The leather-wrapped, three-spoke steering wheel has bumps inside the rim at 10 and 2 o'clock. BMW apparently believes in this traditional position for your hands, which allows your thumbs to use the bumps for better grip; but nowadays some instructors teach 3 and 9, which puts your hands below the bumps with your thumbs hooked over the big wide spokes.
There's a dead pedal for your left foot, but during hard cornering to the right, the edge of the otherwise convenient door pocket dug into the side of our left knee.
The instrument panel and gauges were redesigned in 2001. As one might expect from a performance-minded company like BMW, they're no-nonsense, intended to provide information to drivers. The switches were blessedly simple. Our test car was not equipped with the power top ($750), including wood interior trim. The power top would be a luxury indeed, as operation of the manual top is effortless. Next Page