BMW Series numbers: what they mean

[CHaserTourv]

ever wonder what the number meant on the BMWs, besides the 3, 5, 7, etc. the last two number stands for how many liters the cars engine has. like, the 330i, its a 3-series with a 3.0 liter engine, or the 745i, its a 7-series with a 4.5 liter engine, or the 540i, which is a 5 with a 4.o liter engine. also the i on all the cars(ex. 540i, 745i, 330i) stand for fuel injection. the CI stands for coupe/convertible, the Li or iL stands for long wheelbase, and thats it. our good friend at BMW of NA(Vice President of Sale and Marketing JIm McDowell) told us, hes a good hearted guy, and very informative

[crayzayjay]

So how many litres is a 316i?

[TheScientist]

I'm guessing 1.9, but from the info given, I guess also 1.6 liter.

[crayzayjay]

Hehe.. it was a trick question. The original post is correct, but BMW have been messin around with their badging recently, with 316's having a 1.9l, 323's and 523's a 2.5l, etc... But generally that is how it works

[KC Ron Carter]

Nothing new, just older models. The newer stuff is kind of strange.

Here is how the E works

E3 - Bavarias, the 4 door sedan that BMW made in the late '60s and early '70s.
E9 - Coupes as in the 2800cs and the 3.0cs made in the late '60s and early '70s.
E12 - The First 5 Series. Make from late '70s to early '80s.
E21 - First 3 Series. In the US the 320i. In the rest of the world, 320i, and 323i.
E23 - First 7 series.
E24 - The 6 series, all of them. Unfortunately here is a confusing point. BMW called the 6 series by the same E name even though in 1982 they completely changed the suspension and many other things. When talking about 6 series you also need to talk about year.
E28 - The Second Generation 5 Series. Make from '82 to '87.
E30 - Second Generation 3 Series. Built from '83 to 90. Convertables continued to Dec. '92.
E31 - 8 series
E32 - Second Generation 7 series.
E34 - Third Generation 5 series. This car was built from '89 through '95.
E36 - Third Generation 3 series. Came in such things as the 318ti, and the Z3 verions.
E38 - Third Gen. 7
E39 - Fourth Gen. 5
E46 - Fourth Gen. 3


As for the motors BMW started with the original 4 cylider and has gone from there.
M10 - Four cylinder found in 2002 and 320i
M30 - Big Six, based on M10 but with 2 extra cylinders. Found in every large BMW(not 3 series) up to and including the E34.
M20 - Baby Six, smaller displacement 6 cylinder.
M40 - Four cylinder first found in the E30 318is. This is the motor with the profile gasket problem.
M50 - Multi-valve small six that replaced the M20.
M52 - All Aluminum small six that replaced the M50.


M motors go by a different designation. They use S.
S14 - E30 M3 motor based on M10.
S38 - E28/E34/E24 M5/M6 motor based on the M30.

Later,

[Tomsriv]

What's the difference between a 325i and a 325is?

[buymeabmwm3]

A 325is is just the plural of 325i. As in, "I saw some 325is today."

[Erik328i]

"is" is the coupe...
"i" is the sedan.

[TheScientist]

Originally Posted by buymeabmwm3

A 325is is just the plural of 325i. As in, "I saw some 325is today."

Actually, if you plurize something like that, you do put an apostraphe(spelling ). An example is: you do not put 745is, you put 745i's.
And erik, "is" on a 325 means it is a fuel injected sport vehicle. The "i" means fuel injected, and the "s" means sport.

[BMW_4.4i]

So what does the X5 4.6is stand for? I am talking about the 's' after the 'i'.

[Nickell100]

Originally Posted by TheScientist

Actually, if you plurize something like that, you do put an apostraphe(spelling ). An example is: you do not put 745is, you put 745i's.
And erik, "is" on a 325 means it is a fuel injected sport vehicle. The "i" means fuel injected, and the "s" means sport.

Actually, you don't. Pluralizing something generally requires just and "s", sometimes an "es", and some words require more complex conjugations (ie louse to lice). This is true for dates to. If you mean to say that Darwin published "On the Origin of Species" in the 19th century, you might say he published it in the 1800s.
Using " 's " means that you are making something possessive. This is sort of confusing but: "In the 1900s, many people thought that the 1800's ideology behind creation/evolution was distorted." (that was just an example, not a true statement). The other place where " 's " occurs is in the word "it's", which is an abbreivation of "it is", not to be confused with "its" which is, in fact, possessive. "Speaking of the dog, Jon said, "It's true that its food bowl is empty."
To find the ultimate standard on issues like grammar and such, refer to "The Elements of Style" by Stunk and White.

[TheScientist]

Originally Posted by Nickell100

Actually, you don't. Pluralizing something generally requires just and "s", sometimes an "es", and some words require more complex conjugations (ie louse to lice). This is true for dates to. If you mean to say that Darwin published "On the Origin of Species" in the 19th century, you might say he published it in the 1800s.
Using " 's " means that you are making something possessive. This is sort of confusing but: "In the 1900s, many people thought that the 1800's ideology behind creation/evolution was distorted." (that was just an example, not a true statement). The other place where " 's " occurs is in the word "it's", which is an abbreivation of "it is", not to be confused with "its" which is, in fact, possessive. "Speaking of the dog, Jon said, "It's true that its food bowl is empty."
To find the ultimate standard on issues like grammar and such, refer to "The Elements of Style" by Stunk and White.

No Offense man, but we're talkin cars, not grammar. Also, when you pluralize car series numbers like the 745i, you do the 745i's not the 745is otherwise it means a whoooole diffferent type of car.