WITH THE INLINE six bursting out with a glorious, throaty wail, twisting down the sinuous tarmac to Canberra in an open-top sports car was no chore. As if I needed any encouragement to head out on this summer morning, drop the soft top and enjoy the mechanical symphony echoing off the cuttings. This was no normal wind-in-the-hair motoring: I was driving the new BMW Z4.
The introduction of the Z4 heralded the end of the Z3 convertible, and many will say what a relief. The Z4's predecessor did not win hearts or minds with its squirrelly handling and so-so body rigidity. It was, at best, a nice-looking open-top two-seater with a great engine.
But let's not dwell on the past. The Z4 is one of the first of a flood of BMWs to wear the creases and curves beloved by Chris Bangle, BMW's head of design, down its flanks - the 5, 6 and 7-series bodies are also stamped out in the curious mix of sharp and soft lines. The BMW design chief has admitted his designs may be controversial, and I can't argue with that. At first inspection the Z4, with its rounded shoulders intersecting sharp worry lines, looks a bit like cosmetic surgery gone terribly wrong.
Yet live with the car for a few days, and the effect grows on you to the point that it starts to look pretty. Critics may like to interject at this juncture that so do one's own children, no matter how unfortunate-looking. But I ended up really liking the Z4's shape, even though my motoring writer colleagues cringe.
Nice or nasty looking, there's no argument that the Z4 is a compact sportster. It measures 1.78 metres wide and around four metres long, so there's no problem accessing tight parking spaces. Few will criticise the interior, either. It is, if not a work of art, an example of the clean, thoughtful styling that you'd expect from BMW.
Six-footers may find it cramped, but otherwise the two bucket seats in the cockpit are a snug, comfortable fit for most jaunts. Instruments are clear and you won't see any of the 7-series' complex and confusing I-Drive in here - everything is about simplicity, to the Z4's great benefit.
The folding roof requires the simple press of a button to get the electric motors whirring. It must be one of the simplest operations in the soft-top world.
