the advertising rivalry between Audi and BMW is hilarious!

you can cut 3 minutes off the video by just looking at the adverts at http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8wmzIR/lol.desire-z.us/2011/11/when-audi-started-war-to-bmw.html/?_nospa=true

Mid-life facelift for BMW X3 confirmed

A NEW version of BMW’s X3 will go on sale across the UK later this summer, it has been announced.

The off-roader has been treated to an extensive facelift and will go on sale in July, with customers able to choose from four different variants, with all the engines on offer being diesel-powered.

Prices for the entry-level model, the X3 sDrive18d SE, start at £30,990.

Seven cars shortlisted for European Car of the Year 2014

SEVEN very different cars have all been shortlisted in a contest to find Europe’s favourite automotive arrival from the past year.

Judges of the European Car of the Year award confirmed this week the Citroen C4 Picasso, Mazda3, Peugeot 308 and Skoda Octavia, which are all family-friendly and focused on value, would be going up against the eco-orientated BMW i3 and Tesla S and the luxurious new Mercedes-Benz S Class.

The winner will be announced at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

Alpina D3 - the diesel saloon to outrun a sports car with

A car claimed to be the world’s fastest production diesel has just been launched in the UK.

The Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo, to give it its full name, might look to casual observers like a BMW 3-Series but this tuned and turbocharged saloon and estate – which has been BMW’s full official backing – pumps out 350bhp. Despite being powered by a turbodiesel engine it can get from 0-60mph in 4.6 seconds before reaching a top speed of 173mph, meaning it can outrun most of today’s hot hatches and sports cars.

The D3 Bi-Turbo is available as either a saloon for £46,950 or as the Touring estate version for three grand extra. Despite being classed as a car manufacturer in its own right, the Alpina is available through BMW’s dealer network, with a full BMW warranty.

Find out more at the Alpina BMW website.

Audi - the tailgater's wheels of choice these days

Did you hear about the new species scientists discovered the other day? Apparently, there’s a new type of shark, which has emerged in a remote spot of sea just off Indonesia, which ‘walks’ along the ocean floor.

In the interests of science, I’d like to put it to the boffins at the Natural History Museum that I’ve found its motoring equivalent, right here in the UK. The Greater Spotted Tailgater, or Secuutus Major to give it its scientific Latin name, has existed for decades in the warm, inviting habitat of motorway outside lanes for generations, but it’s only in the past few years that a new variation of this most annoying of motoring breeds has evolved.

Specifically, the Greated Spotted Tailgaters who drive Audis, meaning the above image is now plastered across rear view mirrors right across Britain.

Not that long ago, history will recall, Audis were driven by nice people who wanted something a tiny bit tidier than the equivalent Volkswagen. My late granddad had a 100 Avant and it really was the epitome of respectable middle classness, a useful, family-friendly estate without the antique dealer connotations of its Volvo and Mercedes contemporaries. At that time, the Greater Spotted Tailgater’s wheels of choice were 3 Series and 5 Series BMWs, and you knew when you saw the Munich motors’ quad headlights flashing at you from behind that you were incurring their wrath.

Things, however, have changed, and I blame the Audi TT. Ever since the gorgeously swoopy coupe started gracing the showrooms 15 years ago, the rest of the range has basked in the glow from its chrome detailing and become a bit cooler as a result, bit by bit attracting the sort of people who used to buy BMWs. The figures speak for themselves; in the past year alone, Audi sales are up by almost 10%.

The sales rises, combined with ever sharper and more aggressive styling updates, means something that’s struck me every time I’ve every time I’ve ventured out onto a motorway’s outside lane in the past two years – almost immediately you are swamped by tailgaters in cars with four rings on their radiator grilles. Don’t get me wrong; there are still lots of nice people happily trundling to the shops and back in their Audis, in the same way it was wrong to label every BMW owner as a lane-hogging loon ten years ago.

Yet the tailgating brigade have, by and large, taken up Audis as their wheels of choice, and the range is a bit less on my motoring radar as a result. The only truly cool Audi you can buy now, I’d contend, is the A7 because it’s not a big seller. Which means Mr and Mrs Tailgater don’t tend to wind people up with them.

If I had a pound for every time an Audi-driving middle management type has sat two feet off my back bumper, I’d have roughly £13,790 by now. Which, incidentally, is the entry level price for an A1.

