BMW Z4 vs Mazda MX-5

What's the difference?

The Z4 didn’t make me feel like Peirce Brosnan’s 007. It’s way too serious – a proper gritty reboot. Maybe it’s meant for Daniel Craig. Either way, its brave design makes it one of the best-looking BMWs of recent memory, and it’s a tech- and comfort-fest that the Bavarian automaker should be proud of. I just wish it was a smidge more fun behind the wheel.

Ultimately, the design and tech changes to the ND MX-5 will be the biggest day-to-day advantages of the updated model, because the mechanical changes don’t make themselves hugely obvious on the road.

If you’re into track days, it’s still a satisfying car to hustle as fast as you can, but it’s at its most accessible on winding roads for weekend drives, where the new differential and track DSC mode won’t come into play as much.

But in a world where accessible sports cars are becoming a rarity, there’s only one rear-drive convertible with a sticker price appropriate for financial mortals, and it’s a pretty damn good thing that it’s the ND MX-5.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The Z4 is a sight to behold. It’s brave, especially for a BMW, it even betrays the brand’s strongest styling pillars, making its own way with its more horizontal grille design, flat body and curved out rear.

It’s more than that, though. In black, this car looks sinister, brooding. The more you look at it, the more you notice tiny details - the scooped-out sides, or the way the entire rear seems to flick up into the integrated spoiler. I couldn’t get enough of staring at it – it manages to look even better with the roof down.

That’s probably when it hit me. To my eyes, at least, this is the most stunning BMW in years. Sure, the X7 is a sight to behold due to its sheer dimensions and borderline offensive grille, but the Z4 is the opposite. It’s subtle, it hides its details away in its silhouette.

It’s designer, Calvin Luk (an Australian no less), was inspired at least in part by the Z8 – another Brosnan bond car – and you can see the Fisker design reflected in the Z4’s low, flat grille and almost bulbous rear.

Inside, sadly, the Z4’s strong design doesn’t quite play out. There’s no wily Fisker touches here, just a standard set of BMW switchgear. While it all works well, it just dumbs down the Z4’s character.

The big, chunky steering wheel in particular is a let-down. It’s the same wheel that sits in the brand’s X5 SUV, and it feels right there, but not here in a convertible where you’re so close to the ground. A smaller wheel would not only suit this car better, it would make it feel just a smidge more alive. I miss the three-spoke M sport wheel from previous-generation BMW cars.

I do like the dash, which is seemly carved from rhomboid shapes - a theme that rolls into the doors, screens, and vents elegantly. I’m normally not a fan of gloss plastics and chrome touches, but in the Z4 they’re all tastefully applied.

The seats, too, are lovely. I’m not sure about the contrast bright-red leather our car came with, but they’re nice and close to the ground and have excellent trim that you seem to sink into just enough to be comfortable and sporty all at once.

It’s a slick place to be, I just wish it felt less like you were at the helm of an SUV and more like you were driving something that looks this damn good.

Alright, we’ve all seen ND MX-5s, you don’t need me to tell you about its proportions or explain its design elements to you in too much detail, so I’ll give you the headline changes.

At the front and rear are new pairs of LED head- and tail-lights, respectively… obviously, fitting into the spaces the old ones took up.

The DRLS and reverse lights have come off the bumpers for both, and are now part of the main lights at each end - no more DRLs in the front bumper, and the reverse lights have been replaced by reflectors.

There are new 17-inch wheel designs for the base and GT trim levels, too, and there’s a new colour - Aero Grey.

Inside, it’s a shame that the tan Nappa leather interior of the RF Black Roof can’t be had in a manual roadster, because it’s gorgeous, even though the inside still looks refined enough for a simple sports car in its base cloth trim.

The Z4 is a convertible, so it’s naturally compromised on space. As far as convertibles go though, you’ll be hard pressed to find one you can fit more stuff into.

