• Plenty of standard safety equipment
• Several extra pieces of kit can be added
• Similar X3 has a good safety record 

The BMW X4 is yet to be crash-tested by Euro NCAP, but the closely-related X3 has been, and it achieved a five-star rating in 2017.

The X4 comes with plenty of airbags as standard, as well as a pair of Isofix attachments for child seats in the rear.

A comprehensive selection of driver assistance and safety technology can be added at extra cost, consisting of:

• Driving Assistant – rear cross-traffic alert, lane-change warning, lane-departure warning, rear collision warning, speed limit recognition, approach control warning
• Driving Assistant Plus – builds on the above with adaptive cruise control with stop and go function, front cross-traffic alert, crossroads warning, lane-change assist, lane-keep assist with active side collision protection, steering and lane control assistance and wrong-way warning

Other equipment such as bright LED headlights, parking assistance systems and run-flat tyres boost the safety kit count, too.

• Longer wheelbase means more space than old car
• Surprisingly spacious boot in the X4
• But passenger space isn’t as good as the X3 

X4 buyers won’t be buying this car with practicality as a number one priority, but it’s a big enough car to be considered as family transport.

Interior space is impressive in the front, with enough head and legroom and adjustment in the seats for anyone to get comfortable, with plenty of handy storage areas available across the cabin, too.

Move to the second row of seats and things aren’t as impressive as in the X3. That’s no surprise, but the X4’s sloping roofline really impacts on headroom, especially if you opt for the panoramic sunroof which also eats into space. Tinted windows and dark headlining also contribute to a slightly claustrophobic feel, but at least legroom is good.

The transmission tunnel isn’t as intrusive as you’d expect, but an adult won’t be especially comfortable in the middle seat, so that’s best left to children for shorter journeys.

Access to the rear seats is also a little more awkward – the bulky rear wheelarch means the door has been shaped around it, so it’s quite narrow at the bottom and it’s quite easy to knock your head on your way into the rear.

The X4 is around 80mm longer and 37mm wider than the old X4, so it takes up more space on the road and in parking spaces than the old car.

It can be difficult to judge the rear of the car thanks to the mass of bodywork and small windows out back, but the provision of sensors and crisp cameras help make the X4 more manoeuvrable than you might expect.

On some tighter country lanes, the X4 feels larger than expected. While it’s a high-riding SUV, you do sit quite  low within the cabin, which can make it a little difficult to judge the extremities of the car when approached by larger vehicles coming the other way.

At 525 litres, the X4 has lost 50 litres of boot space (with the load cover in place) compared with the X3, which isn’t too bad at all. That’s also 25 litres more than the previous X4.

The tailgate is electrically operated which makes life easier, but the loading lip is quite high, meaning lifting heavier items in will be a bit more challenging.

The good news is that the boot is nice and square, and the tailgate itself is a hatchback so access is good for larger items.

Folding the middle row of seats down is easy, and they fold in a 40:20:40 split to be as practical as possible. With all three folded, total carrying capacity is 1,430 litres. The heavily angled roofline will make fitting bulky items like washing machines in trickier, though.