LOS ANGELES — Maybe it’s the Pacific Coast Highway, or the winding canyon roads. Maybe it’s the perfect weather, or how cars of our childhood seem to live forever here. Whatever it is, there’s just something special about visiting California for the first time as a car guy. Let me tell you, it doesn’t get any better than experiencing it with the 2025 BMW Z4. I felt like I was living the quintessential California dream the whole time.

I started my week with a drive along the PCH, from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. This is where the Z4’s magic began to unfold. This was a drive made for a roadster, and it didn’t disappoint. The wide, open roads were lined with palm trees and ocean views, and the sun fought its way through the fog. It almost felt cinematic; growing up in the late 1990s, I spent countless hours watching movies and TV shows that painted California as a sun-drenched paradise full of endless highways and coastal beauty.

It was a place I longed to live. Cruising along the PCH and winding through canyon roads in the Z4 felt like stepping into those childhood dreams. The fog lifting over the ocean, the golden sunrise cutting through—it all felt so familiar. I had seen it before on screens, so there was a slight sense of déjà vu, but the Z4 brought it all to life. For a moment, California was exactly what I had imagined, and the Z4 was the perfect companion to make it all feel real.

Where the Z4 truly came alive was on California’s infamous canyon roads. Everyone praises Angeles Crest Highway, and I get it. This iconic stretch on the outskirts of Los Angeles is a driver’s playground, with endless curves, elevation changes, and breathtaking views. The Z4 sliced through every single turn with ease and confidence, while keeping big smile on my face the whole time. The wide torque band of its ubiquitous turbocharged 3.0-litre inline-six—or B58, in BMW-speak—effortlessly builds power and keeps the car in its sweet spot, especially working with the six-speed manual transmission. It’s an effortless and natural-feeling pairing, always ready to pounce when I need it while delivering that extra degree of driver engagement.

The six-speed manual is a new addition to the Z4 for 2025, and it’s a joy. There’s no doubt about that. It’s crisp and engages you; even though it may feel a tad rubbery at times, as is typical for a BMW, it still connects you to the driving experience. But funny enough, after spending some time in traffic, I started thinking that the eight-speed automatic might be a better companion for city driving.

Don’t get me wrong, the manual is the clear-cut enthusiast’s choice. BMW also throws in some additional upgrades under the skin, including stiffer sway bars and a more aggressive wheel and tire setup. But if the Z4 was my one and only car—something for weekend fun and also the daily grind—the ZF-sourced automatic would be hard to pass up. It’s responsive, quick to shift, and would’ve made LA’s infamous stop-and-go traffic just that much easier. For a two-car solution, however, the manual is the clear winner. It elevates the Z4 from a great car to an exceptional one.

Say what you will about high-end cars blending into LA’s scenery, the Z4 is gorgeous. The San Remo Green Metallic paint—a new colour for 2025—paired with the tan leather interior is a showstopper. The sharp lines and aggressive stance are balanced by the rest of the car’s elegant proportions, and it doesn’t have the big grille! It’s one of the best-looking vehicles in BMW’s lineup today.

The Z4’s interior was a treat as well. Fit-and-finish s great, the pedals, steering wheel, and shifter easily fall to hand, and the tech is everything you’d expect from a modern BMW. Though the iDrive infotainment is a generation behind compared to newer, recently redesigned BMW models, it’s still easy to use, and still has physical controls. What really surprised me about the Z4 was its practicality. Yes, it’s a roadster with only two seats, but don’t think for a second it can’t handle anything you can throw into its trunk, within reason. Its trunk was big enough for sets of checked bags and backpacks—something I didn’t expect when I first glanced at its sleek design.

By the end of my LA getaway, it was clear the six-speed manual Z4 is one of the best cars BMW makes right now. It perfectly combines driving thrills with enough practicality, its inline-six is brilliant regardless of the transmission, and its ability to carve through canyons while settling into a cruise on the way there (and back) adds to the livability. Add in the stunning looks and surprisingly practical trunk, and the Z4 becomes a no-brainer for anyone looking for a roadster with minimal compromises.

For me, this trip was about more than just driving a great car in nice weather. It was about discovering the feeling that California is supposed to give you. And with the 2025 BMW Z4, I felt every bit of it. I get it now.

Take Two: The Z4 charmed us at home, too

It’s rare that a car unanimously captures our hearts at home just as well as it does in the idyllic mecca that is SoCal. Trudging through traffic with the top down, blasting along at sunset with the wind in your hair, and even splashing through puddles on rainy-day Costco runs, the Z4 kept us all under its spell.

It’s amazing what going the extra mile for driver engagement does here. As with the automatic Z4, the silky inline-six sings with the piercing whistle of a turbocharger, made all the more prominent because there’s no metal roof—and the extra sound insulation—to get in the way. The Z4 is also definitely not ugly; it’s maybe a bit bug-eyed from certain angles, but there’s definitely a bit of Z8 in the front grille, the fender vent slices through the side profile as sharply as the turn signal crease on the original car, and the rear end is finished off by wide hips and a cleanly integrated ducktail.

When you spec the third pedal, BMW also throws in staggered wheels and thicker anti-roll bars, but those are merely footnotes. The six-speed manual transforms the Z4 from a satisfying three-season daily driver to the best car BMW makes right now, bar none. Granted BMW manuals have a reputation for feeling rubbery, but that’s far from what we’re dealing with here. The stick Z4 impresses with a well-weighted shifter, short and fluid throws, and well-defined gates—all things the Collective Whole has complained about with stick Bimmers over the years. Or maybe it’s because everything is still new.

This flavour of the Z4 didn’t need to exist, but it’s literally the car we all ask for. It’s fast, good-looking, surprisingly practical—and now, genuinely engaging. Once in a while, we catch ourselves wondering if BMW lost sight of its signature philosophy. The 2025 BMW Z4 is a wink-and-a-nose-flick that they still got it. —Nick Tragianis.