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Engines and Chassis

The designation of every BMW engine starts with a letter. An M means that the engine has been developed by BMW itself, an S means that it's an M-engine and has been built by BMW Motorsport. After that there is a number that identifies the model.
Whether the engine is a petrol or diesel engine can be seen from the following letter, which is either a B ('Benzin', German word for petrol) or a D (Diesel), followed by the cubic capacity (rounded). S70B56 therefore stands for a petrol engine with 5.6l displacement which has been developed by BMW M.

Every evolutionary step of a car model has its own code as well. It starts with an E ('Entwicklung', German word for development) followed by the identification number. The 8-series has model code E31. That's why this site is named www.e31.net.

The following tables show you what code stands for which engine and in which chassis it was integrated (and vice versa). This data is not (yet) complete (concerning model years 2001 and up) but at least so far correct.

Petrol Engines
CodeTypeDisplacementChassis
M10SOHC-R4 (8V)1.6 lE21
1.8 lE12, E21, E28, E30
2.0 lE12, E21
M20SOHC-R6 (12V)2.0 lE12, E21, E28, E30, E34
2.3 lE21, E30
2.5 lE12, E30, Z1, E34
2.7 lE28, E30
M30SOHC-R6 (12V)2.5 lE12, E23, E28
2.8 lE12, E23, E24, E28
3.0 lE12, E23, E24, E32, E34
3.2 lE12, E23, E24, E28, E30
3.4 lE12, E23, E24, E28, E32, E34
M40SOHC-R4 (8V)1.6 lE30, E36
1.8 lE30, E34, E36, E36 (Z3)
M42DOHC-R4 (16V)1.8 lE30, E36
M43SOHC-R4 (8V)1.6 lE36
1.9 lE36, E36 (Z3), E46
M44DOHC-R4 (16V)1.9 lE36
M50DOHC-R6 (24V)2.0 lE34, E36
2.5 lE34, E36
M52DOHC-R6 (24V)2.0 lE36, E36 (Z3), E39, E46
2.5 lE36, E36 (Z3), E39, E46
2.8 lE36, E36 (Z3), E38, E39
M54DOHC-R6 (24V)2.2 lE36 (Z3), E39, E46
2.5 lE36 (Z3), E39, E46
3.0 lE36 (Z3), E39, E46, E53
M60DOHC-V8 (32V)3.0 lE32, E34, E38
4.0 lE31, E32, E34, E38
M62DOHC-V8 (32V)3.5 lE38, E39
4.4 lE31, E38, E39, E53
M70SOHC-V12 (24V)5.0 lE31, E32
M73SOHC-V12 (24V)5.4 lE31, E38
M102SOHC-R6 (12V)3.2 lE23
3.4 lE23
Diesel Engines
CodeTypeDisplacementChassis
M21SOHC-R6 (12V)2.4 lE28, E30, E34
M41SOHC-R4 (8V)1.7 lE36
M47DOHC-R4 (16V)2.0 lE39, E46
M51SOHC-R6 (12V)2.5 lE34, E36, E38, E39
M57DOHC-R6 (24V)2.5 lE39
2.9 lE38, E39, E46, E53
Petrol Engines, BMW-Motorsport
CodeTypeDisplacementChassis
M88DOHC-R6 (24V)3.5 lE26
M88/3DOHC-R6 (24V)3.5 lE23, E24
S14DOHC-R4 (16V)2.0 lE30
2.3 lE30
2.5 lE30
S38DOHC-R6 (24V)3.5 lE24, E28
3.6 lE34
3.8 lE34
S50DOHC-R6 (24V)3.0 lE36
3.2 lE36, E36 (Z3)
S52DOHC-R6 (24V)3.2 lE36, E36 (Z3)
S54DOHC-R6 (24V)3.2 lE36 (Z3), E46
S62DOHC-V8 (32V)5.0 lE39, E52
S70SOHC-V12 (24V)5.6 lE31
S70/2DOHC-V12 (48V)6.1 lMcLaren F1

Chassis-CodeModelProduction time*Engines
E125 series1972 - 1981M10B18, M10B20, M20B20, M20B25, M30B25, M30B28, M30B30, M30B32, M30B34
E213 series1975 - 1983M10B16, M10B18, M10B20, M20B20, M20B23
E237 series1977 - 1986M30B25, M30B28, M30B30, M30B32, M30B34, M102B32, M102B34, M88/3B35
E246 series1976 - 1989M30B28, M30B30, M30B32, M30B34, M88/3B35, S38B35
E26M11978 - 1981M88B35
E285 series1981 - 1987M10B18, M20B20, M20B27, M30B25, M30B28, M30B32, M30B34, M21D24, M88/3B35, S38B35
E303 series1982 - 1994M10B18, M20B20, M20B23, M20B25, M20B27, M30B32, M40B16, M40B18, M42B18, M21D24, S14B20, S14B23, S14B25
Z1Z11988 - 1991M20B25
E318 series1990 - 1999M60B40, M62B44, M70B50, M73B54, S70B56
E327 series1986 - 1994M30B30, M30B34, M60B30, M60B40, M70B50
E345 series1988 - 1997M20B20, M20B25, M30B30, M30B34, M40B18, M50B20, M50B25, M60B30, M60B40, M21D24, M51D25, S38B36, S38B38
E363 series1990 - 2000M40B16, M40B18, M42B18, M43B16, M43B19, M44B19, M50B20, M50B25, M52B20, M52B25, M52B28, M54B22, M54B25, M54B30, M41D17, M51D25, S50B30, S50B32, S52B32, S54B32
E36Z3 (same code as 3 series)1996 -M40B18, M43B19, M52B20, M52B25, M52B28, M54B22, M54B25, M54B30, S50B32, S52B32, S54B32
E387 series1994 - 2001M52B28, M60B30, M60B40, M62B35, M62B44, M73B54, M51D25, M57D29
E395 series1995 -M52B20, M52B25, M52B28, M54B22, M54B25, M54B30, M62B35, M62B44, M47D20, M51D25, M57D25, M57D29, S62B50
E463 series1998 -M43B19, M52B20, M52B25, M54B22, M54B25, M54B30, M47D20, M57D29, S54B32
E52Z81999 -S62B50
E53X51999 -M54B30, M62B44, M57D29
E657 series2001 -?
* Touring or Cabrio versions have been replaced later by new ones so there is an overlap in production