Those shifter buttons, high on the sloping dash, also reside an absurdly long way from the driver's seat.
A push of the aluminum starter button by the shifter fires up the massive engine in front of us.
BMW's bizarre shifter operates with counterintuitive imprecision: you push forward to get into reverse, you engage Park by pushing a button on the shifter itself and, just to unlock the wand, you need to use your thumb to hold down a button on the side.
But all these nits disappear when you turn the key -- or, in the case of my test car, which had the Keyless Go option, press the "start" button atop the shifter.
Because it began life as a floor demo, the car is loaded with irresponsible luxuries we would never have asked for (what kind of people do you take us for?) but nonetheless adore: a sunroof, a CD player and, as part of the sport package, a button near the shifter with the letter S on it that makes you feel really cool after you press it.
The push-button shifter includes an "S" button below the "D" for "drive".
And too many buttons crowd around the shifter, controlling suspension, transmission, exhaust and four driving modes.
Though hardly a powerhouse, that high-revving motor can be played to maximum effect by pushing the Sport button, which changes the throttle response, and by frequent use of the shifter.
The IS 300 gives you plenty to look at: the many climate and audio buttons, the drilled-out aluminum foot pedals and a hefty globe of polished aluminum atop the shifter.
In new BMWs the driver presses the shifter forward.
