The engine dominates the driving experience, as most muscle-bound Bee-Em’s do, and you will be amazed at its breadth, from quiet town-hopping burble to full back-road bark.

But it does this without any fuss at all, partly thanks to the Z4’s new-found civilised character.

Where the previous generation provided a plenty of rock, and non-existent roll with its power, this new Z4 is comfortable and controlled.

Adjustable suspension

It’s put on a bit of weight since we last saw it – 270kg more – and has grown some new muscles in the shape of a longer and wider body (148mm and 46mm respectively), but has been dropped by 8mm.

It also comes with three suspension settings, with normal, sport and sport +. Tellingly, BMW say the new model’s ‘Sport’ setting was the old model’s default ride quality.

Thrum along in normal mode with the roof up and let the gearbox do its own thing, and the Z4 is effortlessly refined and very easy to hustle along at a quick pace. The steering feels hefty and solid, but translates little back into your fingertips, becoming a boulevard cruiser.

Change the suspension into sport and the Z4 becomes a little more playful – turn in hard and the BM grips sharply and sticks to your chosen line. You won’t get much feedback from the wheel, but it does feel satisfying and hugely entertaining when sweeping through fast bends at speed.

Sport + mode disengages the traction control and sets the Z4 free of electronic shackles, and the chassis definitely gets more lively as you turn harder, faster and sharper through the corners.

Switch into the manual gearshift mode and you get two paddles on either side of the steering wheel to change up and down, and this makes the slinky sportscar even more of a hoot to drive.

Topless, but still stable

With the roof down the Z4 remains composed, rarely interfering or translating the road imperfections into the car, and the lack of scuttle shake is welcome.

And with the folded roof adding weight around the rear, the Z4 shows a tendency to hang its backside out when you overcook a bend – resulting in controllable oversteer, and plenty of fun.

Our test routes took us along some hugely demanding roads which rarely needed more than third gear, and this really allows the driver to squeeze the most out of the 306bhp on offer, keeping it above 4,500rpm and heading straight for the metallic-rasped redline.

And this certainly wowed onlookers – in part to the noise it makes, but mostly thanks to the cars stunning looks. The new Z4 is a seriously sexy sportscar.

Inside, the seats feel chunky, solid and are bolstered and upholstered in leather, while the dash offers up the simple controls as before, together with BMW’s famous iDrive system.

The boot swallows 310 litres and still has space to store the metal roof, which opens and closes in just 20 seconds.

You’ll pay for this top-of-the-range Z4 though – the sDrive35i we drove in Spain costs £37,060.

BMW is also offering a 204bhp sDrive23i for £28,645 and the 258bhp Z4 sDrive30i for £32,660.

The new Z4 has bags of character, looks superb, and is as comfortable cruising along the promenade as it is belting along winding roads.

And the chassis’ competence at handling 306bhp brings something even more interesting into focus – just what will the fabled M Division do with the new Zed?

We’ll be taking the new Z4 on an epic road trip to test it on UK tarmac – check back with Auto Trader in April to see how the Beemer fares over here…

What do you think of the BMW Z4?

Check out the previous generation BMW Z4 Coupe in action: