BMW X4 review

As you'd want in a 'coupe', it's a great place from which to conduct the business of driving. Like any other mid-to-high-level BMW, the controls are intuitive and the displays super-clear – especially the fantastic optional head-up display. Only thing is the iDrive wheel is across the tunnel behind the transmission lever.

The iDrive system includes traffic-aware sat nav as standard, and Apple CarPlay over Bluetooth, not just a cable. But this being a German premium car you can (of course) pay more for a bigger telly that does all sorts of other things you'll never do after the first time time you've shown your mates – an event that can only follow a degree-level home-study course with the instruction manual.

You're enthroned in the elaborately stitched multi-adjustable front seats, optionally vented as well as heated. From that position you get the commanding eye-level of a crossover. But over-the shoulder visibility is pretty confined.

Everything looks and feels rich in here too, with a softer-than-normal leather as standard, contrast stitching and ambient lighting. Among the six different leather colours, you ought to be able to find one you like. No doubt it'll be black because you're afraid of resale opprobrium.

The back-seat room is just about okay for adults, though six-footers would graze the headlining. Try before you buy, but most families will be fine. To prove the parents' love for the kids, there's independent climate control for the back, and optional heated back seats.

The 525-litre boot is on par with the regular X3/Q5/XC60 family-crossover crowd, and it has a useful underfloor hideaway to stow the two-part rigid parcel shelf, or stuff you'd rather keep secret. The backrest folds 40:20:40. The Stelvio and F-Pace are bigger in the back seat, though.