The Z4 is wide - the same width, in fact, as a 5 Series - and this carries into the cabin. There are only two seats, but those seats are wide, and occupants will find themselves with luxurious amounts of airspace for their arms, as well as excellent leather-trimmed and padded surfaces for landing elbows on.

Legroom is also great, as the seats have a surprising amount of rail-travel on them, so that even taller folk won’t struggle to fit their limbs in.

A genuinely impressive characteristic of the Z4 is much head room there it is. Despite its low-slung looks from the outside, the roof towers over my 182cm tall head when I’m inside, so this isn’t one of those convertibles that feels like braking too hard might simply decapitate those above six-foot tall.

In terms of storage areas you get some long but shallow trenches in the doors, a bay with connection ports and a Qi wireless charging pad under the air-conditioning controls, a glovebox (hey, not all convertibles have them) and a trick centre console that houses two deep cupholders inside.

There’s also a netted shelf behind the seats that could fit small bags, and given the length of the cabin, you could even fit laptops and the like behind the seats provided you haven’t used the full extent of the seat’s rearward movement.

The boot is deep, wide and long for a drop-top, and offers a total of 281-litres which is more than some popular hatchbacks. It even offers tie-down points and netting either side. To top it off, the fabric roof folds away into its own compartment, so the boot space is unaffected if you choose to drop the lid.

For a convertible – the Z4 is a practicality wizard.

One thing Mazda has significantly changed for the ND is the multimedia screen, now a larger 8.8-inch touchscreen running Mazda’s updated software.

It brings the MX-5 up to date without sacrificing simplicity and makes it a little easier to use. The physical dial and buttons for controlling the screen also remain. The USB-C ports are also new.

Oh, and the MX-5 is the first Mazda model to get Connected Services, which is coming to other Mazda models eventually.

Connected Services allows owners to find, lock, and get alerts for their cars from a phone app, even letting them set curfews to notify them if the car is started during certain hours.

Aside from that, another small tweak is the simplified instrument cluster, which aims to be easier to read even when the roof is open and the sun is bright.

The cabin isn’t built to be plush, it’s built for ‘Jinba Ittai’, Mazda’s philosophy that applies most strongly to the MX-5 which means ‘horse and rider as one’.

And trust me, you feel one with the horse- er, car, when there’s not ample room to move. It’s not restrictive, but it’s cosy. 

Everything’s quite well-placed and it’s not busy with buttons or features in here though, it’s made for focusing on driving. 

One downside is the lack of storage, not even a glovebox, in front of the passenger, and the central storage spot under where your elbow sits is tiny, good for keeping the key fob snug though. Also, the cupholders are able to be removed or swapped between the space behind your elbow, or above the passenger footwell.

There’s also a small storage space between the seats behind where your elbow would sit, though it’s tricky to access while you’re driving.

Then there’s the boot, which is usable for a small amount of luggage at 130 litres in the Roadster and 127L in the RF hardtop.

Finally, as a huge positive, probably the biggest advantage of the ND over any other convertible is how easy it is to open and close the roof in the Roadster. You can do it single-handed, which is great if it starts raining and you’re at a traffic light or able to quickly pull over.

The RF hard-top has a switch that automatically opens and closes the roof section.

Getting into an MX-5 is now a little more expensive, with the base manual Roadster up by $2310 to now start from $41,520 before on-roads.

The top-spec soft-top GT RS is now $51,640, or $2800 more than before.

Pricing for the RF hard top is also similarly bumped up, a base manual costing $46,250, and the most expensive GT RS at $56,140.

There’s also a Black Roof edition which comes with tan Nappa leather inside, but that’s only available in an automatic RF, which is possibly the biggest downside to the 2024 range.

Base models get cloth seats, while GT and GT RS models get heated leather seats. The GT RS also comes with stiffer Bilstein dampers, Brembo front brakes, a bracing strut between the front suspension towers and a DSC-Track mode. The difference there is noticeable, so it's worth the extra spend for the more keen driver.

