BMW Z Models vs Fiat Ducato

What's the difference?

The Z4 didn’t make me feel like Peirce Brosnan’s 007. It’s way too serious – a proper gritty reboot. Maybe it’s meant for Daniel Craig. Either way, its brave design makes it one of the best-looking BMWs of recent memory, and it’s a tech- and comfort-fest that the Bavarian automaker should be proud of. I just wish it was a smidge more fun behind the wheel.

The latest Fiat Ducato, in MWB MR configuration with optional nine-speed auto, is a competent competitor in the 3501-8000kg GVM segment. Its class-leading two-tonne-plus payload rating would have considerable appeal for those who need to carry exceptionally heavy loads and we couldn’t find any major flaws in its design and performance. However, the warranty is short and there are niggling issues in terms of driver comfort, which if addressed would increase the Ducato’s appeal.

The Z4 is a sight to behold. It’s brave, especially for a BMW, it even betrays the brand’s strongest styling pillars, making its own way with its more horizontal grille design, flat body and curved out rear.

It’s more than that, though. In black, this car looks sinister, brooding. The more you look at it, the more you notice tiny details - the scooped-out sides, or the way the entire rear seems to flick up into the integrated spoiler. I couldn’t get enough of staring at it – it manages to look even better with the roof down.

That’s probably when it hit me. To my eyes, at least, this is the most stunning BMW in years. Sure, the X7 is a sight to behold due to its sheer dimensions and borderline offensive grille, but the Z4 is the opposite. It’s subtle, it hides its details away in its silhouette.

It’s designer, Calvin Luk (an Australian no less), was inspired at least in part by the Z8 – another Brosnan bond car – and you can see the Fisker design reflected in the Z4’s low, flat grille and almost bulbous rear.

Inside, sadly, the Z4’s strong design doesn’t quite play out. There’s no wily Fisker touches here, just a standard set of BMW switchgear. While it all works well, it just dumbs down the Z4’s character.

The big, chunky steering wheel in particular is a let-down. It’s the same wheel that sits in the brand’s X5 SUV, and it feels right there, but not here in a convertible where you’re so close to the ground. A smaller wheel would not only suit this car better, it would make it feel just a smidge more alive. I miss the three-spoke M sport wheel from previous-generation BMW cars.

I do like the dash, which is seemly carved from rhomboid shapes - a theme that rolls into the doors, screens, and vents elegantly. I’m normally not a fan of gloss plastics and chrome touches, but in the Z4 they’re all tastefully applied.

The seats, too, are lovely. I’m not sure about the contrast bright-red leather our car came with, but they’re nice and close to the ground and have excellent trim that you seem to sink into just enough to be comfortable and sporty all at once.

It’s a slick place to be, I just wish it felt less like you were at the helm of an SUV and more like you were driving something that looks this damn good.

The MWB MR's front-wheel drive chassis rides on a 3450mm wheelbase with 12.5-metre turning circle. It’s 5413mm long, 2050mm wide and 2539mm tall, so like numerous van rivals in this GVM class it can’t access shopping centre and underground carparks which typically have a 2.2-metre height limit.

Underpinnings are simple and rugged, combining coil-spring strut front suspension with a leaf-spring rigid-tube rear axle that’s well designed for heavy load-carrying, with compressible rubber cones between body and axle that provide a second stage of support. There’s also four-wheel disc brakes, power-assisted rack and pinion steering and ample hard-wearing black plastic protecting the most vulnerable areas of the bodywork from scrapes and dents.

A sealed steel bulkhead separates the cabin from the cargo bay, insulating driver and passengers from load area noise and doubling as a robust cargo barrier. Its sliding window is ideally positioned to allow the driver or passenger to make a quick over-shoulder glance to check that their load is secure. Leg room for the centre passenger is unusually generous, even for tall adults, which would be appreciated by a crew of three.

Interestingly, the rear barn-door windows are heated but there are no wiper/washers fitted. At first this appeared to be an oversight, but having driven the Ducato in heavy rain we were surprised at how spray-free the rear screens remained and how clean they were afterwards.

