2019 Lexus RX vs BMW X5

What's the difference?

This is a review with a difference. For three days, I had a Lexus RX450h and thought it was pretty terrible to drive. Every time I turned the steering wheel, the tyres would squeal as though they weren't inflated with air but instead with tiny, fluffy kittens.

I was bitterly disappointed. How could a car get out the door of the Lexus engineering division with such an aversion to corners. I mean, I know it's not meant to be a corner-carving monster, but normal cornering should have been okay.

After those three days, I'd had enough. The low tyre pressure warning light came on and the penny dropped. I hadn't even thought to check the pressures. They were very, very low. Like only at two-thirds of recommended. So after visiting three separate establishments to find a working pump, I had a whole different car.

The new fourth-generation BMW X5 is a bit predictable.

You guessed it - this new 2019 BMW X5 is bigger, has more technology, and has more of a focus on luxury than any version that has come before it.

And of course BMW thinks it'll be a success story in Australia, because more than 55,000 X5s have been sold here since the original model launched in 2001.

So what's the new one like? We've got the entry-level xDrive30d version here to find out.