Delight for the wild at heart

constantly to maintain a German-precision spot on the road between lane markings. Move slightly around something and it tries to force you back, even to the extent that if you try to give a cyclist a 1.5m wide berth, the car pushes you to within inches of the cyclist. It’s bizarre it can see the lane marking, but strangely not the cyclist. I turned it off.

What is also bizarre is that the M40i does not make more noise. Apparently it is on the limits of noise levels for this size of car but we are sure the F-Type and Boxster make more noise.

“Nobody needs a car like that [a roadster], says Ederer. “It’ sa car you want.”

In the case of the Z4, he’s quite right. But what if you want a coupé? Well, firstly, don’t rule out a BMW coupe version though BMW wouldn’t comment on the possibility.

However, a coupé is on its way on the same platform: the new Toyota Supra which was jointly developed with the Z4.

Not surprisingly, Ederer is quick to stress that it is a BMW platform and the development of parts was all done by BMW, saying only, “Toyota has its own design”. We haven’t driven the new Supra, so will have to wait and see.

In the meantime, the new Z4 is not as pure as the Z8 or as characterful as the Z1, but it’ s up there with the Mazda MX-5 and Porsche Boxster in terms of driver appeal.

The new Z4 will reach SA showrooms in the first quarter of 2019 at an indicative price of R1,030,500 for the M40i and R755,900 for the entry-level sDrive 20i.