January 1, 1999
By: Robert Leidy

In choosing the nominations for this award MZ3.Net decided that each nominated product needed to be a unique addition and/or upgrade for the BMW Z3. The product must be created by a Z3 owner and marketed by that owner to other Z3 owners. Most importantly, the product needed to receive positive feedback from the general Z3 audience.

Using these guidelines, MZ3.Net nominated six products and then asked its readers the following question.... "There have been several third party accessories made for the BMW Z3. What in your opinion is the best BMW Z3 owner designed product of the year?".

The six nominations were....

• Kathy's Z Window Pillow, which helped keep the rear plastic window from getting crease/fold marks.
• Greg's Chrome Kidney grills, which added an additional flash of chrome to the vertical slats in the front kidney grill.
• Keith's Atomic Cupholder, initially cut from PVC pipe, the design was so good it was later sold to HMS motorsport.
• Bill's Bike Rack, because only a custom job would work with the Z3 bumper.
• Carter's Roadster Tonneau, which quickly covers the Z3 interior while leaving the top down.
• Keith's StoneGuards, which were thin magnetic strips designed to protect the rear fender flares from rock chips.

Voting went on for several months and ended on December 31, 1998. While all the nominations were outstanding products, in the end the voting revealed a clear winner.

StoneGuards	95(32%)
Roadster Tonneau	71(24%)
Chrome Kidney Grills	48(16%)
Atomic Cupholder	29(9%)
Z Window Pillow	27(9%)
Bike Rack	21(7%)