 2022. However, it only acquired the brand name. The family-run firm in Buchloe has rebranded as Bovensiepen and will continue to support the vehicles it built through the end of 2025. It's also making new cars in its own name.

The Bovensiepen Zagato was the first car from the new era, taking the shape of an M4 Convertible turned into a coupe with a carbon-fiber body and styling by the famous Italian design house. Then came the 05 GT, based on the M5 Touring and penned by original X5 designer Frank Stephenson. The latter is now leaving his mark on the Bovensiepen Spider, based on the Z4 M40i.

2027 Bovensiepen Spider

Photo by: Bovensiepen Automobile

One Last Dance For The Z4

As you can imagine, these cars aren’t built from scratch. Instead, they’re based on the Magna Steyr-built Z4, likely among the last ones to roll off the assembly line. Frank Stephenson, who also helped design the original modern Mini, gave the already stylish roadster a subtle makeover. As for those 20-inch forged wheels, they certainly wouldn’t look out of place on an actual Alpina model.

Aside from the visual upgrade, the Bovensiepen Spider packs more punch from its BMW B58 engine. The turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six has been massaged to deliver 435 hp and 428 lb-ft (580 Nm), up 53 hp and 59 lb-ft (80 Nm) over the standard Z4 M40i. The extra oomph enables a sprint to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 183 mph (295 km/h) when ordered with the optional Performance Package.

That’s nice and all, but the Bovensiepen Spider doesn’t come cheap. It costs from €115,500 ($134,000) in Germany. That kind of money buys you an M4 Convertible, as long as you tick only a few boxes on the options list. If you’re dead set on getting the Z4 before it’s completely gone, the order books are already open, with deliveries set to get underway in the first quarter of next year.

2027 Bovensiepen Spider

Source: Bovensiepen Automobile

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Motor1's Take: There’s something fitting about the Z4 getting one last hurrah from the people behind Alpina. The roadster may have officially reached the end of the road, but Bovensiepen is giving it a more exclusive send-off with a limited run, more power, and a design touched by the man who helped shape the original X5. With only 99 cars being built, this is about as close as you can get to a factory-fresh Z4 with a serious dose of exclusivity.

The price, though, will make this a tough sell for anyone looking at it purely as a performance car. An M4 Convertible offers considerably more power and four seats for roughly the same money, making the Bovensiepen Spider difficult to justify on paper. But that misses the point. This is a rare, coachbuilt-style farewell to a dying breed, and for buyers who want something few others will have, that exclusivity is likely to be the whole appeal.