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You won't find these numbers on your car, but the "E" numbers are widely used to identify BMW automobiles. These codes are used by BMW internally, and they are so useful, people outside of BMW discovered them and started using them, too.
The E stands for Entwicklung, the German word for Development. That's because the E codes are assigned by BMW at the beginning of model development.
Sometimes, vehicle designations are followed by a variant code. This code is a number separated from the "E" by a slash. For example, E36/7 is the code for the Z3 roadster.
Here is a table of "E" numbers BMW uses, including some of the older type codes for popular 60's and 70's models:
TYPE SERIES MODEL EXAMPLES YEARS
114 2
1502, 1602, 1802, 2002 66
- 77
115 2 1500
62 - 64
116 2 1600
64 - 66
118 2 1800,
1800ti, 1800tisa 63 - 71
120 2 2000,
2000ti, 2000tilux 66 - 70
121 2 2000,
2000ti, 2000tilux 66 - 72
E3 2 2500,
2800, Bavaria, 3.0s/si 68 - 77
E6 2 1600,
1800, 2000 touring 73 - 75
E9 2 2500cs,
2800cs, 3.0cs 65 - 75
E12 5 530i
79 - 81
E21 3 320i,
323i 77 - 83
E23 7 733i,
735i, L7 78 - 88
E24 6 630Csi,
633Csi, 635Csi, M6, L6 78 - 88
E25 Concept Turbo
72
E26 M1 82
- 88
E28 5 524td,
528e, 533i, 535i, 535is, M5 82 - 88
E30 3 318i,
318is, 325, 325e, 325es, 325i, 325is, 325iC, 325ix, M3, Z1 84
- 92
E31 8 840Ci,
850i, 850Ci, 850CSi 90 - 99
E32 7 735i,
735iL, 740i, 740iL, 750iL 88 - 94
E34 5 525i,
530i, 535i, 540i, M5, Touring 89 - 96
E36 3 318i,
318is, 318ti, 325i, 325is, 325iC, 328i, 328is, 328iC, M3, Z3 92
- 99
E38 7 740i,
740iL, 750iL 95 - 2002
E39 5 528i,
540i 97 - 2003
E46 3 323i,
325i, 328i, 323Ci, 328Ci, M3 98 - 2006
E53 X5 3.0,
X5 3.0d, X5 4.4, X5 4.6is 2000 -
E65 7 745i
2002
E60 E61 E90 E91 E92 E93
An "M" means that the engine has been developed by BMW, while an "S" means that it's an M-engine modified for extra performance by BMW Motorsport. Following the letter is a number that identifies the model. BMW usually specifies the engine designation followed by the engine capacity, as the M52B25 is the 2.5-liter version of the M52. The "B" in M52B25 stands for "Benzin", the German word for petrol (UK) or gasoline (USA), whereas a Diesel engine would use the code "D". Finally, sometimes you will see an engine code with a suffix, as the M06 is also known as the M30B25V with the V meaning "Vergasser" or Carburetor.
TYPE CYLS ENGINE
SIZES EXAMPLES VALVES
M10 4 1.6,
1.8, 2.0 2002, 318i, 320i 8
M20 6 2.0,
2.3, 2.5, 2.7 323i, 325i, 325e, 528e 12
M21 6 2.4 324d, 524td
12
M30 6 2.8, 3.0, 3.3, 3.5
5, 6 and 7 Series from 1975-1992 12
M40 4 1.6, 1.8 316i, 318i
8
M41 4 1.8 E36 318tds
8
M42 4 1.8 318i, is, ti, Z3
16
M44 4 1.9 318i, Z3 16
M47 4 1.9 320d 16
M50 6 2.3, 2.5, 2.8 325i,
525i 24
M50TU 6 2.3, 2.5, 2.8 325i,
525i 24 VaNos
M51 6 2.5 325td, 525tds,
725tds 12
M52 6 2.8 528i 24
VaNos
M54 6 3.0 X5, E46, Z3, Z4
24 Double VaNos
M57 6 3.0
530d 24
M60 8 3.0, 4.0 530i, 540i,
730i, 740i, 840Ci 32
M62 8 4.4 535i, 540i, 735i,
740i, 840Ci 32
M67 8 3.9 740d 32
M70 12 5.0 750i, 750iL, 850i,
850Ci 24
M73 12 5.4 750i, 750iL, 850i,
850Ci 24
M88 6 3.5 M5, M6 24
S14 4 2.3 E30 M3 16
S38 6 3.5 M5 24
S50 6 3.0 E36 M3 24
VaNos
S52 6 3.2 E36 M3 24
VaNos
S54 6 3.2 E46 M3 24
VaNos
S62 8 5.0 E39 M5 48
VaNos
S70 12 5.6 850Csi
24
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