20 Feb 06
It's sad to say, but any true enthusiast now needs to learn how to identify a true BMW M-car from one that's merely pretending. Now that BMW has created its own 'M Sport' brand and uses it as an excuse to charge a lot more money for standard models blessed with no more than a body kit and slightly stiffer suspension, you can no longer presume a BMW is a true M-car just because it happens to be wearing that famed 'M' badge.
Whatever other addenda it may boast, whatever powerhouse may lurk under the bonnet, there are always two things that identify a true M-car: red instrument needles and an oil temperature gauge.
I mention this now because I don't want you to get the idea that this is just some body-kitted, souped up Z4. What lies beneath those lean, wolfish lines is none other than an all-new M-car, one that walks in the recently planted footsteps of the M5 and M6 and, as such, a car with one hell of an act to follow.
It's hard to figure out exactly why it's taken BMW so long to subject the Z4 to the 'M' treatment. Its predecessor, the Z3M, developed a small but loyal cult following and there's no reason to suspect the same won't happen with this car. Even if it does come saddled with a distinctly ambitious £42,950 list price.
