BMW X3 FROM $86,100

BMW's X3 is like a cross between Goldilocks and an iPhone.

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Much like Apple's prodigious product, the X3 — a mid-sized, premium SUV — it has been a spectacular and ubiquitous sales success, shifting more than 3.5 million units worldwide since its launch 20 years ago, with almost 60,000 of those sold in Australia.

And like a Goldilocks bed or bowl of porridge, it’s the just-right-sized-ness of the BMW X3 that makes it so popular with such a wide array of buyers, and families. It's not too big to be intimidating to drive or difficult to park, but it's not too small for actual humans to drive long distances in the back seat, with all their gear in the boot behind them.

Being merely large rather than huge also helps in the looks department, and the all-new version of the venerable X3, now in its fourth generation, looks sharper, more architectural (or “monolithic”, as BMW describes it) and more modern inside and out.

It's a real head turner, with a new “Iconic Glow” grille that separates the two famous BMW kidneys for the first time, and a panoramic glass roof that really adds to a sense of space and lightness inside when it's open.