Our only gripes are that the driver’s left footrest is so short you can only rest your toes on it. It’s a shame the excellent full-length one that resides in the passenger footwell (which of course is the driver’s footwell in LHD models) can’t migrate across the cabin for RHD versions. Driver comfort would be further improved with more rake adjustment in the base cushion.

The small 5.0-inch infotainment screen also makes it difficult to see much detail in the vision provided by the reversing camera. The optional 7.0-inch screen would be an improvement here, but is only available as part of the Comfort and Tech Pack.

The Z4 is a convertible, so it’s naturally compromised on space. As far as convertibles go though, you’ll be hard pressed to find one you can fit more stuff into.

The Z4 is wide - the same width, in fact, as a 5 Series - and this carries into the cabin. There are only two seats, but those seats are wide, and occupants will find themselves with luxurious amounts of airspace for their arms, as well as excellent leather-trimmed and padded surfaces for landing elbows on.

Legroom is also great, as the seats have a surprising amount of rail-travel on them, so that even taller folk won’t struggle to fit their limbs in.

A genuinely impressive characteristic of the Z4 is much head room there it is. Despite its low-slung looks from the outside, the roof towers over my 182cm tall head when I’m inside, so this isn’t one of those convertibles that feels like braking too hard might simply decapitate those above six-foot tall.

In terms of storage areas you get some long but shallow trenches in the doors, a bay with connection ports and a Qi wireless charging pad under the air-conditioning controls, a glovebox (hey, not all convertibles have them) and a trick centre console that houses two deep cupholders inside.

There’s also a netted shelf behind the seats that could fit small bags, and given the length of the cabin, you could even fit laptops and the like behind the seats provided you haven’t used the full extent of the seat’s rearward movement.

The boot is deep, wide and long for a drop-top, and offers a total of 281-litres which is more than some popular hatchbacks. It even offers tie-down points and netting either side. To top it off, the fabric roof folds away into its own compartment, so the boot space is unaffected if you choose to drop the lid.

For a convertible – the Z4 is a practicality wizard.

The Ducato’s 2060kg kerb weight and 4250kg GVM results in a huge 2190kg payload rating which dwarfs rivals we've tested including the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Ford Transit and its Peugeot Boxer sibling. It's also rated to tow up to 2250kg of braked trailer but given that Fiat does not publish a GCM (Gross Combination Mass) number, we can’t confirm if it can tow that weight while carrying a full payload.

The cargo bay, with a competitive 11.5 cubic metres of load volume, has an unprotected load floor that’s 3120mm long and 1870mm wide with 1422mm between the wheel housings. Therefore, it can easily carry two 1165mm-square standard Aussie pallets or three 1200 x 800mm Euro pallets, held in place by eight sturdy load-anchorage points.

There’s also ample forklift access through either the rear barn-doors, which can swing open to 270 degrees with a combined 1562mm-wide opening, or the sliding side doors with their 1250mm-wide openings.

All doors and walls are lined to mid-height and the raised roof cavity allows even tall adults to stand inside without stooping. It also provides a large and very useful storage area over the driver’s cabin, which is ideal for stowing ropes, straps, load-padding etc.

There’s plenty of cabin storage too, with large-bottle holders and two levels of storage bins in each front door. The dashboard offers numerous open storage bins plus small-bottle/cup holders, a glovebox, large overhead map shelf and storage tray under the driver’s seat. The centre seat’s backrest also folds forward to reveal a handy work desk on the back of it, complete with a spring-loaded clip to hold documents in place, a pen holder and two more small-bottle/cup holders.

Our white test vehicle is the MWB MR, which translates to Medium Wheel Base Mid-Roof. It’s one of four Ducato van configurations featuring medium, long and extra-long wheelbases and two roof heights.

