IT'S big, bold and brash. Almost inevitably it is a Marmite car - one that divides opinion into love-it or loathe-it camps.

I'm talking about the BMW X6, a king size coupe with off-road pretentions, sports car performance and estate car carrying capacity.

Putting personal preferences aside for a moment, it is indisputable that the styling and concept of the rakish five-door based on the more practical and conventional X5, has helped carved out a new niche within the booming SUV sector.

Recently facelifted and improved, I drove the 30d version which because of its blend of reasonable economy, low emissions and gutsy performance is proving the best seller of the line-up in Britain.

With steeply raked windscreen, muscular wheel arches and shallow side windows the X6 can be termed ‘imposing' or even ‘intimidating', depending on which cam you fall into. Its road presence is undeniable, however.

Power source is an established 3.0-litre, single turbo diesel straight-six knocking out a healthy 258bhp. For such a substantial vehicle - it weighs in at two tons - acceleration as well as its dexterity is impressive. The 62mph dash is reached in 6.7 seconds and top speed is 143mph.

What surprises most is the way the tall coupe can be hustled around bends. Active four wheel drive and huge low profile tyres keep you firmly planted on the road, and there's only a marginal body-roll during rapid cornering. Adaptive dampers are standard in the M Sport model test and these help provide a decent compromise between comfort and dynamic handling.

It's best appreciated as speed mounts though. When travelling slowly, bumps can jar but get a move on and the X6 takes road imperfections in its stride.

The steering is well weighted but feels somewhat lifeless, passing little road information back to the driver. Arch rival Porsche Cayenne remains the master here.

In addition to some minor external tweaks which go almost unnoticed, the cabin has been tidied and enhanced during the facelift.

But the major improvement, along with better economy, is the adoption of a new eight-speed automatic gearbox which is slick and smooth. Whether you use the steering paddles or allow the computer to do the work, it is one of the best automatic gearboxes available.

Comfort and luxury in the front of the cabin is up there with the best. Inevitably with that sloping roofline, rear headroom is restricted for those above six-foot tall. Also the shallow side windows tend to make the back of the car somewhat claustrophobic.

Luggage space is ample for most with 580 litres of cargo room before the rear seats are folded when this expands to 1,525 litres. It has to be said, though, that the more upright X5 can swallow up 650 litres/1,870 litres.

Official fuel consumption is a combined average of 47.1mpg and my real-life test average worked out at 36mpg. CO2 emissions are pegged at a reasonable 159g/km.