2001 BMW Z3

BMW Manufacturing Corp. has produced the 250,000th Z3 roadster. It is Jet Black with a red top and Mugello Red seats with black inserts. The console is trimmed with red birchwood and the roll bars are black leather in front and red leather in back held together with red stitching.

The milestone roadster was unveiled to the more than 4,000 associates at the South Carolina factory during celebrations February 13.

The roadster will be kept by the factory for display in the Zentrum visitors center, and it will be presented at the 5th annual Z3 Homecoming event during the Labor Day weekend.

The first roadster rolled off the production lines September 20, 1995 and the 100,000th roadster October 28, 1997.

The Z3 roadster has been selected the IntelliChoice Best Overall Value in the Base Sport Class for 2001. The company focuses on total ownership costs over five years with comparable cars to help determine winners and losers for best overall value.

Source - BMW

The 2001 BMW Z3 was available as a coupe or roadster in either 2.5- or 3.0-liter configuration, replacing the prior 2.3- and 2.8-liter versions. The 2.5-liter six-cylinder engine offered 184 horsepower, 14 more than the prior year's 2.3-liter unit. The 3.0-liter engine was rated at 225 HP, which was an impressive increase of 32 HP over the 2.8-liter version it replaced. Another mechanical change was to the four-speed automatic which was replaced by a five-speed gearbox with Steptronic offering easier manual shifting. Pricing was similar to the 2000 models; the 2.5-liter Roadster listed at nearly $32,000. The 3-liter Roadster sold for $38,550. The M Coupe and M Roadster was still available, with the roadster being more expensive than the coupe, listed at $42,700.

Horsepower for the M Version remained the same, delivering 240 horsepower.

by Daniel Vaughan | May 2015