Quote:
Should have had paddles rather than steering wheel buttons



Those ARE paddles. They are rocker-switches that stick up above the wheel spoke. Look carefully. You push the top of the button ("+") to Upshift. You can PULL the top of the button from behind with your fingers to Downshift (or a less manly person can just push the minus sign at the bottom of the button). They are rocker-switches. With the ability to pull them from behind, they are paddles. Quite intuitive, in fact.

After an hour with the car, it will become inate.

Don't agree that BMW got it right. They got it reversed. Intuitively,to go faster, you pull the stick toward you....just like you would when you want to suddenly, aggressively downshift to second if passing a car on a two-lane, country road.

I also like the fact that they apparently (according to the closeup of the PDK gearstick plus and minus signs) have restored the ability to shift the gears in manual mode with the stick, something they took away beginning with the 996's Tiptronic.