Z4 - my verdicts:
Steering: just awful, overpowered at slow speeds, no feedback, woolly, weak, crappy plastic feel, corners worse than a Mondeo (not that Mondeos are bad at this). Gearbox: Amazingly bad! My manual looks and feels like a toy, travels too far, why only 5 speed? Grossly inferior to the MX-5. Engine: Takes you from A to B with the absolute minimum of perceptible torque. Feels lazy, uninspired, insipid noise, stalls in low gears and jerks when you change down. On board crap: One of the worst and ugliest user interfaces for a system that is supposed to contain (in my case) such features as Bluetooth phone, 6-stack CD and sat nav. Finding your way around this thing is much more difficult and likely to induce a crash than simultaneously reading a map and holding a phone to your ear (whilst driving). In fact the presence of this laughable computer is quite the most dangerous idea in motoring since drink-driving was fashionable. You really need a QWERTY keyboard to operate it.

But don't worry about getting carried away with the music because the top-spec Carver sound system I ordered at some ridiculous price doesn't even get close to my old Mazda's Bose system. Interior: Appears and feels far too cheap when compared with the TT, I didn't even get cup-holders with mine! I wanted them as well.

Verdict: I would really love to know if I can get a cooling-off period with the finance agreement. I am deadly serious about taking it back. The only thing you could do with a Z4 which would bring it close to the MX-5 in terms of excitement would be to crash it. I may consider this if I can't get a refund. I have gone on about the MX-5 so much you might think I am a Mazda freak, but you would be wrong. I also have a Merc, which is a miles better drive than the Z4. Wanna hear the punchline? It's a Mercedes Sprinter Van. And I'm not joking. I'll sell the Z4 to anyone who'll take over the finance or buy it for a reasonable price.