Future classics - my top ten tips

SUPPOSE you’ve got motoring’s equivalent of Mystic Meg’s crystal ball. What do you reckon it’d reveal as being the classic car stars of tomorrow?

One of the most fascinating pieces I’ve written for Classic Car Weekly so far is a rundown of what the secondhand experts at CAP have chosen as their candidates for automotive investments, which is as intriguing for what didn’t make the cut as the 20 modern motors which did. Everyone’s got their opinion as to what’ll be the stars of shows up and down the land in 10 or 15 years’ time, and with the article done and dusted I can finally get a few of my own favourites off my chest...

1) MAZDA MX-5 (1989 – 1998) The fact no less than four of the Classic Car Weekly team have owned one – including Yours Truly – speaks volumes about this ultra-reliable, ultra-fun and, for the time being at least, ultra-cheap rear-drive ragtop. Consider my shoes eaten if this isn’t a mainstay of the classic movement in 15 years time.

 2) PEUGEOT 106 GTI/RALLYE (1997 – 2004)Brilliant fun, perfectly packaged and already becoming increasingly sought after by hot hatch hunters. In fact, it’s looking increasingly likely the MX-5-shaped void in my life might get filled by a 106 GTI. Should I? Shouldn’t I?

3) ROVER 75 (1999 - 2005) I’ve already written that Rover’s swansong is tomorrow’s P6, and I still reckon a well-looked example – or its sportier sister, the MG ZT – is as cheap as it’s ever going to be. There’s plenty on offer right now for under a grand, but give it a decade and good examples of these gentle giants will be sought after.

4) FORD RACING PUMA (2000) You could argue the little Puma is tomorrow’s Capri, in which case this is the ultra-rare Tickford (in fact, just like its turbocharged Capri ancestor, the Racing Puma is a Tickford creation). Prices are already much higher than the standard Pumas, but with the rarity of the Racing Puma and the loyal following it’s already attracting, there’s only one way prices will go.

5) RENAULT WIND (2010 - 2011)  I might have enjoyed the French firm’s Twingo-based two seater when it was new but the Great British Public didn’t, so while it’s a bit of a flop now its rarity should count in its favour. Quirky styling and fantastically simple flipping metal roof are bonus points on a car that, even now, you don’t see every day.

6) PEUGEOT 406 COUPE (1997 - 2004)Italian styling house Pininfarina worked wonders with the Parisian repmobile favourite to create a striking beautiful coupe. Best spec is the 3.0 V6 but 2.2 HDi versions are already proving popular with fuel-conscious enthusiasts.

7) FIAT COUPE 20V TURBO (1995 - 2000)As above, but with added Italian flair and loopy amounts of punch from the five-cylinder turbo beneath the bonnet. Any car that manages to make Fiat Tipo underpinnings look this good has got to be in with a shout.

 8) SUBARU IMPREZA TURBO (1994 - 2000) The original, four-door versions of the Scooby Pretzel are cheap now – you can, if you look carefully, pick them up for less than £1,500 – but it won’t be long before they’re being coveted as classics. Escort RS2000s, remember, were cheap and plentiful a long time ago...

9) BMW 8-SERIES (1990 - 1999) CAP’s list included no less than three BMWs, but they missed out this one, which price-wise is where the original 6-Series was 15 years ago. Not that I could afford to run around in a secondhand 850CSi, of course.

10) VOLKSWAGEN POLO G40 (1990 - 1994)  Only 600 imported into the UK originally and they’re rare, characterful pocket rockets now. Worth seeking one out for the addictive whine the supercharger makes. Plus, they go like stink.

Feel free, however, to disagree...

The full feature on CAP’s tips for future classic investments can be found in this week’s edition of Classic Car Weekly, published Wednesday, April 24.

The BMW X4 just isn't a proper off-roader

THEY don’t make ‘em like they used to. It’s probably the most overused cliché in the classic car book, but in the case of one off-road encounter last weekend it’s definitely true.

The car in question was an old Land Rover – specifically, a 1969 Series IIA of the ex-military variety – which I encountered at a garage in Lancashire, which I couldn’t help but swoon over just slightly. When you’ve been raised around old Range Rovers and brought up to believe anything vaguely old from Lode Lane is cool, you can’t help it.

At least one mate of mine (you know who you are) just doesn’t get my fascination with old off-roaders but the great thing with old Land Rovers is they acquire a patina over decades which the new ones just don’t have. Whereas it’s right for someone with an MG or a Triumph to spend hours on end polishing their pride ‘n’ joy, a Series IIA without a thin coating of muck is like an Arctic explorer who doesn’t have a craggy face and a light helping of stubble. Yes, old off-roaders are slow and noisy and corner like ocean liners, but the important thing is that they’re hard as nails.