The higher overall costs bring updated tech, a new 8.8-inch touchscreen and a new limited slip-diff in manual versions, plus tweaked mechanicals like improved acceleration response and lower steering rack friction.

But they do look a tiny bit different too.

Welcome to the age of ridiculously powered four-cylinder turbo engines. Despite a capacity of just 2.0-litres, the engine in the Z4 30i produces a whopping 190kW/400Nm.

That’s probably enough for a car this size. I’m keen to drive the six-cylinder, but surprisingly it seems to offer diminishing returns for extra cylinders offering a 60kW/100Nm power boost for an extra $20,000. Perhaps a six-cylinder is the way to go in a BMW, and given this car’s other seriously sporty attributes, it might be the only way to make it a bit more… fun. More on that in the driving section.

All Z4s are rear-wheel drive, using an eight-speed torque converter automatic. Sorry, no option for a manual this time around.

Up front, you get one option: a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four-pot. It makes 135kW and 205Nm, and it’s a delightful little thing, driving the rear wheels only - as it should.

It used to be that the smaller 1.5-litre engine was the more revvy, keen option, rest its soul, but Mazda updated the 2.0-litre to be more eager (and deliver more power) at high revs and basically made the little 1.5-litre redundant.

Anyway, you can have it with a six-speed manual in any variant, or a six-speed automatic in GT guise if you find manual gearboxes difficult or a hassle.

It’s claimed that the Z4 will drink just 6.5 litres per 100 kilometres on the official combined cycle test, but I found that sticking my foot in occasionally resulted in a slightly more realistic sounding figure of 8.4L/100km.

That’s still a great fuel consumption number for a car like this, and perhaps one of the strongest benefits of having just four cylinders.

A discerning vehicle, the Z4 will drink nothing less than the best-quality 98RON unleaded to fill its 52-litre tank.

Mazda says the MX-5 uses 6.8L/100km as a manual Roadster, or 7.0L/100km with an automatic gearbox. Or, in the heavier RF 6.9L for a manual and 7.2L for auto.

Not great for a tiny car like this, but pretty good for a sports car!

It’s got a 45-litre fuel tank, takes premium 95 RON or higher, and while it should hypothetically be able to travel more than 600km with its on-paper claims, expect fuel use to sit closer to 8.0L/100km if you’re driving it anything like it deserves.

A car that looks this good better live up to the promise behind the wheel, right?

For the most part, the 30i does, but it’s a victim of its own performance credentials and luxuriousness.

See, a drop-top should be fun-packed, you should feel close to the road, connected. Sadly, a combination Z4’s excellent suspension and not-so-excellent SUV-like interior separates you too much from the surface below.

An advantage, of course, is the refinement on offer. The Z4 is easily one of the quietest, most refined convertibles I’ve ever driven, but it’s a little too insulated.

I can’t help but feel like it’s all business and no pleasure. It feels a little more like I should be cruising to work on the autobahn and a little less like I should be flinging it around corners on a tight B-road.

It feels almost wrong to drive it in a T-shirt. It’s serious and doesn’t want you to mess around, it wants you to wear a suit and tie.

This grand-tourer style feel is one that will keep a lot of buyers in the premium space happy, but I’m of the opinion that BMW will have that segment well and truly covered by the new 8 Series. If the budget allows.

Regardless, the 30i’s four-cyl engine feels like any six-cylinder would have a few years ago. It’s got a surge to it in the straights that’s quite satisfying, and it responds via the exhaust with an angry tone that makes it feel a little more alive, especially with the roof down.

This feeling was all helped along by our car’s M active differential which simply won’t let the fat tyres at the rear slide unless you’ve got high-speeds and loads of tarmac to play with – for better or worse.

The Z4 also has ‘variable sport steering’ which reacts to the car’s speed and position of the wheels to adjust the input ratio. It’s good when you’re at speed, but the weight and response of the steering can make the Z4 feel bigger than it actually is at lower speeds. 

