The people who know me may be a little bit surprised that I got myself a new BMW Z4 M40i but let me explain:

I was looking for a convertible to replace my C63 S AMG Convertible (well, actually my wife's car but it went back to the lease company after 3 years). My first choice for replacement was a 911 Carrera S or GTS Convertible. I really like the current 911 and it is an amazing sports car, even without the GT flavor.

Only problem is: I barely drive a convertible, only when it is sunny and warm outside and maybe on weekends. 

My Porsche dealer did some calculations and I ended up with a lease rate over 2000(!) EUR per month for the cheapest configuration. Ouch. The GTS was somewhere around 2300 EUR.

I like the new Boxster Spyder a lot (engine, chassis, brakes), so I asked my dealer about it. No chance, delivery time is over a year. I found a production slot through a Porsche contact and was happy but then, the dealer did the lease calculations and I ended up with 1700 EUR a month. For a Boxster. Ouchie. Just for fun, I let the dealer run the Boxster GTS 4.0 numbers and he ended up with 1500 EUR. Ouchie again. So no Porsche for me.

Went to my Mercedes dealer and guess what: No cars. No AMG GT Roadster. Just some of their test cars. Used AMG GT C Roadster test car was around 2400 EUR per month. Nope. New SL will very likely have a lease factor of 1.3-1.6, so I would end up over 2000 EUR with that car as well. So no Mercedes for me.

Checked out Jaguar with the F-Type SVR and the lease rate for the AWD model was around 1400 EUR per month. Kind of more acceptable but still not in the budget I was looking for (1200 at max, my C63 S Cab was 1100 per month).

I found an Audi R8 RWS Spyder for 1400 a month, very good offer for such a car but driving the R8 to my business and parking the car in front of it? A no go. Too exotic.

Long story short: I looked at so many different cars and at some point, I found the BMW Z4. I never really paid attention to this car because it was never on my radar, don't know why. 

Saw a beautiful Z4 M40i at my dealer, frozen-grey II color (some sort of satin matte paint, difficult to explain but it looks amazing) with light brown interior. The car looks gorgeous in person. Even my son, he isn't into convertibles, likes this car a lot.

I let my dealer do some calculations back in October on a similar car and it was a little bit too expensive for such a car. 880 EUR per month lease after some negotiating. Car was worth 78k EUR (fully loaded!).

I postponed my decision until December because I knew that dealers usually want to sell some cars in December to meet some specific yearly numbers they are required to meet and Roadsters aren't exactly bestsellers in winter time. 

Last week, my BMW dealer called and asked if I am still interested in a Z4 and I said "maybe". I didn't expect the call but was happy that he called. 

Well, I ended up getting one for 750 EUR a month, including a new set of winter wheels (worth 2400 EUR). First, we ended up at 800 EUR with winter wheels but he wrote me an hour later that they did some miscalculations in the lease (used the wrong lease configuration in the system) and the lease is actually 750 EUR. Wow, an honest car dealer. Smiley

Car is brand new, they got it a month ago, latest model year, fully loaded.

I already drove the Z4 M40i and I know it is no Boxster but I like how it looks, classic Roadster look and it drives nicely and for the couple of thousands of kms a year I will do in this car, it is sufficient for me.
Surprising: Insurance is surprisingly cheap for this car.

This is the car (exactly this one):

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Lamborghini Huracan Performante (2019), Mercedes GLC63 S AMG (2020), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk (2019 EU)