Or at least, they used to be, because when I got in that night I saw BMW’s latest take on the off-roader – the X4, which is a bit like an X6 and about as up for a spot of Arctic exploring as Gok Wan does. Yes, I know I drove an X3 last year and found it annoyingly brilliant, but deep down I’d still rather that old Series IIA be on my driveway.

Land Rover’s own 2013 offerings are still capable mudpluggers, of course, but judging by BMW’s evidence, at least, they definitely don’t make off-roaders like they used to.

BMW M5 drifter: master or madman?

IRONICALLY, it was just after I'd renewed my membership of the Institute of Advanced Motorists that I came across this controversial clip.

Straight from the mean streets of Tblisi, this video of a BMW E34 M5 - the automotive star of Ronin and a supersaloon renowned for being one of the finest four-door entries in the company's back catalogue - has already attracted more than 14,000 hits since it was uploaded to YouTube a week or so ago. There is, if you're a petrolhead, something quite inspiring about seeing this autobahn annihilator drifting delicately from corner to corner.

It is, you've got to admit, a very skilled bit of driving, but here's the rub. All of it was filmed on public roads in and around the Georgian capital, and the roads weren't closed. Our anonymous BMW pilot was hanging the M5's tail out while other motorists were wondering what to do about it.

For that reason, it's already kicking up a bit of a stink in the motoring world, with a lot of petrolheads already pointing out that one wrong move and Mr M5 could have killed or injured another innocent road user.

So is the M5 driver talented, lucky, reckless or just plain mad? Or a bit of all those qualities? I'd love to know what you think. Without wanting to inadvertantly promote dangerous driving, have a look for yourself and see what you reckon...

If the Ford Mondeo is brilliant nobody will notice

HERE'S a bit of a motoring prediction for 2013. If Ford's new Mondeo is any good not one of you will bat an eyelid.

Which is a shame, because I reckon chances are it will be. This year the Mondeo celebrates its 20th anniversary - no really, it has been around that long - but take a look at the sharp end of the car sales charts and it's notable only by its absence. The best selling saloon in Britain is the BMW 3 Series.

This says more about the people who buy cars than it does about the cars themselves. When the Mondeo came out petrol cost 43p a litre and the sort of souls you'd see driving them hadn't bought them; they were given them by their fleet managers, which I think partly explained why the Mondeo always got such a kicking in the customer satisfaction surveys. If you buy a car privately you cherish it because you chose it carefully and paid for it with your own money; if it's a repmobile you're not going to be as bothered. Unless it breaks, in which case you - and your bosses - will be furious.

I also reckon, though I'm happy to be proven otherwise, that there's never been a bad Mondeo. Sure, there'll have been an iffy special edition or two in the car's 20 year history and obviously some are better than others but I've always thought the basic package - sensible saloon practicality and Ford value for money mixed with a dash of driving fun - has a certain something. I'll let you into a little secret; everyone I know who really knows their stuff on cars likes the Mondeo.

These days, though, the Mondeo and its ilk are an an endangered breed, and it's not just the £1.30 litre a petrol prices pushing the few remaining reps into family hatches instead. Mondeo Man these days is buying his own car with his own money, and if he isn't ploughing his hard earned into an infinitely trendier Nissan Qashqai than he's got the choice of the BMW 3 Series or the Ford Mondeo. I'll say that again; BMW or Ford. Even if the new Mondeo looks like an Aston Martin Rapide that shrank in the wash - which, amazingly, it does - it doesn't stand a chance.

Keen to find out what all the fuss is about, I've driven the new 3 Series and would like to tell you that it's rubbish and that you should buy a Mondeo instead. Only I can't, because it's brilliant.

Fire up the... BMW 3-Series

THE problem with BMW's 3-Series is you don't really need to read a road test to decide whether one should take pride of place on your driveway. It's simple; you either want one or you don't.

That's why I thought I'd start this week not with the car, but Coldplay. Every couple of years, they release an album which goes straight to the top of the sales charts with almost crashing inevitability, and - being someone who doesn't want to follow the herd - you do your absolute darndest not to buy a copy. Then you hear one of the tracks on the radio and you realise, as much as you hate them for it, that they've recorded an absolute belter. Again. If Coldplay made a car, they'd make a 3-Series. That's why it now outsells both Ford's Mondeo and Vauxhall's Insignia.

