Since we last spoke, they’ve changed the name of this car from BMW X5 3.0 sd to the BMW X5xDrive35d. That’s the way the new BMW naming convention goes. To be honest I prefer the older, simpler name.

And no, they haven’t upped the capacity to 3.5 litres either – it's still a 3.0-litre – talk about a reverse compliment to perhaps the finest oil burning engine on the road.

Anyway, the name change came in conjunction with a 20 grand price hike – which we'd say is still not too bad considering that the euro has all but doubled in that time – 2.7 percent is well behind inflation, too, considering the launch price has ruled since March last year. Suppose it helps that X5 is built in the US…

The service light came on just after 12 000km and we booked the X5 into Hyde Park Auto. Had to wait a few days for an appointment and we had the car there fresh and early.

I left Carol to sign the car in and despite building operations on the dealer site, the book-in service was quick and efficient and we were free to go within 15 minutes despite a pretty pressing throng of owners waiting in line.

We were promised a call by 2pm and sure enough Daniella called 20 minutes early to let us know X5 would be ready by five, but that was a hassle for us as we were tied up at that time. "No problem," she said, "come fetch it in the morning – we’ll keep it safe overnight."

The handover next morning was just as quick and efficient and we were mobile within a couple of minutes – the job well done bar the fact that they never bothered to clean or vacuum the car inside to match the sparkling exterior on delivery. A minor glitch was their overly ambitious use of cleaning solvents outside that dusted up within a day to make it look all dirty again.

But besides the dirty interior on its return, full marks to Hyde Park Auto on a job well done.

Besides that, I have had more time than usual behind the wheel of the X5 over the holiday period and I have to admit to being nasty to hot hatch allcomers whenever I could.

To all those GTIs whose days I’ve spoiled, not to mention the odd ST and RS Megane, sorry guys – it’s just too much of a thrill not to engage you from the lights with my truck and check your faces when you see that little d on the side at the next robot!

See, besides being an ultimate and luxurious go-anywhere machine, it’s a sportscar too, our X5 – and that’s what sets it apart from the rest – and then some…

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