The steering wheel is a splendid piece -- small and thickly padded under supple leather, and it both tilts and telescopes. Mercifully absent in this purist's sports car are buttons on the wheel for the stereo or phone.
The engines are essentially carryovers from the Z3, in-line sixes that displace either 2.5 or 3 liters. The smaller engine generates 184hp and 175 pounds-feet of torque, peaking at 3,500rpm, and the larger six (the one in my test car) puts out 225hp and 214 pounds-feet at the same peak. Yet thanks to variable valve timing, the torque doesn't peak so much as plateau from 3,000rpm to 6,000rpm, so the engine feels limber at most speeds.
The 2.5i comes with a five-speed manual transmission or an optional five-speed Steptronic, which is also available on the 3.0i. But the connoisseur's choice is the six-speed manual of the 3-liter car. In first gear, the 3.0i sprints out of the blocks nicely, and when you snap the short-throw shifter into second and catch the rpm's just right, the car finds its stride and squeezes you into the sports seats with raucous abandon -- raucous because BMW built an acoustic tunnel into the passenger compartment so you can hear the engine growl.
BMW reports a zero to 96.6kph time of 5.9 seconds (7.1 seconds for the Z4 2.5), but that sounds a wee bit conservative to me.
Back to the trunk: One reason there is almost 2.7 cubic meters of space is that there is no spare tire; all Z4's come with run-flat tires. The 3.0i with the optional (US$1,200) sport package are shod with low-profile Bridgestone Potenzas wrapped around cast alloy 18-inch wheels.
Traction
These are excellent tires that maintain a lamprey-like grip on the road. Should you exceed even their grip, the car has BMW's stability-control system with anti-lock brakes and something called Dynamic Traction Control, which is a little less rigid in prohibiting wheel spin, making it easier to slide the car around corners with the power on.
But these tires, and the sport package's stiff shocks and springs (and half-inch lower ride height), give the Z4 a vivid ride -- oh, let's be honest and call it choppy -- that the front MacPherson struts and multilink rear suspension can't really attenuate. Road imperfections zing through the car like a jolt of electricity. I hit a bit of broken asphalt that bottomed out the suspension. This car is stiff, all right -- it was like getting hit in the back with a 2-by-4.
Sports cars shouldn't be entirely penalty-free -- discomfort helps to keep away the parvenus -- and the Z4's static-filled ride is a small price to pay for a car so nimble in hairpins and so heroic in high-speed sweepers. When the fun has to end, the four ventilated disc brakes rein in the roadster nicely. As for the oft-repeated assertion that BMW makes the best-handling cars south of Porsche, you won't get an argument here.
And what about Porsche anyway? The Z4 is not as hot-blooded as the Boxster, nor does it have the curb appeal of that midengine scarab. But the Z4, particularly with the bigger engine, is a serious sports car with a predatory glint in its eye.
It's a car you will look forward to driving, rain or shine, for years to come. Maybe by then you will be used to the styling.
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