You don't need me to tell you then that this sixth-generation car is larger than the old one, a little lighter and - this being 2012 - kinder to the environment too. In time you'll be able to buy it as a coupe, a cabriolet and a Touring estate, but chances are it'll be this saloon version you'll be seeing on driveways up and down the land in the next few months.

Even if the new 3-Series is awful it'll be parked on driveways up and down the land in six months time but - and it's a verdict I deliver grudgingly, through gritted teeth - it's really, really good. The styling, inside and outside, is still a little bland for my liking and at £28,000 for the 320D Efficient Dynamics version I tried it's not especially cheap either, but once you get in it's an absolute delight to drive. It's not just that it feels agile and well balanced, but all the controls are exactly where you'd instinctively expect them to be, and feel as though though they could withstand years of abuse. It's comfy too - an Audi this agile would land you an appointment with your osteopath, but in the 3-Series, even motorway speeds, progress is quiet and unruffled.

In this corner of the motoring marketplace the badge is just as important as the car it's glued onto, and I know full well that if you want a new 3-Series you're going to buy one anyway. It's good to know, though, that there is substance to back up the gravitas that blue-and-white propeller brings.

The new Mondeo will have to be unbelievably brilliant to coax buyers out of their Beemers. Watch this space...

BMW Z4 gets the Zagato treatment

YOU know when you see the evocative slashes of the Zagato badge on a car's flanks that you're in for a bit of a visual treat.

The Italian coachbuilder has in the past treated Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin and Bentley models among others to his distinctive lines and unusual swoops, and now the Milan company's been given a BMW Z4 to play with. The striking sports car you see here, which is going on show at this year's Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, is the result.

Andrea Zagato said: "Our success in finishing the car in such a short space of time shows what is possible when two successful companies pool their resources.

“BMW is a high-achieving carmaker boasting a vast well of knowledge and technical capability in this area. When you combine that with our expertise in the creation of micro-series cars and our streamlined production processes, everything is in place to produce a beautiful model like the BMW Zagato Roadster in double-quick time”.

Among the features you won't find on an ordinary Z4 are the rear lights hidden behind a sheet of smoked black glass, the trademark Zagato 'double bubble' metalwork on the bootlid, new air outlets among the car's flanks, and a - let's say distinctive - brown and creme interior.

Among the cars Zagato has previously got the pens out for are the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, the Alfa Romeo SZ, the Spyker C12 Zagato and the Ferrari 575 GTZ.

BMW engines that go bump in the night

MIDNIGHT, just outside Cologne.

It's the later side of late and - having landed less than half an hour earlier at Cologne-Bonn Airport, all that's on my mind is reaching my destination as quickly as possible and catching up on some much-needed shut-eye. Luckily, I have the back seat of a BMW 5-Series Touring, a derestricted autobahn and a driver who knows how to make the best of both. The smooth, smart and devastatingly quick way to head for your German home from home.

Or rather it would have been had the Munich machine's temperature gauge not suddenly shot up and steam not started swirling out from beneath its bonnet, miles from anywhere. I don't know much German, but it doesn't take a master linguist to work out what the driver's instant analysis meant. "Auto kaput"...

As we stood in the darkness, perched on the hard shoulder of what basically is Germany's equivalent of the M1, I looked at the sorry-looking executive express and reflected on all the times my own motors had left me stranded in similar situations. The time the otherwise unremarkably reliable Rover, for instance, mysteriously cut out for no obvious reason at all. Or the one where my Mini decided to shed a wheel at 40mph. Or the one where my Mazda broke its propshaft - or rather, I sort of broke it.

In the end, it ended far more smoothly than any of us might have imagined - within half an hour the Beemer was on the back of a truck dispatched by ADAC, Germany's answer to the AA, and we were back on track, headed for our destination. What a destination it was!

The place chosen to mend the unhappy estate wasn't just any mechanic's workplace - it was an oldtimer garage, or classic car specialist in Petrolhead English. Even in the half light of the silly hours of the morning I could see it was packed with classics in near concours condition, with everything from Alfa Giulias and Giuliettas to Fiat 124 Spiders, homegrown favourites like the Volkswagen Beetle and a BMW 2002, and a right-hand-drive V12 E-Type with a curious mix of local German plates and dials still set to miles - rather than kilometres - an hour.

