Z4 vs 350z vs Miata vs 335i

[CasterTroy]

When it was time to seriously consider a replacement for my wife’s car (which I would then take over as a daily driver) I was happy to try to point her to something sporty, small and FUN.

We have 3 kids…every other week, from Monday to Monday (that’s how we both worked our custody agreements from our previous marriage) and we already have an exploder (seats 7 for family trips) and with her old car (BMW 5series) able to seat everyone as well….it seemed OK to get something for our “Kid free week” that we could both enjoy.

Pricepoint: Somewhere close to $25k
5/6 speed manual
Sporty, fast, and not too girlie that I couldn’t drive it without putting into question my sexual orientation every time (sorry Karl….cabriolet wasn’t going to cut it)

Enter my desire for a 370z

Sporty: Check
Fast: Check
Manly: well…moreso than a lot of other choices..Check
Affordable: (used) Check

And she liked the idea. So we drove a few, and she seemed OK with it. Not in love with..but OK.

Then one day she sees this Mercedes E350 at the MB dealer seriously? C’mon we already have a “family car”…but I bring it home for the weekend anyway

Thankfully the “sensible” side leaves her and we get back to browsing FUN cars. However, now she's more looking at her own personal fun machine. Afterall I have my bikes. So she gets back to something SHE would really love to have, and has always liked
Enter the Miata

Sporty: Well…I’ve been told by so many people…yes it handles like it’s on rails…but to me that doesn’t fully define it as sporty…so semi-check
Fast: Again, I’ve HEARD from so many that the handling made it fast, but my motard was faster than any sportbike DOWN tuggles gap & orchards gap…never got to test it on deals gap, but from what I hear….yes faster on deals gap…However, my motard was anything BUT fast once the road unkinked. So NO…not fast
Manly: As a tampon
Affordable: (used) Check

So we look at one (because I love my wife) and at 6ft 2in 235 pounds…I sit in the seat and peer over the top of the windshield with the seat all the way back. Even as a passenger.
That one is abandoned forever (thank God)
SO then she sees a 335i 2dr. (And that’s a friggin SUHWEET car) and says it’s “nice” but just looks like an “old man car”
But even IF she liked it….doesn’t fit the whole criteria
But I certainly want to push the 335i

Sporty: Hell yeah (well…me..SHE thinks old man)
Fast: Hell yeah
Manly: Hell yeah (even if OLD manly)
Affordable: umm…not even close. Cheapest one with what SHE wanted was in upper $30k range USED

But while at the dealer looking around the used lot on a Sunday (they’re closed here on Sundays so no lot lizards) she spotted a Z4, and said “THIS is the car I keep seeing that I LOVE..what IS it?”
I say “a women’s tennis shoe” and start walking away, HOPING she would be a good wife, and follow 4 steps behind me. But….no….she has to have a mind of her own (one of the reasons why I DO love her) and stands there looking it over.
Initial impression of the Z4 having never driven or sat in one

Sporty: Sort of….in a “Miata” kinda way
Fast: Sort of…..like a “Miata” with a decent squirrel
Manly: Maybe if you’re a smallish metrosexual yuppie
Affordable: not this one

At this point she talks herself out of anything new(ish) because the 5 is doing the job and she’s happy with it. That is…till the water pump starts leaking, then the passenger rear window won’t roll up, and she tops it off by almost pulling the entire front end off by pulling over a sidewalk edge. It’s at this point she wants a newer car.
We start the look again.
Then a buddy tells me on the way to Florida to get my Gixxah that his mom is trading her low miles ’08 Z4 to get a 335 because his sister has a baby now and gramma needs a back seat.
Light bulb goes off, and I tell him to bring the “women’s tennis shoe” by the house so the wife can drive it.

He does the following weekend, but she’s asleep when he rolls up so I drive it.
I expect to get in this car and have the same issues as the Miata, which was: after shoe-horning my big ass in the driver’s seat, peering over the top of the windshield, feeling as if I was forced into a womens cocktail dress that is 5 sizes too small (BTW I'm a 32). But amazingly this car has a really long door…making it very easy for me to get in it. And I had him put the top up before I got in it so I could scoff at the limited headroom…but when I got in I had a good 5” clear above my head ?!?!
I get comfy with the wheel and I’m surprised how much legroom I have. Honestly I have to move the seat UP about 2”.
I look over and see an auto…..OK that kills it….but Jason told me that it had an auto stick with paddle shifters, and they rocked. OK, maybe not too bad…I’ll at least drive it. But it’s still girlie (to me)
Once I got out of the neighborhood and onto some curvy roads (with the top up to still check for clearances & blind spots) I pulled it over into the sport mode and attempted the paddle shifters…..they were awkward to get use to I ain’t gonna lie…but once I got the hang of it I loved them. And the handling…..holy crap!!!! I LOVED it.
We stopped and I put the top down. Then we railed back to the house with me bumping this little roadster off the limiter left and right.
I pulled into the driveway with a shit-eatin grin on my face that no car has put on it before. It was a blast. PLUS…it was in the low range of what we were looking for. PLUS I knew the owners son…and knew how meticulous HE was (as a result of his parents) so I knew it was treated right.

Too many pluses NOT to buy this little car…..SO… We now own a women’s tennis shoe and I friggin love it! Drove it to work yesterday, and made sure I had several job meetings to attend on different sites all over town!