2009 BMW Z4 3.5 sDrive

You won't see me excited about too many cars that lack a third pedal, so honestly I tend to avoid them for the most part. With more and more performance cars leaning that way I was still pessimistic during my initial walk around of this stunning blue subject. The z4 in general looks great, but with the hardtop convertible it really blares the definition of roadster. To me it does so too much, to the point where I began to wonder; was this car made to be driven, or made to be seen being driven.

Hop inside and you're greeted with a very nice subtle interior wrapped in high quality materials. This is to be expected of any car at this price level, but there's one major blemish: the cup holder situation. The car has 3 cup holders, one of them fixed to the center console sticking out like a sore thumb into the passenger space. For the life of me I can't get past this cup holder. If it retracted back into the center console it would be fine, but its just sitting there, permanently fixed in the up position like Eminem's middle finger. The other two are hidden under the center arm rest which is annoying because it means no armrest if you want a beverage.

No worries though, this car has a twin turbo straight six under that massive hood, so one thing is for sure: its going to be fast. Quite fast, in fact. On the road the car feels really good. The DCT transmission is surprisingly smooth, and lightning fast. Personally I still prefer the good old slow three pedal system,

Pull up next to just about any mustang at the light and have no fear: everyone will see you run away from them with ease. The car is definitely a rocket off the line, and you never lose boost with the lightning fast shifts from the transmission. The first area of fault I really had with the BMW was the handling. That exaggerated roadster styling has definitely taken its toll on the way the car goes around corners. If you dive into a turn too quickly you will find pretty serious understeer, and then when the back of the car realizes whats going on the car sways, bucks, and kicks out the back like a muscle car.

Overall the car genuinely feels like a nice, luxurious, muscle car meant to be seen in rather than actually driven hard. Its definitely good to drive, but it lacks the sharpness and controllable feel of an mx-5. Up in Motor City is where this car belongs, putting classic muscle cars to shame from stoplight to stoplight.