One to Buy: 2001 BMW E52 Z8 Dinan S
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At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1999, BMW unveiled a flagship Roadster inspired by the car that nearly drove the company to bankruptcy 40 years beforehand: the legendary late fifties 507.
Built around an aluminium spaceframe with MacPherson strut suspension up front and a multi-link arrangement out back, the Z8 was powered by a BMW Motorsport developed V8 engine that in standard trim pumped out 394bhp at 6600rpm and 369lb-ft at 3800rpm. Transmission was through a Getrag six-speed manual gearbox.
Cosmetically, the Z8 tapped into the late 1990s trend for retro design and was effectively a modern homage to the 507. Each car came with a double bubble hard top as standard and was electronically limited to 155mph. 0-62mph took just 4.7 seconds.
Z8 deliveries began in early 2000 and continued until June 2003. 5703 were built in total, all of which were left-hand drive. Of these, 2453 examples were bound for the North American market with 2382 sold in the United States.
Currently on offer with Issimi in Redwood City, California, is this one owner triple black Z8 that has covered a little under 20,000 miles from new and comes with a fully documented service history
Significantly, chassis 60331 was further enhanced with the rarely seen addition of a Dinan S upgrade pack which included a re-mapped ECU, a carbonfibre intake system and a set of handsome seven spoke alloy wheels.
