BMWZ3

The Z3 tied a compact roadster to a much larger change inside BMW. Production began at Spartanburg in 1995, making the model the first BMW manufactured outside Germany for worldwide export. Its long bonnet, short rear deck, and rearward seating position used classic roadster proportions, while the underlying architecture drew from the E36 3 Series Compact. A placement in GoldenEye introduced the car before many buyers had seen one on the road.

BMW added a closed coupé in 1998, giving the Z3 family two very different silhouettes over shared foundations. By the end of production in 2002, Spartanburg had built 297,087 examples according to BMW's anniversary history. The Z3 therefore matters both as an accessible sports car and as the model that proved BMW's American plant could build a distinctive vehicle for customers around the world—a role the factory later expanded far beyond roadsters.