06 Jul 06
Whether or not you fall for the whole 'ultimate driving machine' marketing schtick, M-badged BMWs are, by most objective criteria, very fine driving machines indeed. They may attract a clientele of particularly aggressive, unpleasantly ill-mannered and often downright dangerous drivers (we've all had an M3 glued to our rear bumper on the motorway), but there's no doubting that the cars themselves are beautifully engineered with the enthusiast driver in mind.
The thing is, these M cars can be rather uncompromising for everyday use - unless you see the daily commute round the M25 as something akin to warfare and feel the need to be appropriately armed. They demand to be driven all-out, all the time and aren't for the faint-hearted - especially in two-seater coupe form.
The Z4 M Coupe (343bhp, £41,295) is pitched against the Porsche Cayman S. That's £2,700 more expensive but, as editor Gavin concluded last month after a day track-testing the M on the Estoril Grand Prix circuit (it's a hard life), the Cayman's a car with more overall finesse and one that'd be easier to live with on a day-to-day basis. But hang on before you sign along the dotted line at the Porsche dealer: there's another Z4 Coupe offering a slightly gentler ownership experience.
