Roadsters have developed a rather unfortunate reputation for being hairdresser's cars but I suspect the average BMW Z4 M Roadster driver is unlikely to have been near any scissors.
There's a bad-ass sports car lurking under that soft electric hood, with muscle and a hairy-chested bellow which makes it more of a machine for the committed driving enthusiast than a posing tool. It's not a car in touch with its girlie side.
Growling beneath its long nose is the same iconic 3.2-litre straight six engine that powers the M3, a unit which has bagged six Engine of the Year awards.
It makes for a racy partnership with the two-seater Beemer which is around 100kg lighter than the M3. The engine's 252kW/365Nm output makes for a very lively power-to-weight ratio.
The M Roadster's an extravagant looking car with an aggressive edge. A pair of bonnet ridges firm up the standard Z4's bulbous-nosed look and give it a more athletic edge.
The M badge on the bootlid, 18" alloy rims and quartet of exhausts poking out from the rear diffuser identify this as the go-ahead-make-my-day Z4 model. The car also sits 10mm lower and when you sit inside it you peer up the tailpipes of SUVs.
It's a come-dice-me kind of look and indeed the M Roadster did draw a worthy adversary in the week we spent with it.
It was a Chevrolet Lumina SS 5.7-litre bakkie, which lined up next to me one morning at a robot with the driver gunning his V8 245kW/465Nm monster in a let's-play kind of way.
And so it was game on, of course. With German band Rammstein blasting appropriate hardcore rock through the speakers, I floored the throttle in the timeless let's-show-this-bloke-who's-boss way.
The Z4's broad rear rubber just grips and goes, allowing violent throttle inputs without screechily depositing black stripes on the tar. The Chevy gave it a good go, I'll give it credit, but still ended up as a view in the Beemer's mirrors.
BMW quotes the M Roadster's sea level 0-100km/h time as five seconds flat, which should equate to just under six seconds on the Reef. Top speed is governed to the usual "gentleman's agreement" 250km/h.
Figures are one thing, but it's the way the Beemer conjures them that pegs it high up on the enjoy-o-meter. For a start the six cylinder's rasping howl adds a rebel yell to proceedings, a fitting accompaniment to the car's extrovert nature.
Another is the linear power curve, with the normally aspirated straight-six spooling up with no hesitation or lag. Just bang that throttle and thar she blows, moving forward with hard-core urgency.
Grabby action
The six-speed gearshift is a short-throw unit that moves with typical BMW feel: slightly notchy but precise. But the clutch takes some getting used to, with an awkwardly grabby action that makes a smooth pull-off tricky.
There was a time when roofless cars had all the build integrity of a cigarette packet and flexed and juddered over anything rougher than a mirror-smooth road. But going topless these days isn't at the expense of either ride comfort or handling.
The M Roadster feels satisfyingly rigid and well mannered over bumpy roads. It has a firm ride with its low profile rubber and sports suspension, but the body feels solid and you don't feel the chassis flexing.
The handling is what it's all about, and the lidless Beemer makes an entertaining and very capable corner carver. In fact, the M Roadster lapped the Nurburgring race track five seconds quicker than the M3 in the hands of BMW's test drivers.
The car feels alert and responsive, with the power, handling and braking coming together in a package of hardcore excitement. All that grunt is matched by lots of grip, and the sticky tyres allow fast curves to be taken at heroic speeds.
The low stance and firm suspension defeat body roll and there's no diving under hard braking. No nose heaviness either; the car flicks nimbly into sharp turns.
The Z4 M has hydraulic power steering instead of the electrical assistance of the Z4, which quickens the steering and provides more driver feedback.
Saving the day
There's plenty of power here to make corners leap out at you much quicker than expected, and it's one car where you really appreciate the dynamic stability control which steps in to save the day when driver enthusiasm exceeds driver talent.
It can be switched off if you're feeling brave and you have more than a passing acquaintance with counter-steering techniques.
Inside, the car's M-ness is revealed by the M symbol on the running boards, and another on the leather-wrapped steering wheel with familiar red, blue and violet stitching.
There's a choice of three trim options: wood, brushed aluminium or carbon fibre. The sports bucket seats are electrically adjustable and heatable so you can drive with the lid off even on colder days.
Said lid takes just over 10 seconds to whirr its way up or down at the press of a button, making it one of the fastest electric soft tops in the business. The roof's also well padded and manages to mute a lot of wind noise when it's closed.
The standard M Roadster costs R547 000 while R578 000 buys you the Exclusive options package which adds full leather trim, a Carver radio-CD audio system that automatically increases its volume to compensate for surrounding noise, park distance control, and satellite navigation.
The satnav, audio and trip computer are displayed in a digital monitor on top of the dash that flips open when you switch on the ignition. Real James Bond.
SUMMARY
You're getting great bang for the buck here. To get similar performance you'll have to dish out R699 000 for the 265kW/510Nm Mercedes-Benz SLK55 which, though being more powerful than the Beemer, achieves almost identical times by virtue of being slowed by its automatic gearbox.
The supercharged Chrysler Crossfire 3.2 SRT-6 Roadster costs a cheaper R519 000, but though it makes impressive power figures (246kW/420Nm) it's built on the ageing chassis of the last-generation Mercedes SLK and doesn't have quite the sharp handling of the Beemer.
The M Roadster is thus the two-seater of choice for those who seek their action topless.