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Hey, dude, what's with the roof? How not to look cool in the new BMW roadster

Is there any more hip- sounding class of car than a roadster? Not only does it conjure up the romance of yore, when a chap might shoot down to Brighton with his best gel by his side, but it also conveys a sort of contemporary ironic cool. For surely a roadster is what a dudemeister would drive.

And please, let's not get bogged down in definitions of who qualifies as a dudemeister. We all know one when we see one. In normal circumstances, I hasten to add, I wouldn't lay claim to dudemeister status, but driving a BMW Z4 is not a normal circumstance, even with the top up.

As a rule, what matters, or at least satisfies, most in sports cars is not performance but looks. Of course, that's a kind of sacrilege, especially for the school of thought that speaks in horsepower and torque. But the truth is it's highly unlikely that a driver will ever realise a sports car's potential on the road, whereas its appearance can be appreciated to the full at any time.

And the pleasing thing about the BMW Z4 is that it says "roadster" clearly, although not overly loudly, in a stationary position. The moment you see the long, sloping bonnet and tight little rear, the word "roadster" involuntarily forms on the lips, as though the mouth itself were revving up for action.

The BMW roadster has come a long way since the Z1 back in the 80s. That was short and angular, not at all what a roadster should be, and it featured strange retractable doors. Gradually it metamorphosed into the current model, which comes, for the first time, with a hard convertible top.

I had a few problems with the roof, namely that it failed to open on a couple of occasions. At these frustrating moments a warning signal informed me that something was wrong, although I had noticed this myself when the roof remained over my head, rather than folding, as it had done previously, into the boot.

As I repeatedly pressed the convertible button without success, I suddenly no longer felt like a dudemeister in a roadster. I felt like a nerd in a dud. I had a strong suspicion that it was me, not the car. But happily no one knew I was incapable of performing the defining function of driving a convertible. Indeed, I imagine few onlookers even realised it was a convertible. They probably just thought it was a coupe and I was the kind of person who likes tapping the dashboard for no good reason.

With or without the top, it's a very solid ride, almost heavy. Most of the weight goes into comfort, the pleasing and secure sense of a substantial piece of machinery – you wouldn't, for example, want to find your hand in the way of a swinging door. The rest, presumably, is down to the roof. Except, of course, the roof stayed up.MotoringAndrew Anthony
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Tags: Motoring, Technology, The Guardian, Features, Reviews

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On the road: BMW Z4 23i | Andrew Anthony was originally published by Technology: Motoring | guardian.co.uk. Read the full story by clicking here.