In the space of an hour I'd seen two very different extremes of German motoring, and finally made it to bed at about 2am shattered but surprisingly enlightened for the experience.

It just goes to show you not all of those clichés about German reliability are true...

Start 'em young....

THE young car nut I met earlier this morning took a particularly keen interest in my choice of wheels.

A woman got talking to this morning with a bit of a history of working in the motor industry - she now works for Isuzu, and can count stints with TVR and Multipart among her previous jobs - introduced me to her son, who was obviously keen to follow in the family footsteps and develop a passion for cars and motoring.

He took a look out at the window, clocked the little blue sports car I'd arrived in, and started with the obvious question.

"What is your car?"

"It's a Mazda" I replied. "A Mazda MX-5."

His eyes lit up with excitement. "Wow!" he commented gleefully. "An MX-5!"

I was, to be honest, flattered that a fellow petrolhead approved of my taste in small, affordable, rear-wheel-drive roadsters, so I decided to return the compliment by asking him the question I always get asked. What, I wondered, was his favourite car?

He paused for a moment and smiled. "BMW".

"Which BMW?" I asked.

"The yellow and black one!"

I wasn't expecting that one. Unless Munich's most famous motor maker has announced a collaboration with JCB or has a wasp-inspired new racing livery, I wasn't aware of any BMWs which are particularly famous for being yellow and black.

Not that I minded, though. The car enthusiast in question was three years old after all...

Why everybody (still) loves a Land Rover

"OFF-ROADERS are stupid and pointless," a friend suggested as we shot along the M6 somewhere near Stafford a fortnight ago. "You just don't need them."

All you need in an everyday car, he reckoned, is something cheap, comfortable, easy to look after and equipped with a healthy bit of oomph. Something, he reckoned, that's a lot like his turbodiesel Citroen Xsara. Anything with four wheel drive or knobbly tyres is just unecessary and expensive.

Seeing said mate utilise this argument - and win - hurt because I've always had a soft spot for 4x4s, and I don't mean the blinged-up, over-imposing "lifestyle" efforts from BMW and Audi either. I mean the off-roaders of the old school, the Jeeps, Isuzus and Shoguns with their unpretentious styling and obligatory Ifor Williams trailers. I especially like Land Rovers, particularly the proper ones which look like they've been styled on an Etch-a-Sketch. But having a soft spot wasn't winning an argument in the mildest winter we've seen in years.

Lukily, I found the answer I was looking for last weekend, when I ventured beyond my usual stomping ground into a place best known as The Countryside. There, there are hills and rivers and windy little lanes made muddy by the near-constant flow of tractors among them. Out there almost every house has a proper off-roader parked outside it, and when it suddenly started snowing I realised why.

After just a few hours The Countryside was no longer green and pleasant; it was like being trapped inside a Christmas card, only with more BBC Look North crews telling you off over the airwaves because you forgot to pack Ray Mears and a shovel into the boot. Naturally, I'd forgotten to bother with either.


With seven inches of the slippery white stuff to tackle my trusty old Rover did alright but I still wished it'd had the word "Land" in front of its name. Certainly, any Land Rover would have been better than the 11-reg SEAT Leon half a dozen of us had to push out of trouble, or the MINI Cooper which struggled to get over a humpback bridge without spinning its wheels, or the BMW 1-Series at the side of the A591 next to a driver who'd just given up trying.

On this cold, slippery, unforgiving day in The Countryside, nobody wanted the Porsches or BMWs the tourists had brought into the village the night before. But absolutely everybody wanted the 25-year-old Range Rover which was darting around the village completely unaffected. Like the local council's rather scabbier Defenders it was untroubled by the conditions, but it also exuded class in a way a brand-new X5 doesn't.

So off-roaders - proper ones at least - aren't stupid and pointless. Just ask anyone who lives in The Countryside.

Fire up the.... BMW X3 3.0d

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.

The new BMW 3 Series

BMW's got back to doing what it does best after it unveiled the latest generation of its 3 Series saloon last weekend.


The Munich motor makers confirmed that the latest version of its compact executive car will start at £24,100 when it goes on sale next February, with a choice of four different engines available when it reaches the showrooms.

A spokesperson for the company said:

"The new BMW 3 Series Saloon is a car of contradictions: larger and more spacious than the model it replaces, but lighter; quicker in many cases, but more fuel-efficient; and more nimble and agile while even safer. There have been big steps forward in style, quality, comfort and specification for only a minimal price increase.

