Mz4
 

BMWUSA.com has the MZ4 roadster on the site now, to build, price etc...
What surprised me was the base price of 51,300!? A well equiped E46 M3 can be build for the same. Does anyone remember the price of M roadster when they came out? I don't remember if they were quite that equal to the E36 M3.

I recall the the 2001/02 M Roadster was cheaper than the E46 M3 but I could not remember by how much. I was in the market for M's at that time.

I-Spy

I paid around 43k in 2000 for an M Roadster. The new one would probably be a blast to drive...but not for that price.

The Z4 is built much better (stiffer) than the Z3, so the jump in price is justified. The M is about $8k more than the 3.0si. This is the premium you would expect to pay for any M Car. There is nothing odd about their pricing.

Mind you ... roadsters are not for everyone. I personally would rather drive a roadster than a coupe or a coupe convertible, but I think I am a minority in that respect. Roadster fanatics (who don't want to drive a coupe) know that they will pay coupe prices even though they don't get the back seat. However, we get a fully automatic convertible top and a lighter weight to make up for it ... and in this case we also got the CSL brakes.