THE BMW Z4 is a breathtaking experience on the road, appealing to all your senses, and although it is not due here until June, for the sports car connoisseur the wait will be worthwhile.

It sets fresh roadster standards through being self-confident, powerful, sporting and aesthetic, and will offer precise and safe handling which leads to supreme calibre.

BMW's new two-seater is making its debut as the Z4 3.0i with a 231 bhp powerful straight-six and six-speed manual gearbox and as a 2.5i featuring a 192 bhp straight-six combined with a five-speed manual gearbox.

The cars are made at BMW's factory in South Carolina and will be shipped directly into Southampton to take over from the Z3 sports job which has carved a particular niche for itself in the five years it has been on sale.

Production of the Z3 ended in the summer to make way for the new car.

Officially orders are not yet being taken for the new car and no prices have been fixed yet. Unofficially dealers are already talking to potential buyers for the new car, and despite a likely price premium of around 10 per cent over the cost of the Z3, they are reporting an order bank of up to two years. With more equipment and greater presence it puts the price of the new 3.0i at around the £30,000 mark.

It is the first open-air BMW to have a folding roof in Z design. This folding mechanism takes up very little space and allows the frontmost part of the roof to extend like a cover over the soft top, merging flush with the body of the car. As a result, it does not need either a tonneau cover nor a roof lid. As an option the new two-seater is available as the only roadster with fully automatic operation of the roof.

We have already tried the car on quiet roads in southern Portugal to get an early taste of what is in store and we think its athletic stance and willing character will make it well sought after when it does finally arrive.

For a start the pair of straight six-cylinders which will power them appear well competent. Appropriately, this two-seater comes with the two top-of-the-range engines, the 2.5-litre developing maximum output of 192 bhp at 6,000 rpm and the 3.0-litre offering maximum output of 231 bhp at 5,900 rpm. On the road this means performance justifying sports car expectations in every respect: Acceleration from 0-62mph comes in 7 seconds for the 2.5, and 5.9 seconds with the three litre. Top speed potential is purely academic at 146 mph for the 2.5 and, 155 mph with the three litre.

Then there's the dynamic drive control, a very special button for the particularly dedicated driver, giving the engine even more kick at the command of the driver. Available as an optional extra, it calls up maximum power even earlier than usual in the sports mode, with engine management following an even more dynamic and sporting gas pedal control line. To reflect this enhanced response of the engine, the steering also becomes even more direct and sporting, with speed-related servo assistance.

Either car will be available with a whole range of optional extras, from bi-xenon headlights to a choice of two hifi systems developed and optimised especially for the Z4 to provide individual musical enjoyment of the highest standard.

The radio navigation system integrated in the instrument panel uses DVD data for the first time in a BMW, and with a very dense memory system allows a longer geographic range. It comes with a retracting colour screen.