BMW 6 series (E63) 630Ci Cabriolet

I had a BMW 6 series E63 630Ci cabriolet as a loan car from BMW for 2 days, and I used it to go to the Lake District. The weather was perfect for open top motoring, so I had plenty of opportunity to get the roof down and play with the car on twisty roads.

The car handled well on the twisties. The 3 litre engine has noticeably more torque than the outgoing engine it replaces. It has plenty of poke and makes a great noise on full chat.

The roof folds into the boot in about twenty seconds, which is pretty quick, but you have to keep your finger on the button which makes it seem like much longer than it really is. When the roof is folded away there is still plenty of room for luggage for two.

The idrive software is not intuitive at all. I could not switch off the sat nav, and had to resort to ejecting the maps disk to shut her up. The new idrive software on the seven series is much improved. I hope this is now out on other models, as it really needs the upgrade.

I'd recommend the 630Ci for couples. I don't think there is enough room for four even on short journeys.