BMW’s iconic roadster has come and gone over the years, and now it’s going once again.
It doesn’t seem like that long since the latest G29 BMW Z4 went into production back in 2018, for the 2019 model year. Nevertheless, that eight-year production run has now come to an end, taking with it a three-decade history of BMW selling purpose-built roadsters to enthusiasts worldwide. BMWBlog first noted the Z4’s end as BMW confirmed the last roadster rolled off the assembly line.
Sad though the Z4’s departure may be, it’s not surprising news for a couple reasons. BMW telegraphed the move, of course, with the Z4 Final Edition back in November. Beyond that, sales of the G29 Z4 have been on the downslide since the current generation premiered. 2019 was in fact the best-selling year of the whole generation, with BMW dealers shifting 15,827 units (and our first brush with the model, too).
Contrast that with 2025, where sales dropped to 9,744 units. It was never going to be as hot a seller as BMW’s SUVs like the X3 and X5, but the lower demand doesn’t offer too much incentive for BMW to keep it going. Despite the uptick when the German automaker announced its demise with that Final Edition, there’s no direct replacement in sight.
One of the more interesting elements of the current Z4’s lifespan has been its overlap with another sports car: the Toyota Supra. The G29 and Toyota’s modern sports coupe share the same platform and powertrain, with that angle souring the notion of a new Supra with some die-hard enthusiasts who’d prefer Toyota entirely developed their own offering (like they did with the GR Corolla). With the Supra’s departure, though, it was a foregone conclusion the Z4 would go as well, since both were built by Magna Steyr in Austria.
Toyota Supra production ended in March.
At this point, Toyota has confirmed the Supra name will return at some point, though we don’t have too many details beyond that. BMW, on the other hand, has not lined up a direct replacement (like a next-gen Z4 or Z5). That could always change, granted, but this recent news marks the end of 30 years of Z cars. There was a small gap between the last-gen (E89) Z4 and the current G29, so never say never.
With the Z4 now being discontinued, BMW’s only remaining convertible on the market is the 4 Series. The automaker also canned the 8 Series with the 2026 model year. It’s likely the 4 Series cabriolet will stick around for a few more years, but it doesn’t seem like the folks in Munich are foaming at the mouth to bring us some new droptops at the moment. That’s not a phenomenon unique to BMW, either: Mercedes-Benz also curtailed its convertible offerings in recent years, basically paring things back to the CLE — effectively a middle ground between the old C- and E-Class Cabriolets — and the SL.
