I love BMW's M3. Love it with a passion. Any excuse, however contrived, will do if it means a spell behind the wheel. That hollow metallic engine note, the beautiful chassis balance and the gut-wrenching acceleration and braking are all utterly addictive. The problem is I can't afford one and even if I could, the two door coupe shape wouldn't go down at all well with her indoors. Compromise can so often be a dirty word, but when it's applied to BMW's 330i, it's a concept fully rehabilitated.

With 272bhp to call upon, the £29,840 330i doesn't exactly want for power, though if you really want more, then BMW will sell you the twin-turbo 306bhp 335i. But it's £3,000 more and for the 330i, BMW quote a sprint to 60mph of 6.1 seconds. Exactly how much faster than that do you really need to go? Unless you're a track day fiend, it's likely that the 335i's extra horses will largely be wasted. That being the case, if like me, you require four doors, there's really very little that acts as a credible alternative to the 330i.

Available in saloon and Touring estate guises with SE or M Sport trim or in Coupe and Convertible form, the E90 generation 330i looks set to be an even bigger success than the original E46 series version. Much of that is down to the engine. Whereas the old 330i featured a 231bhp 3.0-litre straight six under the bonnet, the latest car has an altogether more high-tech powerplant. To some 'the world's lightest six cylinder engine' will figure in their buying decisions about as prominently as 'the world's toughest driveshaft splines' or 'the most precision-milled glovebox hinges in automotive history'. It just doesn't seem that significant, especially in a car as laden with luxury gadgetry as the 330i. The key is that the low weight of the engine allows for all the refinements without imposing too much of a penalty on performance. With less weight hanging out over the nose, there are all sorts of handling benefits plus the usual economy and emissions advantages - factors that have been boosted by the inclusion on BMW's EfficientDynamics technology.

"The 330i offers serious speed without catastrophic running costs"

The 330i features a 3.0-litre Valvetronic engine with technology that does away with conventional throttle butterflies in favour of a complex electrically-powered valve lifting system. Constructed from an aluminium and magnesium composite, this engine sits tucked well back in the car's cavernous engine bay and gives the 330i excellent weight distribution. Less weight also equates to better performance, more agile handling and lower fuel consumption and emissions. The EfficientDynamics package on the latest car also introduced features like Brake Energy Regeneration and Auto Start-Stop which have a dramatic effect on overall efficiency.

Despite the modest cubic capacity, this engine punches well above its weight, knocking out 272bhp at 6,600rpm. On the road, this will translate into a surprising amount of heft. Both the saloon and Touring will run into BMW's self-imposed electronic limiter at 155mph with plenty to spare yet the 330i can still manage a combined fuel economy figure of nearly 40mpg.

Around twelve per cent up on BMW's old 3.0-litre petrol engine - itself no slouch when it came to fuel figures - the Valvetronic unit offers the best of both worlds. The Valvetronic engine also complies with the latest Euro IV emissions regulations and features the world's first electric water pump to cool the engine block for increased efficiency. Six-speed manual gearboxes are fitted as standard but customers will also be able to specify their car with either an automatic or BMW's racy Sequential Manual Gearbox.

Developing an all-new 3-Series was never going to be easy and the latest car shows that the money men and the stylists have gone head to head in the battle between shifting big numbers and continuing the trend for challengingly styled BMWs. It looks like the stylists have blinked first, the 3-Series looking a good deal more conservatively penned than the rest of the BMW line up. Although those wearing the black polo necks may grumble, it's a wise choice. With the 3-Series accounting for fully 52 per cent of BMW's UK sales, alienating this bedrock of customers with a wilfully odd looking car was never going to make a sound business case. Although sales of the latest 5-Series have swelled as people became used to its sharky lines, for the first few months that styling was manna from heaven for Mercedes and Audi.

Many of the contemporary BMW styling signatures are present although they have been toned down radically. The sill line is bowed, although nowhere near as radically as in, say, a 1-series. Compare how the rear bootlid is a chamfered and smoothed version of that worn by the 5-Series. Even the flanks betray a less aggressive concave contouring, while the rest of the traditional BMW cues such as the 'Hofmeister Kink' at the rear window and the kidney grille are present and correct.

Run-flat tyres are used with every tyre and wheel option on the E90 3-series. Although some have grumbled about the deterioration in ride quality when run flats are specified, it's worth noting that this is only normally the case when the run-flat is an optional extra. When, as is the case of the E90 3 Series, the suspension has been tuned to accommodate the stiffer sidewalls of a run flat tyre, the overall ride quality isn't noticeably inferior.

BMW's 330i isn't an M3 but it doesn't have to be. Don't let horsepower considerations divert your attention from what is possibly the most versatile petrol powered car in the entire 3 Series line up.

TOP 5 3 SERIES DEALS

The results below show the top 3 SERIES deals on buyacar

	BMW 3 Series 330i SE 2dr Coupe
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £405	Price £31,685
	BMW 3 Series 330i SE 2dr Auto Coupe
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £469	Price £33,211
	BMW 3 Series 330i SE [272] 5dr Auto Touring Estate
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £2,045	Price £30,715
	BMW 3 Series 330i M Sport [272] 5dr Touring Estate
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £2,152	Price £31,783
	BMW 3 Series 330i SE [272] 5dr Touring Estate
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £1,897	Price £29,228