Seventy years ago, BMW’s racing division celebrated its greatest racing triumph to-date in the world of motor sports, by winning first, third, fifth and sixth places at the 1940 Mille Miglia with its classic 328.

To honor this anniversary, BMW’s Italian arm has created a special edition version of the firm’s hardtop roadster called the Z4 sDrive35is Mille Miglia, of which only 99 examples will be sold in Italy.

Based on the standard Z4 sDrive35is that’s powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six with 250 kW, the Mille Miglia edition comes equipped with an M Sports aerodynamics package and 19-inch alloy wheels in a dark chrome shade, while the body is finished in a matte silver color called ‘Polaris’. Other exterior highlights include the ‘Mille Miglia’ badges and the matte black kidney grilles.

Inside, the most noticeable feature of the Z4 sDrive35is Mille Miglia are the sports seats covered in Alcantara and leather with contrasting red stitching. The car also gets an M Sport steering wheel, unique floor mats, ‘Mille Miglia’ badges and special decorative trim.

Adapted from CarScoop

Hamann Motorsport has introduced a tuning and accesories package for the the current BMW Z4 Roadster.

The Hamann aerodynamics kit is characterised by a new front spoiler with integrated LED daytime running lights, a set of larger side skirts, the addition of a rear spoiler and a new rear bumper housing four tailpipes responsible for the throaty sound of the Hamann sports exhaust system. The car rides on a set of polished, three-piece, 20-inch light alloy wheels, which Hamann call ‘Edition Race Matt Black’. Tyres are 235/30 ZR20 at front and 295/25 ZR20 at the rear. Sports suspension lowers the car by 30 mm to give it an agressive stance and improve handling.

The tuning house has also fettled under the bonnet of the Z4 sDrive35i and amongst other things has removed the 250 km/h limitation. An optimised engine management system has resulted in performance figures of 265 kW at 5 230 r/min (standard is 225 kW at 2 500 r/min). Maximum torque has also been increased to an impressive 540 N.m, which is available between 1 300 – 5 000 r/min (standard is 400 N.m between the same engine speeds). Hamann claim top speed has been increased to 285 km/h.

For the interior, Hamann has created an exclusive feel to their Z4 roadster with the addition an aluminum gear knob and the set of foot mats with the silver stitched Hamann logo. If that’s not enough, buyers can also specify their own custom interior leather trim.

While BMW had pretty much ruled out the possibility of creating a successor to the M variants of the Z3 and the previous Z4 with its new hardtop roadster, no one from Munich ever said that there wasn’t going to be a faster and more focused version than the Z4 sDrive35i.

That car is the Z4 sDrive35is -the ‘S’ is what makes the difference- and it will make its world debut at next month’s 2010 Detroit Auto Show before going on sale worldwide later next year.

The range topping Z4 features a more powerful version of the company’s 3,0-litre twin-turbocharged straight six and M-Sports styling and chassis packages.

At the heart of the Z4 sDrive35is is BMW’s 3,0-litre twin-turbo straight-six that benefits from optimised air supply and increased boost pressure. Output is lifted from 225 kW to 250 kW at 5 800 rpm, while peak torque is increased to 450 N.m and is available from 1 400 rpm all the way to 4 500 rpm.

Furthermore, the modified engine management on the Z4 sDrive35is also allows the use of an Overboost function, briefly increasing engine torque under full load by another 50 N.m to 500 N.m.

Power is driven to the rear wheels through a revised version of the firm’s seven-speed double clutch transmission with BMW announcing a zero to 100 km/h sprint time of 4.8 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h.

BMW says that despite the increased performance over the standard Z4 sDrive35i, the ‘S’ model delivers the same fuel economy averaging 9.0 l/100km.

Aside from the powetrain upgrades, the Z4 sDrive35is also comes as standard with an M Sports Package including the M Aerodynamics Package and adaptive M Suspension.

The M Suspension, which features electronically controlled dampers, lowers the entire car by 10 mm. The top-Z4 also gets a reprogrammed electronic power steering system that promises to offer increased feedback.

On the outside, the M package adds unique 18-inch alloy wheels with 19-inch rims available as an option, a new front bumper, re-trimmed kidney grilles, matte silver exterior mirror caps, a new rear bumper with an integrated diffuser and specific tail pipes.

Finally, the interior has been enhanced with several features such as the M leather steering wheel with gearshift paddles, M footrest, sports seats, aluminium carbon trim, BMW Individual roof lining, M entry strips and footmats with coloured piping.

The revised instrument cluster with grey faces on the dials and the ‘sDrive35is’ model designation complete the package.

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Adapted from CarScoop