Auto News 5

Sport sedans operate in a gray area where practicality gives way to emotion. A thoroughly rational shopping list of the world's best examples would include the Audi S6, the BMW M5, the Cadillac CTS-V, the Lexus IS-F, and the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG. But pragmatism, logic, and good sense are rarely the deciding factors when considering an irrational purchase like a $100K-plus, 150-mph-plus automobile. Instead, right-brain values come to the forefront - style, rarity, sophistication, glamour, equipment, image, and, yes, sex appeal. The aforementioned sedans are undeniably speedy and dynamically impressive - but at the end of the day, the M5 isn't much more than a 528i on steroids, the S6 is an A6 that has undergone a complicated heart transplant via Sant'Agata Bolognese, the CTS-V and the IS-F both have relatively humble genetic backgrounds, and the E63 AMG started life on the same assembly line as 75 percent of the German taxi population.

I drove the Z4 sDrive35i (what a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid name; there's even a ridiculous badge with this horrible combination of letters and numbers) around Ann Arbor and environs over the Memorial Day weekend and came away impressed. First, the exterior styling is about perfect, with the long, sexy hood, the curvaceous rear, and the handsome 19-inch wheels. The interior is also very nicely designed, with an appropriately upmarket ambience. This was one of those cars that, after it got a little dust on it over the weekend, I dug out the detailing spray and a chamois and cleaned it up. I didn't want this car to be dirty while it was in my possession, even if I were just driving to the grocery store.