The suspension is firm, and can be a little bouncy over rough surfaces, but seems well suited to the Z4’s chassis.

Other than those notable characteristics you’ll find that the Z4 is wonderfully tuned in terms of its inputs, everything is slick and smooth, suited perfectly for long meandering drives.

It feels like every motoring journo under the sun (literally if the roof is off) owns or has owned an MX-5 of some sort.

And the first time you drive one, you might understand why. 

If you spend your days testing and driving a bunch of different cars that aim to be many things at once, it’s refreshing to drive something that aims to be one: fun.

That’s it, the MX-5 feels like it was built to be fun. Not for convenience, not for power, certainly not for the school run.

And fortunately its simplicity remains with this update. All Mazda has done to change the way it drives is attempt to improve the rear limited-slip differential and improve the steering a little by reducing friction in the rack, as well as improve throttle response.

Has any of that changed the way it feels to drive on-road? No, not massively, but the ND was already such a delight that Mazda could have kept this update to purely design and interior tech changes and it would have still been one of the best-value buys around in terms of fun.

The MX-5 still feels relatively softly sprung while still being a dynamic and communicative sports car that’s engaging to drive even at low speeds, and rewarding (or frustrating) to drive fast.

On tight, winding roads, the MX-5 is at home, its soft suspension keeps you humble with its shifting weight and its relatively meagre outputs keep your licence safe.

In fact, despite being slightly compromised as a daily drive, the MX-5 is still plenty of fun even in traffic, there’s something about the satisfying click as the shifter slips into gear, or the little rev matches heading back down through the cogs when approaching a red light.

The 2.0-litre four-pot is a keen unit, and the six-speed manual is light and easy to work with, plus its steering is light without sacrificing road surface feedback - that feedback can quickly turn into cabin noise on a coarse highway which could become a little irritating on a long trip.

But the MX-5 can still be plenty of fun on track, where you’re more likely to get the most out of its new limited-slip differential and Track DSC mode.

It’s equally frustrating and satisfying to hustle the MX-5 around the East Circuit at The Bend in South Australia, where the track is twisty, busy, and unforgiving. Get it wrong, and the MX-5 lurches or slides to let you know you’ve made an error. 

Get it right, however, and the little roadster glides through the corners, camber changes and even over apex kerbs smoothly and carrying impressive speed.

Plus, the electronic assistance won’t usually kick-in until you really need it, a welcome change from cars that are constantly trying to keep you from having fun behind the wheel.

The ND MX-5 actually scored five stars with ANCAP back in 2016, even though its score has now expired. It’s not obvious how well it would fare under newer, stricter tests, given the small car’s lack of advanced driver assistance - not that that’s a bad thing in the case of a sports car.

Still, for a two-seat convertible, the MX-5 has a decent list of kit to keep you safe including front and side airbags, alerts for driver attention, blind spots, lane departure and rear-cross traffic, parking sensors and a reversing camera, belt pretensioners and side-impact door beams and even automatic Smart City Brake Support.

If recent quotes are anything to go by BMW is set to stick by its lacklustre three-year unlimited kilometre warranty, as it says its customers simply aren’t interested in five years (or longer) when it comes to warranty coverage.

It’s a shame, as even Volkswagen has upped its warranty to five years, and Mercedes has considered a 10-year coverage plan in the past.

In terms of servicing, there are two fixed-price plans available – the suspiciously cheap ‘Basic’ plan which comes at a cost of $1373 for five years (or $274.60 per year) and the more realistic-sounding ‘Plus’ which costs $3934 over five years (or $786.80 per year).

Like every other BMW, the Z4’s computer tells you when its service time: how often it needs maintenance will depend on how often – and how hard – you drive it.

Mazda’s five-year, unlimited km warranty covers the MX-5, including five years of roadside assist.

Servicing costs are pre-set, with intervals every 12 months or 15,000km up to seven years or 105,000km. They cost between $447 and $638, averaging out at about $544 each.