They’re all powered by a new 2.3 litre turbo-diesel engine, with a list price of $48,300 for the MWB MR with standard six-speed manual or $51,190 with the optional new nine-speed torque converter automatic like our test vehicle. It also has an extra side-sliding door that adds another $1190.

A few of the standard features include 16-inch steel wheels with heavy-duty 215/75 R16C tyres and a full-size spare (16-inch alloys optional), infotainment system with 5.0-inch touchscreen, USB/AUX connectivity and steering wheel controls, power-adjustable and heated exterior mirror, dual passenger seat with three-point central seatbelt, single cargo bay side-sliding door, twin rear barn-doors with 270-degree opening, reversing camera/rear parking sensors plus an upgraded safety suite headlined by AEB.

There’s also a wide choice of colours and other options including the Comfort and Tech Pack which for an additional $2190 brings a larger 7.0-inch infotainment touchscreen with DAB digital radio, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, plus sat-nav, LED daytime running lights, automatic climate control and tyre pressure monitoring.

For the same price you can also get a Safety Plus Pack comprising rain/dusk sensor, auto high beam, traffic sign recognition, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, fog lights, traction control and all-season tyres.

Welcome to the age of ridiculously powered four-cylinder turbo engines. Despite a capacity of just 2.0-litres, the engine in the Z4 30i produces a whopping 190kW/400Nm.

That’s probably enough for a car this size. I’m keen to drive the six-cylinder, but surprisingly it seems to offer diminishing returns for extra cylinders offering a 60kW/100Nm power boost for an extra $20,000. Perhaps a six-cylinder is the way to go in a BMW, and given this car’s other seriously sporty attributes, it might be the only way to make it a bit more… fun. More on that in the driving section.

All Z4s are rear-wheel drive, using an eight-speed torque converter automatic. Sorry, no option for a manual this time around.

The all-new drivetrain features Fiat’s latest 2.3 litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel with Multi-Jet 2 electronically-controlled common rail direct injection, variable-vane turbocharging, intercooler and Euro 6-emissions compliance using AdBlue. It produces 130kW at 3500rpm and (in automatic models) 450Nm of torque which peaks at 1500rpm. In case you’re wondering, the red ‘180’ body badges denote European metric horsepower.

The new ZF nine-speed torque converter automatic is a sweet-shifting transmission which Fiat claims is designed to optimise the engine’s torque delivery and fuel economy. It has a sequential manual-shift function if required, which could be useful if hauling big payloads in hilly terrain, but works most efficiently when left alone.

It’s claimed that the Z4 will drink just 6.5 litres per 100 kilometres on the official combined cycle test, but I found that sticking my foot in occasionally resulted in a slightly more realistic sounding figure of 8.4L/100km.

That’s still a great fuel consumption number for a car like this, and perhaps one of the strongest benefits of having just four cylinders.

A discerning vehicle, the Z4 will drink nothing less than the best-quality 98RON unleaded to fill its 52-litre tank.

Fiat does not publish a combined average consumption figure for the Ducato, but the dash display was claiming 10.2L/100km at the end of our test, which covered almost 300km of which more than a third was with a heavy payload. We also had the auto stop-start function switched off. That consumption figure was very close to our own, calculated from fuel bowser and tripmeter readings, of 10.6L. So, based on our numbers you could expect a real-world driving range of around 850km from its 90-litre tank.

A car that looks this good better live up to the promise behind the wheel, right?

For the most part, the 30i does, but it’s a victim of its own performance credentials and luxuriousness.

See, a drop-top should be fun-packed, you should feel close to the road, connected. Sadly, a combination Z4’s excellent suspension and not-so-excellent SUV-like interior separates you too much from the surface below.

An advantage, of course, is the refinement on offer. The Z4 is easily one of the quietest, most refined convertibles I’ve ever driven, but it’s a little too insulated.

I can’t help but feel like it’s all business and no pleasure. It feels a little more like I should be cruising to work on the autobahn and a little less like I should be flinging it around corners on a tight B-road.

It feels almost wrong to drive it in a T-shirt. It’s serious and doesn’t want you to mess around, it wants you to wear a suit and tie.

