Engage launch control and the X5 M dispatches 0-62mph in 3.8 seconds. Should you be minded to get to 124mph, this super truck of oomph will blast you there in 13.4 seconds, Spend £2,100 on the optional M Driver’s Package (which this has) and your top speed leaps from 155mph to 190mph.

This monsterwagen is very nearly as quick as the likes of a Lamborghini Urus or Bentley Bentayga Speed. It’s just as well-equipped, seats the same number of people in space and comfort, but £100k + cheaper. (can we utter the word cheap in this sentence)

Underneath, very little standard X5 remains. The M’s engine mounts are beefier, as are the suspension foundations. You get adaptive dampers with body-roll counteraction. The cooling and oil systems are approved for racetrack use. There’s more camber, fatter tyres, enormous brakes and you can even change the feel through the brake pedal, for no good reason we can think of, but its very cool non the same.

Those M1 and M2 favourite-settings keys will come in handy if you want to exploit this lunatic’s enormous reserves of computing power.  A world-class engine and supercar-tuned suspension.

The X5 M Comp’s interior is what really sells us on this vehicle’s overall styling. The beige leather buckets, with quilted beige inserts and colored “X5 M” badges in the headrest, are very good looking. The standard 12.3-inch central touchscreen flows (almost) seamlessly into the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, the two massive screens giving off a very high-tech look. And among the beige leather, black accents, and aluminum trim pieces, three red buttons stand out: M1 and M2 drive modes on the upper part of the steering wheel, and the red ignition button – the latter looks like something designed for a missile launch. It’s this attention to detail that makes the inside of the X5 M Competition so alluring.

The car has more spec than a NASA space Rocket equipped for Mars, the X5 M has navigation, Wi-Fi, gesture control, a head-up display, the “Hey BMW” voice assistant, wireless charging, and wireless Apple CarPlay, Reversing camera’s and much much more.