The Z stands for Zukunft (German for future),[1] and has been produced in four different series with six generations consisting of roadster, coupé, sports car, and concept variants.

[7] The Z3 underwent a facelift in 1999 with the introduction of a coupé bodystyle and featured revised styling, before the end of its production run in 2002.

[10] The Z8 was produced from 2000 to 2003 and was the production variant of the 1997 Z07 concept car, which was designed by Danish Henrik Fisker at BMW's DesignworksUSA.

[11] The Z07 originally was designed as a styling exercise to celebrate the 507 roadster of the 1950s, but the overwhelming popularity of the concept spurred BMW's decision to produce a limited production model called the Z8.

[17] The second-generation Z4 was announced on 13 December 2008[18] and debuted at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit the following month.

[19] It is the first Z Series model to use a retractable hardtop and meant that there were no longer separate roadster and coupé versions of the car.

[23] It reuses the soft-top convertible roof found on the E85 Z4 instead of a retractable hardtop which now takes 10 seconds for operation.