I like a car that elicits sudden conversation-stopping grins. "Did you feel that?" I asked my passenger after an on-rails turn direct from an under-cranked silent movie. Only at the last minute had a germane route sign emerge from behind overgrown foliage. Normally I wouldn’t have last-minuted a turn like that but this was an M. And it felt so good I over-pushed into the next bends, too. Carnival ride, anyone?

The M can run smoothly with good touring manners (the seats are great) through the winding country roads, but it most likes to deliver when a lot is asked of it. Then it seems to grin, too, and the dance begins.

Writing about a BMW vehicle without mentioning Chris Bangle seems as unlikely as TV without commercials, particularly since this controversial designer, transported from Wisconsin to Bavaria, was credited with the Z4, minus the M. And the M version seemed more refined, less drum major showing off.

Bangle is one of the most verbal of designers with a ready spiel. Really a choreographer of design he all but dances his description with swooping body language to show what this line is doing and why that one goes that way. "Sculpture" he calls cars, but he sometimes falls to realize that they are sculpture that must move primarily in one direction. And they must be opened and closed for interior access. And they must be manufactured. Thus a smooth body, probably quite handsomely sculptural in clay, acquires lines running all over the place, leading the eye into dead ends or befuddling it with too much going on.

But then even some of the edgy character lines that are meant to be visible run counter to the flow of movement and seem to deny this sculpture-that-moves its very forward flow. Always impressed by Bangle’s verbal gymnastics I still don’t buy his rationales. So I tolerated rather than admired the odd excesses of the Z4. But the Z4 M. What has happened? I can’t say for sure, but it looks happier with itself and I am happier with it. This is a matured design that even I find attractive. But appearances are best left to individual judgments.

On the back roads of, appropriately Wisconsin, on which I drove the Z4 M the car was a pleasure and an impressive piece of machinery. Whereas many carmakers to maximize their horsepower resort to turbo and super charging BMW chooses to refine and perfect to get the most from a normally aspirated engine. Maybe it’s a motorcycle thing, and BMW is equally important in the two-wheel world. Anyway, this inline six is an object of awe. I was falling in love.

But then we were directed onto some highways, not quite super but four-lanes and well-traveled. Wisconsin winters are not kind to such objects and driving over it in the stiffly sprung Z4 M was simply unacceptably rough. Both my companion and I found ourselves quivery-voiced like the late Katharine Hepburn. My eyes wobbled in my head. "This is unacceptable," I said to strong agreement. I meant both the highway and the car. This roughness could not be attributed to run-flat tires (that make another BMW product, the Mini Cooper S, run jarringly on rough roads) because the M, thankfully, wears performance tires and not run-flats.

I strongly suggest any test drive you take should replicate your most common route. You can rate your own acceptability level.

And you might also try two other coupes with high performance intentions: the Nissan 350Z, not as fast but less costly, and the Porsche Cayman, lighter and more lithe (though .3 seconds slower 0-60) but much more expensive.

Still don’t pass up any opportunity to experience the Z4 M. Just choose your surface well and stick to turns.

For more information visit the BMW website here.

2006 BMW Z4 M Coupe
Description:	Compact sports coupe
Model options:	Z4 Roadster, Z4 Coupe
Wheelbase:	98.2 inches
Overall length:	161.1 inches
Engine size:	3.0-liter dual overhead cam (DOHC), 24-valve inline 255-horsepower 6-cylinder engine
Transmission:	6-speed manual or optional 6-speed automatic with shifter paddles
Steering:	Vehicle speed sensing electronic steering
Braking:	Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), including Brake Fade Compensation, Start-off Assistant, Brake Drying, and Brake Stand-by features, with Dynamic Traction Control (DTC)
Air bags:	Dual-airbag Supplementary Restraint System with 2-stage "smart" airbags
Fuel mileage city/hwy:	Manual: 20/30 city/highway Automatic: 21/29 city/highway
MSRP:	$40,100 Destination Charge: $695

(...BACK)