The Z8 is one of the finest bits of nostalgia lane for most Bavarian built product enthusiasts and, if we’re honest, there’s not too much reason for that to happen.

As plenty of reviewers pointed out over time, the car is quite flawed. The complaints were mostly related to the handling and plenty of them can be overcome.

There’s a very good reason for doing so, the car is very beautiful and it still features some of the best looking styling cues ever used in a car.

Then you lift the bonnet and find the great racing derived engine that was lifted from under the bonnet of the E39 BMW M5. That engine gets a bit of work from G-Power.

It’s not a lot, it’s just two packages and one comes with 415 horsepower whereas the other comes with slightly more at 888 horses.

Yep, more than double the power. Obviously G-Power fitted some serious upgrades for the suspension, brakes, wheels and tires and did a bit of aerodynamics to keep up with that.

Could this car ever get meaner? If James Bond’s biggest villain held a convention for all the other ones, there would definitely be such a car in the parking lot.

G-Power usually overdo their power gains but for the Z8 the 888 horsepower figure seems about right. It’s still crazy but it does fit the risk levels of poor handling brilliantly.

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At the same time, it’s not exactly the roadster designed with California or Cote d’Azur cruising in mind either. Jack of all trades and master of none you’d think, but that’s not the case either.

There have been more than one reference to the BMW Z8 as the rebel child of the brand and the slayer of tuners. No matter how they tried to tweak it, results weren’t impressive.

With Alpina however, the ambitions were even greater and the results were somehow barely noticeable. It’s such a shame, because the German tuner had a lot of bold decisions.

The most important of which was dropping the E39 BMW M5 engine from the mix and replacing it with the tuner’s tweaked version of the X5’s unit.

It dropped the power but it increased the torque and gave the engine more of a cruising burble than a racing shout.

The new figures are 375 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque, 0 to 60 takes 5.3 seconds and the top speed is electronically limited to 161 mph.

Those massive 20 inch wheels may be a bit of a compromise in terms of comfort but at city cruising slow speeds that’s ok and the new automatic gearbox will also help.

Alpina’s Roadster V8 is actually considerably more purposed than the Z8 but what’s going to really make it stick is the limited edition factor.

Only 555 units were ever made and whereas the BMW Z8 never really lost any value, the Alpina tweaked cars are actually gaining some.

Images via Ultimatecarpage

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It was expensive, handled pretty shoddily and pretty much did two things right, the styling and used the V8 engine that was put in the E39 M5.

Apart from that it was a flop. However, the car has always got itself a soft spot with customers or BMW enthusiasts even if it was for being the odd one.

The soft spot is also extended to the customized versions made by companies like AC Schnitzer. Their version gets very few visible changes.

The lines and some of the lighting fixtures have been changed by the German tuner in such a discrete fashion that even when looking at both cars at the same time it’s hard to tell the difference.

At least that’s what some would like to know but in reality AC Schnitzer offer some completely superficial changes everywhere round.

You can have new wheel sets, new floor mats, different handbrake covers, a new gear shift knob and some aluminium pedals.

In truth, AC Schnitzer do offer a full suspension kit for the BMW Z8 but that’s about it.

We’d say that their alloy wheel selection is compatible with some high performance tires but seriously, these days you can get custom wheels for just about any car and any tire.

It would seem then that the BMW Z8 continued on its way of rebellion even when tuned by a completely different company.

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Reportedly only some 5703 units of the BMW Z8 were built and sold over the four year period it was on sale. That’s just the tip of the problem.

Of these units, some have certainly been crashed so far (handling may have something to do) and others have already been tuned up by other companies.

With all of this information available and with tuning being a principle of exclusivity, why on earth did somebody at Senner Tuning say, you know what… we should make a kit for the Z8.

It makes absolutely no sense but it doesn’t really matter because it’s happening. Not that I don’t think they won’t make any money on it but Senner Tuning have thankfully kept things simple.

The BMW Z8 gets a new sports air filter, a new exhaust that’s less restrictive and the proverbial ECU remapping. That translates into an output of 450 horsepower and 394 pound-feet of torque from the 5.0 liter V8 engine.

With these new figures the BMW Z8 can get up to a top speed of 186 mph.

Oh and just in case you weren’t known as being insecure that you needed a very rare car tuned up, Senner Tuning will fit new 19 inch Work Schwert SC1 wheels and a coilover suspension and Racing Gold varnished brake calipers.

If you’re interested, the Senner Tuning kit for the BMW Z8 costs some $25.000. Not cheap, but you shouldn’t expect that attribute to really come anywhere near the Z8.

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