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It may look plain, but the new 3-series is a joyous return to BM's finest dynamic form

Confidence is a quality that BMW has always had in abundance. Even when the Chris Bangle-styled 7-series stunned the world and sold in a steady trickle rather than a rich stream, even when the collective motoring world - other designers, journalists and the public alike - wondered whether finally BMW had lost the plot.

Now, just when that confidence looks justified; when the 7-series has established itself as the most successful big BMW ever; when the 5-series has made all of its competitors look a bit old-fashioned and the 1-series has been well-received by the buying public, BMW seem to have had a minor crisis of confidence. The new 3-series is neat, attractive and cohesive but viewed with eyes that have grown accustomed to intriguing, compelling and slightly left-field BMWs, it seems a bit of a cop-out.

Of course the 3-series is BMW's bread-and-butter car (over 3 million have been sold in 30 years) and as such it's been decided that it needs to appeal to a broad customer base. I'm sure it will, but for me it doesn't proffer much real excitement, simply because it seems a bit too familiar - a car glancing in the rear view mirror rather than leading the charge at the head of the wacky 7, 5, 1 and Z4.

Fortunately, underneath the rather conservative skin lies a car chock-full of mechanical and electronic sophistication blessed with exceptional composure, real agility and a drivetrain that leaves its opposition for dead. The E90, like the four generations of 3-series before it, redefines a class of its own making. After the relative disappointment of the 5-series and Z4, it feels good to say that BMW is back to its best. If you're after a compact sports saloon, the 3-series is the only viable choice.

Perhaps that's no surprise. The E46, even in its last year of production, was arguably still the class leader in terms of dynamic polish, but the gap has been narrowing rapidly in recent years. Spend a little time with the engineers and executives behind the new 3 and you quickly realise that this is a situation that won't be tolerated within BMW. The 3-series, above all others, must be a car that simply annihilates its rivals.