hey,
i think one of the great things about european cars, bimmers especially, is the codes. lets take my E30 325i for example. if you see E something such as E30, that is the body code. the current body style for the 3 series is E46. the 3 in 325i is the series. such as 3series, 5series, eetc. the 25 in 325 is the displacement, in my car the displacement is 2.5 liters. the "i" means injected, "c" means coupe, "x" is all wheel drive (thus the X5, all (or 4) wheel drive SAV based on the 5 series), "L" means lightweight and also longwheel base, "s" means sport, "d" means diesel, but you will only see those in europe. If it is an M series then it is a special car, coming from the Motorsport division from BMW. these are designated M1, M3 and so on.
another word on the displacement. sometimes BMW jumped around with these last two figures in the model number. the previous 7 series had the 740i and the 750iL. the 740i had a 4.4 liter V8 and i believe the 750 had a 5.4 liter V12. also 318's came with 1.8 and 1.9 liter engines, both of which went under the 318 badge.
here are some examples:
325i - 3 series, 2.5 liter, injected
M3CSL - 3 series from BMW motorsport, Coupe Sport Lightweight
750iL - 7 series, 5.4 liter, injected, long wheelbase
328iS - 3 series, 2.8 liter, injected, with sport package
635Csi - 6 series, 3.5 liter, coupe, sport, injected
if there is anything i missed please let me know!