This grand-tourer style feel is one that will keep a lot of buyers in the premium space happy, but I’m of the opinion that BMW will have that segment well and truly covered by the new 8 Series. If the budget allows.

Regardless, the 30i’s four-cyl engine feels like any six-cylinder would have a few years ago. It’s got a surge to it in the straights that’s quite satisfying, and it responds via the exhaust with an angry tone that makes it feel a little more alive, especially with the roof down.

This feeling was all helped along by our car’s M active differential which simply won’t let the fat tyres at the rear slide unless you’ve got high-speeds and loads of tarmac to play with – for better or worse.

The Z4 also has ‘variable sport steering’ which reacts to the car’s speed and position of the wheels to adjust the input ratio. It’s good when you’re at speed, but the weight and response of the steering can make the Z4 feel bigger than it actually is at lower speeds. 

The suspension is firm, and can be a little bouncy over rough surfaces, but seems well suited to the Z4’s chassis.

Other than those notable characteristics you’ll find that the Z4 is wonderfully tuned in terms of its inputs, everything is slick and smooth, suited perfectly for long meandering drives.

There’s a commanding view for the driver thanks to a panoramic windscreen and clear eye-lines to the truck-sized door mirrors. There’s also reasonable but cluttered vision through the central rear-view mirror, which is partly obscured by the centre seat’s headrest.

The cabin bulkhead is effective in all but eliminating cargo bay noise and engine/wind noise volume is commendably low even on the highway. The highest audible intrusion at those speeds comes from the front tyres, which is acceptable on smooth bitumen surfaces but increases on coarser grades.

Its leather-rimmed steering wheel is nice to use and thanks to the driver’s door moulding and fold-down in-board armrest, there’s evenly balanced elbow support to relieve strain on the neck and shoulders.

The engine and nine-speed auto transmission are well matched, providing energetic performance when prodded and crisp, decisive shifting. Long-legged highway gearing allows 100km/h at 1500rpm (which is also bang on maximum torque) and less than 1700rpm at 110km/h. Ride quality when empty or lightly loaded can get bouncy on bumpy roads, which is not unexpected from suspension with a two-tonne-plus payload capacity.

Our main criticism is insufficient rake adjustment in the driver’s seat base cushion. There’s not enough angle available to stop the driver sliding forwards, requiring constant repositioning that becomes tiring after a while. More rake in the base cushion, combined with a decent-sized left footrest, would solve this issue.

Also annoying is the audible lane-departure warning, which is too loud and sounds like you’re being zapped by a ray-gun in an old sci-fi movie if you step out of line. A less confronting warning would be welcome.

There’s no ANCAP ratings for this GVM division and above, but the latest Ducato is equipped with AEB, forward collision alert, lane departure warning, rear parking sensors, reversing camera plus driver and dual-passenger airbags as standard. Buyers can also option the Safety Plus Pack mentioned earlier.

If recent quotes are anything to go by BMW is set to stick by its lacklustre three-year unlimited kilometre warranty, as it says its customers simply aren’t interested in five years (or longer) when it comes to warranty coverage.

It’s a shame, as even Volkswagen has upped its warranty to five years, and Mercedes has considered a 10-year coverage plan in the past.

In terms of servicing, there are two fixed-price plans available – the suspiciously cheap ‘Basic’ plan which comes at a cost of $1373 for five years (or $274.60 per year) and the more realistic-sounding ‘Plus’ which costs $3934 over five years (or $786.80 per year).

Like every other BMW, the Z4’s computer tells you when its service time: how often it needs maintenance will depend on how often – and how hard – you drive it.

Three years/200,000km warranty looks undercooked compared to the five years/unlimited km offered by some rivals. Scheduled servicing, though, is excellent for hard-working vans at 48,000km/12 months whichever occurs first. Five years of Fiat Professional servicing, based on a total distance of 240,000km, equals $6756.99 or an average of $1351.40 per year.