bmw badging system
 

could some one tell me what the numbers and such work on BMW's? i alrerady know about the 1st one being the series (3,5,6,7,8 series) but the next 2 and the letters i have no clue. thanks

Generally, the next two numbers denote the engine size in liters, i.e. a 325i and 525i both have a 2.5 liter straight six, 330i and 530i have a 3.0 liter engine, etc.

BMW is not always consistent with this (nor is MB). For instance, when the original V8 was introduced in 1994, it came in a 4.0 liter displacement and was installed in, reasonably, the 540i and 740i. In 1997 (I believe), BMW upgraded the engine to 4.4 liters, but retained the 540i and 740i badges. Why? Who knows? Similarly, when BMW dropped the 1.8 liter 4 cylinder (318i) from the previous generation 3 series (E36), it needed a new entry level model to sell below the 328i (2.8 liter six). They had a nice 2.5 liter six, but to create "space" between the high and low end of the 3 series, they detuned the 2.5 liter from 189 to around 165 hp, and called it a 323i - even though it was 2.5 liters. The badging carried over into the first year or two of the current generation 3 series (E46) until an enlarged high end six (3.0 liters) was introduced into the 330i, at which time they bumped the 2.5 liter six back up to its previous 190 or so hp, and renamed it 325i.

As far as the letters, "i" used to mean "injected", just as "E" for MB stood for Einspritzung (injected). Over time, as all cars have become fuel injected, it really no longer means anything - the "i" version of any car simply means a normal sedan. In the 3 series, various additional letters have been used to denote the coupes and convertibles; the E36 coupes were "is", i.e. 318is, 325is, 323is, 328is, and the convertibles were referred to informally as the "ic" (I don't believe there was ever a decklid badge that called it that). That nomenclature changed for the E46, so that coupes are now "ci", and the convertibles, which carry "ci" decklid badges, are referred to informally as "cic". 5 series have always been pretty straightforward, with the exception of the 535is in 1988, the last year of the E28 style, which denoted a sports package attached to a regular 535i. In 7 Series, the short wheelbase cars are "i", the long wheelbase cars are "il", similar to the old distinction between SE and SEL.

There's more (ti was the briefly sold 3 series hatchback, the 850csi was effectively an M8, "it" is a station wagon, "ix" or "xi" means all wheel drive) but it gets pretty arcane.

wow, pretty confusing but i think i have a better understanding of it. couple of things

what does CSI if it does exist stand for? i thought i saw a 6 series (possibly an M6 that was 6..CSI. and i was guessing c=coupe? s=sport? i=injected maybe? also is there back then a 2002 tii? what does the extra i stand for?

also what do the bmw have for there v-12's in terms of engine sizes? i know mb's have 6.0 liters back then, and 5.5 now.

Your interpretation of Coupe Sport Injected sounds about right. I believe the only cars since the early '70s badged "CSi" were a) all the 6 series cars except the M6 and L6, and b) the 850CSi's, the sports version of that car (it was telling, I think, that the standard 840 and 850 coupes were badged "Ci", i.e. they left the sport out. The original (pre-6 series) BMW coupes, the beautiful 2800 and 3.0 coupes of the very early '70's, were badged with the "CS" suffix, for coupe sport, and injected 3.0's were CSi's.

A couple of more wild cards: you probably realize that all "M" cars are specials from the M (motorsport) division of BMW, which originally really was the racing division before it went into the limited production car business, similar to AMG for MB. An internal BMW rule is that in an M car, a) the engine has to be something special, b) suspension must be upgraded, and c) it has to be a manual transmission. With that in mind, there have been a number of "semi-M" cars built over the years that had one or more of suspension, engine work, or manual but not all three, and hence no "M" designation (but still very desirable cars). Among these are the 540iM package in 1994-5, a 6-speed V8 with upgraded suspension whose owners think they're worth M5 money (wrong), the 740i Sport package from 1999-2001, which has a great suspension but the stock engine and an automatic, and the current X5 4.6is, which has the upgraded engine and suspension but no manual.

The L6 was a "luxury" edition of the 635CSi, sold for a couple of years in the late '80s and meant to stand in contrast to the M6 which was released during the same period. Kind of an odd duck. Also, there were "e" series cars in the '80's, the 528e and 325e; these were detuned cars built for, apparently, "economy". They were decent, very durable cars, but not especially exciting.

The 2002 tii was the fuel injected version of that car; the other versions were carbureted (remember, this was the early '70s when fuel injection was a big deal). The "ti" part of the 2002 designation had no relation to the later 3 series hatchback compact, despite the similarity.

The original BMW V-12, introduced in 1988, was 5.0 liters, and was badged 750il (BMW has never made a short wheelbase version of the 7 series sedan). In 1995, the engine was reworked and displacement bumped to 5.4 liters, but as with the V-8, the badging wasn't changed - it stayed 750il. A entirely new V12 was released this year for the E61 7 Series, it's a 6.0 liter engine and the car is badged 760il.

BTW, if you're ever shopping for a used Bimmer and you see an "a" at the end of the number in the ad, e.g. "530ia", it just means it's an automatic - again, that's an informal reference, you'll never see it on a decklid badge.

pc dave - wow thats a lot of information, and i believe i have a deeper understanding of BMW's now.

i have a thing for E30's and M6's, and if i do get a BMW it would probably be a E30. however, correct me if i am wrong, some M cars weren't given the M badging correct? mainly i am talking about the M6. i heared the 635CSi is basically the M6. but hearing from your information it might be that it did not recieve one of the 3 catagories to consider it an "M" car. does this apply to the 8 series as well? 850 something comsidered the M8?

i have heard a bit on the L6, i believe its leather everything (and i mean everything), and has a nice mini fridge in the back :)

Ned, I don't know a lot about the 6's, but I've heard the same thing - late 635CSi's were in many ways similar to the M6. Where they differed, I believe, is in the engine - the 635 used the basic M30 big six that was also used in the 5 series and 7 series, anywhere from 180-200 hp, whereas the M6 used the 250+ HP engine from the E28 M5, a highly modified, hand-built version of the M30. Remember that the 6 was effectively a 5 coupe, built with the 5 platform (E12/E28) as a base. You might want to check out the following sites for more info: http://www.geocities.com/silbersix/ , and

The 850CSi was a whole different beast than the 850Ci and 840Ci. It met all of the criteria for an M8 - six speed manual, bored out V-12 (5.6 liters, 372 hp), and heavily upgraded suspension. I've also read that the CSi was even assembled by the M-division, rather than on the regular line. I don't know why BMW didn't call it that, I read once that their marketing vision for the 8 series didn't include M cars. There were only a few hundred imported in 94 and 95 (maybe 93?). I got a ride in one once - sweet, and very fast. The owners know what they have; on the downside, they're very expensive to buy, on the upside they've probably all been really well maintained. The other 850's, the Ci's, aren't too far from the situation the early 750s find themselves in, where if something goes drastically wrong with the engine, they may not be worth fixing. The 8's were complex cars, lots of electronics.

Eventually, the www.8coupe.com site should be up in the US, until then www.e31.net gives some good info - Euro site, but lots of US-applicable info.

Greayt job, Dave. Did I miss in your posts or did you mention that for at least some part of the 80s, the 's' stood for the Sport version of each series? Hence a 325i and a 325is were differently suspended, the S version had sportier appointments inside, etc.