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BMW Z4 sDrive23i

The fact that the SLK has become Mercedes-Benz's most popular imported model in Thailand comes as no surprise. It's a good-looking two-seater, has good levels of comfort, sports a practical folding hard-top and is competitively priced against would-be rivals.

BMW is keen to follow into the footsteps of its archrival which can clearly be evidenced by the new Z4 launched in the country at the Bangkok Motor Show earlier this year.

The second-generation Z4 now comes with a retractable tin-top in place of the traditional soft-top. Even though driving with the air blowing into your face is not common in Thailand, a metal cover gives better refinement during roof-up cruising.

The old Z4 was really never a looker on the road, thanks to the radical and quirky lines inspired by BMW's ex-design boss. The new one you see here seems to be much more resolved in appearance.

The Z4 looks meaner and more athletic than before, courtesy big kidney grilles, headlamps that properly wrap around the front corners and chunky waistline. The classic low-slung, long-nose profile stays, which is a good thing.

But whether all these cosmetic aspects will help make the Z4 a sexier car to look at than the SLK would depend on personal taste. The Z4 looks good in its own right, yet there is good enough reason to still cherish the SLK especially with that distinctive nose inspired by the SLR supercar and Merc's F1 racecar.

The inside of the Z4 is also more alluring to be in than before. The chunky steering wheel is both good to look at and hold onto, while the fascia's details like the chromed rims for certain functions helps add some levels of luxury to a sporty roadster with premium brand positioning.

While the overall quality of the interior is generally satisfactory, some areas don't feel solid like the instrument cowl as such. Petty it may seem, but practically all of the Z4's intended rivals don't falter here.

When it comes to practicality, the Z4 is just about as good a two-seat roadster can get. The two chairs - which aren't that supportive or cushy - offer wide scope of adjustments to suit people of different size, while there's a long storage bin behind the seats for small items.

Metal roofs with ability to fold away into the boot have always been notorious for robbing luggage space due to their structures and folding mechanism. That still seems to be the case for the Z4. So don't expect to go for a round of golf, unless you feel alright sitting with the golf clubs at your side.

Packaging-wise, there still seems to be some compromise in cars of such nature which need to be understood. But once and for all, the Z4 is now a proper match for the SLK.

The next area BMW has deliberately tried to match Mercedes is price. Despite coming with a bigger 2.5-litre that's subject to 35% excise tax, the Z4 costs only B99,000 more than the SLK which has a smaller engine attracting 30%.

BMW knows that a four-pot is useful for an entry-level Z4 which is what it did with the previous model. However, no automatic gearbox was available rasing fears that performance would have been blunted.

The SLK is fine with today's four-cylinder/automatic combination because the supercharger helps offset any loss in significant performance. Right now, BMW still doesn't offer a four-pot with forced induction - if you don't count its diesel engine.

That is why the Z4 still comes with an inline-six motor in cheapest form in Thailand.

Just to make sure that its price won't be too high against the SLK, BMW has detuned the 2.5-litre engine - used in today's 325i Coupe and Convertible, 525i and X3 sDrive 25i - from 218hp down to 204hp. This is due to marketing reasons, not technical ones, according to BMW sources.

But don't let that 14hp deficiency bother you. The Z4 with this application still yields proper six-cylinder performance and doesn't feel handicapped by the change in engine software management.

Good too is that the Z4 has a naughty six-cylinder snarl at idle and low engine speeds. There's enough shove in city-driving to ensure that the SLK's supercharged 1.8-litre unit won't necessarily be the easier one to push around.

Power at higher speeds in the Z4 remains sufficient. Just don't expect it to be spectacular or exciting because that would have made the sDrive30i - which is not sold in Thailand - redundant.

Because of this, the Z4 in sDrive23i form won't perform like a sports car. The brakes, as well, just about cope with the 200hp performance which is a little surprising for BMW that's greatly known for stoppers dwarfing engine performance.

It may look like a racy car, but the Z4 doesn't handle genuinely like a sports car either. One of the main culprits is the electric-assisted steering (like before) that simply feels too numb to relate the driver of what's going on beneath.

But the rack is direct and weighted well for real-world driving, which is probably more important and right for potential buyers of this baseline Z4. The only real snag would be the long nose which makes driving at low speeds cumbersome.

But on the other hand, that low view and massive bonnet in front of you help give some American-style sports car feel which some testers liked because that's what makes the Z4 more special against a 325i Coupe'/Convertible.

The ride in the Z4 is typical of what you might expect from a BMW with some sporty intentions: firm with plenty of grip at high speeds but on the hard side when it comes to low-speed coasting.

BMW Thailand has specified the Z4 with multi-mode setup to allow the driver to vary the driving characteristics of the car. It helps to a certain degree, but the SLK proves that comfort and sure-footedness can still come in a natural way without electronic aids.

But from an objective point of view, this feature helps the Z4's specification stand out. It would have been nice to see BMW's dual-clutch automatic match the Audi TT, but unfortunately it is only being reserved for higher performance variants like the sDrive35i.

But the normal six-speed torque convertor in the sDrive23i is still good enough, particularly in presence of the SLK's ancient five-speeder.

Which basically sums up the Z4. It's a two-seater from BMW that aims to offer style and coupe'/cabriolet bodies in one package to sway buyers from the SLK with a touch of sporty driving attributes in the BMW fashion.

But the Z4 isn't a real sports car to drive. It's for those who want to look cool and fake their sporty intentions. Since that's exactly what the SLK is doing, the Z4 isn't the new automatic default choice - it's just a new alternative.

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