The Boxster becoming a poseur car?! Why that's damn near unthinkable.

Sorry Martin, I couldn't help it. Let's not kid ourselves - German roadsters have been bona-fide poseur cars to the bone since the Bronze Age and are geared towars image-conscious affluents who value creature comforts over dynamic panache.

BMW makes luxury cars. Say what you will about the pedigree of their nameplates, what matters to their consumers is being coddled, looking good and going fast - and that includes jerks like me. I'm the kind of fella who's sorta interested in the next Z4 but only if it has a solid roof. Why? Because it domesticates the car, and when you're pay $45k+ you want the option of pretending that its a coupe.

But this is a tired argument here at GCZ - like NA vs Turbo or Stick vs DSG in nature. The market has gone hardtop, because it wants hardtops and rewards like-equipped roadsters with sales. The people who care about canvas are a 10% slice of the prospective owner pie who would also just as soon banish all sedans, automatic transmissions and SUVs from the BMW range.

where is the big news?

I couldn't have said it better myself. Fabric roof saves so much weight. Roadsters have never been about practicality, if you want an allrounder then buy an Eos or something different. The SL on the other hand is a different story since it's a luxury roadster and it except from this discussion. But metal folding roof do slam you in the face with unnecessary kilos, just look at what a pig the M4 cabrio is.

On the other hand roadsters don't need added structuralrigidity there is a way for BMW to manufacture a light weight metal folding roof by using light weight materials like plastic or carbon fiber but we all know that the former is too exotic for a car in that price bracket.

Well at least there will be the Boxster and S2000 for those interested in a sports roadster.

Quite, but at least a Boxster and a Z4 distinguish themselves from the rest by virtue of their great driving experiences. Part of which can be attributed to the fact that less concessions were made when engineering the cars with cloth tops.

You're getting soft in your old age my old cohort!

It's never a tired argument! Whilst these discussions may be a bit long in the tooth, there still will be necessary debate around the merits of such systems / features that ought to transcend mere "the fat burger munching majority what it that way so that's what we're going to do" mentality.

A Jaguar XK-R droptop and a DB9 Convertible prove that real class needn't pander to the soft-bellied tastes of the classless nouveau-riche.

The next Z4 will quite likely move upmarket and make room for a ragtop lower down the chain. BMW realizes that the only way the Z4 can be a real contender with its market peers (namely the SLK) it needs a hardtop. Heck, even the Miata has a hardtop now.

I've gone so soft man. You could poke right through me with your index finger.

2009 BMW Z4 to be offered with either soft- or hard-top
The BMW Blog, which is fast becoming our main resource for news regarding the propellor brand, is reporting that the 2009 Z4 will be offered both as a soft-top convertible and a hard-top. Much like Mazda offers the MX-5 with a traditional softy and a separate model with a folding hard top, BMW will reportedly do the same for the Z4. In this competitive market for the upper middle class dollar, BMW will be able to satisfy traditionalists and performance purists who like the ease-of-use and lighter weight of a soft-top convertible, while also addressing the needs of buyers who want a Z4 that's useable all year round. The Z4's main competition, the Mercedes-Benz SLK, is only offered as a hard-top convertible, which also gives BMW a leg up on its main rival in this segment. It's hard to argue with an automaker offering customers more choice, and we're eager to see how the Z4's unique styling blends with a hard roof. We've already seen spy pics of the car wearing the metal roof, which led many of us to believe that the new hard top would be the only option. We'll have to wait and see whether BMW Blog got it right and the brand it favors will be offering both, but this blog has been right before.
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^^ If true, that's really great news. Also gives room for BMW to give the hard-top option considerable mark-up.

^^
where is the news?