Opinion: we need more sports cars like the BMW Z4

The BMW Z4 has always been a bit of an in-betweener, because it’s never quite been a bare-bones lightweight special, nor has it been an out-and-out luxurious grand tourer. The first generation car was the most hard-edged of them all, especially in full fat Z4M guise, while the second and current generation models have been a bit softer and more comfortable.

But, whether driver-focused or not, there’s a severe lack of small, sporty, two-seater cars on sale at the minute – especially with a manual gearbox. I decided to get behind the wheel of a BMW Z4 M40i ‘Handschalter’ (that’s manual, in German) for a week, to remind myself of the good old days.

Your eyes are immediately drawn to its sporty, classic proportions; long bonnet, short tail and a bubble-shaped soft-top in the middle. It’s nowhere near as divisive to look at as a lot of BMW’s current offerings, and its beefy stance gives it buckets of road presence – especially in red.

And where so many cars now require you to step up to enter, you drop in to the Z4, with its low-slung sports seats and tall centre console cocooning you behind the chunky steering wheel and perfectly-aligned pedals. The Z4’s interior is lacking the curved, widescreen infotainment system that the rest of BMW’s range has, but a separate instrument cluster does look sportier to these eyes.

Interior space is never going to be great in a two-seater roadster, but there’s lots of adjustment in the seats and steering wheel – even tall drivers can get comfortable. There are a couple of hidden cubbies between the seats, as well as a handy little shelf for keeping hoodies, jackets or an umbrella behind you.

You stop worrying about practicality when you fire up the 3.0-litre, 340hp engine. Few engines on sale are as sonorous as a BMW straight-six, and the soft-top makes for a much clearer exhaust note than you get in an M240i when equipped with the same engine.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the small, butch-looking BMW is a brute to use around town, but the clutch and gearchange aren’t too heavy and the immense torque the engine provides means the Z4 is a piece of cake to set off in.

The suspension, while firm, does a surprisingly good job of absorbing London’s roughest roads; potholes that would make you wince in a Porsche Boxster don’t unsettle the Z4. Speed bumps can bounce you around if you don’t slow down enough, but it passed the all-important passenger comfort test, with the seal of approval from my girlfriend.

Get out of town onto the motorway and the BMW’s good driving manners continue, because it settles into a comfortable cruise with a well-insulated soft-top. With the roof down you do get some noticeable buffeting, so you’re best off with the side windows up if you’re determined to catch some sun.

Point the Z4 towards your favourite country lane and that’s where it really charms you. It’s certainly not as agile as a Porsche Boxster, or even a Mazda MX-5 for that matter, but the combination of its burly engine, grip from its suspension tweaks and a similar wheel and tyre package to the BMW M2 gives you plenty of confidence to enjoy a twisty road.

It’s a shame that the manual gearbox isn’t all that crisp in feel and while it’s well-weighted, there isn’t a very clear biting point to the clutch – both take a bit of getting used to, and the gear change is best when not rushed.

Once you have got used to them though, you soon realise that the six-speed is very well suited to the powerful engine, and with the roof down to enjoy the fantastic exhaust note, the Z4 is a great car to take on a B-road blast. It’s just a shame that it’s the last of its kind.

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