"A wider choice of trim levels and an extensive personalisation programme will allow 3 Series Saloon buyers to order virtually a bespoke car."


The 3 Series Saloon one of the BMW's biggest sellers, responsible for one-fifth of the company’s global sales.

Fire up the... BMW 640i Cabriolet

IT'S probably better to think of this, one of BMW's biggest offerings, as not really being a car in the conventional sense at all.

The problem with testing plush cabriolets that aren't trying to be sports cars is that people only end up interested in one of its many impressive figures; the price.

So let's get it out of the way so you don't have to read right to the end before you
discover you can't afford it. It's £65,695.

That makes the 640Ci Cabriolet not only significantly more expensive than, say, a similarly-specced 5 Series salooon, but also £15k pricier than the Infiniti cabriolet Life On Cars will be testing in the next few weeks. Thinking about it logically in a recession-ravaged world, this Bavarian bruiser makes no sense at all.

But, believe it or not, there are plenty of people in the north west with the funds to spend their sunny afternoons cruising along the Southport Riviera, so to get into the 6-Series mindset you have to think of it as being like a land-going motor yacht.

It was also - until Infiniti's G37 arrived on these shores - just about the only luxury car which could four fully-sized adults in al fresco comfort, so it's definitely got an appeal if you're a (rich) family man. The question is whether it's worth the premium to have the blue and white propellor badge on your bonnet.

The BMW's unusual now among open tops in that its roof's still made from old fashioned canvas rather than folding metal panels, but don't let that put you off because it's one of the slickest in the business, folding away faster than the Infiniti's hard top and taking up less of the boot space. It's only at very high speeds you'll notice the difference.

From behind the wheel the BMW's a creamy, luxurious affair, cruising effortlessly, although I found the Japanese upstart slightly sharper and more fun to drive. Both though, are aimed more at offering comfort in spades both in the front and rear, and it's in the sumptuousness and space of the interior where the Beemer really excels.

The other ace up the BMW's sleeve, of course, is its depreciation; because unlike the Infiniti it's a long-established brand in the UK with plenty of cachet and street cred. That means more people are likely to want a secondhand BMW, and means you're more likely to see more of your money back when you come to sell it.

If you go for the Infiniti you'll be far from dissapointed - and £15,000 better off - but if money really isn't any object this BMW's going to prove hard to beat.

For better, for worse?

CAN a car be better and worse than its rivals at the same time?



That's the question that's been troubling me all the way back from Wetherby, North Yorkshire, where I've just been on one of the SMMT's test driving days. Thanks to having the A1(M), some sweeping A-roads and lots of twisty little country lanes just a stone's throw away, it's the perfect place to put some new motors through their paces and come to some contrived conclusions.



Last year it was the revelation that I'd rather have Suzuki's stonkingly good Swift over the rapid Lexus IS-F that got me, but this year it's Jeep's new Grand Cherokee, the big 4X4 bruiser you see pictured above. It is - and bear with me on this one - better than one of its key rivals despite being a bit worse.



I know this because I took it for a spin just after being let loose in BMW's X3, which aside from the £40,000 pricetag is annoyingly brilliant. Its 3.0 litre diesel quietly offers up all the punch you'd ever ask for, it's beautifully built, takes corners amazingly well for something so high-rise and even looks better than its slightly awkward predecessor. If you're in the market for a £40k off-roader, you really can't do much better.





But....but..... I'd rather have the Grand Cherokee, a car which - despite also having a 3.0 litre diesel unit - is thirstier, more roly-poly around the roundabouts and slower on the straights. Quantatively speaking it's not as good as the £5k cheaper X3, but it's the car I'd rather have because it has an indefinable X factor to it, a certain shine that makes it feel special.



I'll put it to you this way; on the X3's centre console is the circular silver switch which gives you access to BMW's iDrive system, which is a thing of technological beauty. Glance at the same space in the big Jeep and you're met with a chunky switch which lets you choose whether to conquer sand, rocks, mud or the M62. It's the little things. The X3 looks like an off-roader, but the Jeep - for better and worse - feels like one.



In that sense, the Grand Cherokee's a lot like the Wrangler I drove last year, because while it doesn't tick as many as the boxes you can't help but develop a bit of soft spot for it because it makes you smile. So it's worse than the X3, but it's also better.



Which would you rather have?



A full video report from the SMMT North test day will be posted on Life On Cars later this week.