BMW X3 verdict

It may not be a technically radical departure, but the X3 has certainly taken some bold strides for its fourth generation. But, like its new interior tech and exterior styling, its ride and handling seem to be working hard to carve out an even clearer selling point for a car whose proven popularity didn’t really need fixing. The sales figures may well prove us wrong, of course, but we're not convinced that this was quite the right direction to go.

Both the exterior and interior makeover give the X3 a fresh new look and some extra character. As ever BMW's recent design work has the ability to be divisive, although to our eyes the X3 avoids the worst of the kidney grille excess, and even if the interior won’t be to everyone’s taste, it’s anything but bland.

To drive - and admittedly only on the evidence of German roads, as yet - the M50 version has a clear sense of dynamic edge but without the compromises in ride comfort that can sometimes occur when a manufacturer attempts to produce a performance SUV.

But the 20 M Sport does struggle for ride comfort on more challenging UK country roads, pitching and fussing busily in a way that some SUV buyers won't expect of a functionality-first family car.