It's a classic BMW coupe: The front and rear overhangs (the distance from the wheels to the bumper) are short. The windshield is set back from the hood. The 6 Series cars are shorter in overall length than the 5 Series sedans, but benefit from a relatively long wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear wheels). In short, you know these cars handle great just by looking at them.

The turn signals are located above the headlamps allowing the headlamps to be moved farther around the corners to the sides of the car. The grilles take front and center stage with no bumper ledge in front of them. When viewed from overhead, the front corners look rounded giving the 6 Series a shark nose.

In profile, the lines are sculpted but clean. Side marker lights at the trailing edge of the front wheel wells give the impression of attention to detail.

From the rear, however, the 6 Series cannot be identified as readily. The tail lamps and badge label it as a BMW, but the rear looks different from past BMWs. The tail lamps wrap around to the sides, so there's no precise point where the rear of the car ends and the side begins. As with the new 7 Series cars, critics don't like the way the rear deck looks somewhat disconnected from the rear fenders. BMW points out that the high deck improves rear grip at high speeds and allows for a big trunk. In any case this is a tidy, attractive car that looks sporty. It looks best in silver and other lighter colors; the design details blend together on darker cars.

When the top is up, the roofline of the convertible is nearly identical to that of the coupe. The soft top looks great, featuring a fastback roofline with fins on the trailing edges that frame the vertically mounted glass backlight (rear windscreen); the rear glass can be raised or lowered like a side window by pressing a button. Replacing a steel roof with a convertible top tends to reduce chassis rigidity, so BMW says reinforced the B-pillar and the lower sides of the monocoque.

The 6 Series comes standard with adaptive headlamps that aim toward the inside of a corner as the steering wheel is turned. This helps throw light around bend when cornering, reducing shadows and improving visibility for the driver. Sometimes just that extra moment of warning can make for a safer and more enjoyable drive.

The BMW 6 Series coupe and convertible are comfortable cars that encourage the driver to take the joy of driving seriously. The seats are comfortable and supportive, more comfortable than the ultra-firm seats found in some of BMW's sports packages. You feel safely ensconced in this car, partly because of its high waistline.

The iDrive system features a big knob mounted on the center console that controls navigation, the audio system, climate controls, and other secondary functions. Various functions can be selected by sliding the big knob left or right, forward or aft, then turning it like a knob to work through menus displayed on a monitor on the center stack, and pressing down on the knob to select options. The big knob doesn't move diagonally as in the 7 Series cars, which may simplify things, but we recommend sitting in the driveway with the owner's manual to master this system.

The head-up display projects speed, navigational information, cruise control status and other data onto the windshield.

The trunk is relatively large and can hold two sets of golf clubs. The BMW badge on the rear serves as the latch for the trunk. The trunk lid pops open fully when the button on the remote key fob is pressed, handy when running through the rain with an armload of groceries; a lot of trunk lids don't pop up like this, an advantage of gooseneck hinges; the hinges are shielded from the inside cargo bay, eliminating concerns of crushing things. The coupe has a larger trunk (13 cubic feet) than the convertible (12.4 cubic feet).

The convertible is remarkably quiet with the top up, nearly as quiet as the coupe. As mentioned, the power rear windscreen can be lowered even when the top is up, though we didn't find it significantly added to air circulation. Conversely, the rear glass can be raised when the top is down to act as a windblocker, but turbulance with the top down was minimal, and raising and lowering the glass didn't seem to make a big difference. In short, this is a neat feature but one of dubious practical merit.