Some say the safari-build trend has gotten out of hand, but I’d say it’s just hitting its stride. I thought a Hyundai Veloster with a Jeep’s tube bumper and monster tires was awesome, but this BMW Z4 M Coupé on Bring a Trailer might be even better. It’s like Mad Max brought to life.
The Z4 M Coupé lapped the Nürburgring in 8 minutes and 15 seconds. This one is probably somewhat slower. Understandably, a bunch of you are probably producing some pitchforks right at this moment. But fear not, a clean Z4 M Coupé wasn’t sacrificed for this build. The Bring a Trailer ad notes a reported crash in 2009 and while the odometer reads 241,402 km, actual mileage isn’t known.
It sports a custom hatch made into a tire well for two spares, a Ground Control suspension and 17-inch Black Rhino wheels wrapped in 235/65 Toyo Open Country A/T tires. Like many of these builds, it’s painted satin black. Normally, satin black looks boring and cheap, but I think that it looks good, here.
Other modifications include trimmed fenders, trimmed bumpers, a roof rack and enough LED lights to turn nighttime into daylight. The quality of this safari build looks pretty good and some nice, thoughtful details were included. That spare tire well has a drain in it so you don’t have to worry about it filling up with dirty water. The suspension can be adjusted, too.
There’s a 3.2-litre S54 inline-six making 330-HP and 119 kg-ft torque under the hood.
That’s bolted to a six-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip differential. Bring a Trailer notes that the seller replaced the rod bearings before putting any miles on the car. The underbody has some minimal protection in the form of a custom skid plate.
The interior has been left stock and presents well in the photos.
If you were wondering how the inside stays dry considering the hatch is cut open, the well the spare tires fit in has a seal.
Unfortunately, the car does have a few problems. The seller notes that the front tires rub if you turn too sharply and the rear tires rub if you accelerate too quickly. This may mean rubbing when you try to take it off-road, too. Of course, the issue with the rear tires can be resolved with an angle grinder and an evil laugh as you further trim the fenders.
Overall, it looks like some solid fun. It doesn’t have all-wheel-drive, so don’t expect to get yourself too deep off-road. Still, it should be good enough for some shenanigans in the dirt, desert and on lighter terrain. If it weren’t so expensive, it could even make for a sweet Gambler 500 vehicle. I’d love to launch it off of a dirt jump or a few.
The 2007 BMW Z4 M Coupé safari build is sitting at $24,000 on Bring a Trailer with two days remaining.