BMW STEALS THE SHOW AT FRANKFURT

BMW stole most of the thunder at the Frankfurt Motorshow last week with the surprise unveiling of the Z9 concept car. This dramatically styled sports coup� has been designed to showcase BMW's cutting edge technology and design, featuring gullwing doors, carbon fibre bodywork and the world's first V8 diesel engine. Opinion in this office is divided. As I am writing this article though I get to express my opinion. Eeeeuuugh..... Somebody is trying a little too hard at BMW to better everything Mercedes-Benz do. The Vision SLR is a much prettier car.

The lines of the Z9's exterior design are however, clean, simple, and dramatic, with a long, sleek bonnet and short, muscular tail. At the front is the unmistakable BMW kidney grille and from the side, the huge wheels - 20 inch at the front and 21 at the rear - and high waist give the car real presence. Much in the same way as Godzilla has.

An aluminium space frame gives the monocoque chassis excellent torsional rigidity and crash performance, while carbon fibre bodywork combines strength and light weight. The Z9 is a large car, five metres long and two metres wide with a 3.1 metre wheelbase. Almost as large as Godzilla.

Access to the interior is via two full-length gullwing doors, which open automatically at the press of a button. Conventional doors are designed into each �wing� for use when space does not allow the gullwings to be used. Why bother with the gullwings?

Inside, the lines of the cabin are clean and simple and the ambience light and airy. Most noticeable is the lack of switchgear. All the secondary controls are operated by a single rotary/push unit on the centre console and four buttons to select �audio�, �communications�, �comfort� and �drive�.

A large screen in the centre of the dashboard displays all the information the driver requires in a graphic display, apart from the speedometer and rev counter which are conventional analogue instruments directly in front of the driver.

The only other driver controls in the cabin are a starter button on the dashboard, and gear selection and indicator stalks on the steering column.

Power comes from the world's first V8 turbo diesel, which featured for the first time in the 740d when it was launched earlier this year in Germany. It is a common rail, direct injection unit which produces more torque than any engine in BMW's history - a staggering 413lb.ft, which is maintained constantly between 1750 and 2500rpm to give outstanding performance even at the low end of the rev range. Maximum power is an impressive 245bhp. Choosing a diesel engine to power a large sports coup� is a reflection of BMW's confidence in the refinement and performance characteristics of this unit. A production version has not been announced however!

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• Picture gallery of the Z9 GT concept car

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