AS I clambered into the big BMW's leather-lined cockpit and fired up its 3.0 litre turbodiesel engine, I made sure I'd left my preconceptions at the side of the road.
It's not that I've anything against the Bavarian motor maker's line up of ‘X' branded off-roaders, but more that since the first X5s appeared on British roads in 2000 I've spent years trying to remove them from their natural habitat of a few feet from the back bumper of whatever I'm driving. As someone who's spent years being tormented by drivers of BMW's off-roaders I am perfectly placed to absolutely hate the company's new and much improved X3.
But - having worn the boot on the other foot and driven it - I don't. In fact, I actually rather like it.
It is, for something roughly the same size of my old student flat, usefully brisk when you put your foot down. The X3 3.0d is emphatically not a fast car - for that you'll be wanting the meatier and thirstier petrol-propelled versions - but its turn of speed is enough to power down the middle lane of a motorway of your choice, looking down quite literally on other road users. It has that classic commanding driving position so beloved of White Van Man and off-roader owners.
But where it differs from both their vehicles is that you can also aim at an X3 at the twisty corners of a country lane and it'll respond not like an off-roader, but like a BMW, which in layman's terms means its a fine handler for something so tall. BMW's made this trick its schtick with all its off roaders, and it's business as usual with the new arrival.
It's also wonderfully accomodating inside, with plenty of space and gadgets aplenty - although you'd expect that for the £40,000 pricetag. More tastefully upholstered than Linda Barker's living room and built like a nuclear bunker, it is a lovely place to soak up the miles.
Is the £40,000 off-roader I'd buy? No, because I've test driven a rival I'd rather have which will be appearing on Life On Cars in the near future. But the big BMW's biggest achievement is that I really, really wanted not to like it, and I do.
It's that good a car.
