Just back from Stow. A man in the town centre wanted to talk X5 with me but he turned his nose up when I explained this was the new, rear-wheel drive version, not a four-wheel drive.

No idea why he got so uppety. I reckon less than one per cent of X5 drivers actually use the standard 4×4 ability of the car. It’s a road machine and is exceptionally good at it too.

With CO2 emissions of 149g/km and starting prices around £43,000, the 25d is really the model all sensible X5 buyers should be looking at. OK, it might be a tad less grippy on a wet road but how fast do you want to drive your SUV anyway?

There’s plenty of torque available for overtaking too. It’s obviously not as quick as the 3.0-litre diesel model but just try the 25d – I think you might like it…