Confused about what engine I have lol

[Dominitry]

Alright so here's the story, I picked up an E30 316i but it had some changes done to it...it didn't have the four pot engine but a six cylinder put in..the guy I bought it told me it was a 325i engine..he didn't do the conversion he bought it like it so not going to blame him...however, I've had a 325i and this just looked different.

Got thinking last night and it hit me, the rocker cover is the same one as you see on a 323i where it's not the usual stripes then BMW lettering in the middle, but stripes and then a BMW emblem near the end...I'm asking here because I'm confused.

Basically the car has so much goodies and work done, whoever owned it before the guy I purchased it from put some nice stuff on it like 3.91 lsd, sport leather, braided lines, all polybushing etc...why go through all that and put a 323i engine in over something like an m50 or even an m2025.

Is there anything specific to look for to identify exactly whats in there, I mean...it could be an ETA for all I know which would make more sense

[Grrrmachine]

Can you get a pic up? I've never seen a BMW rocker cover without BMW in the middle.

As for identifying the engine...

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/M20#Block

[Dominitry]

That's why I'm confused, I'll head out there in a bit and take a photo it's a bit of a mess (was kind of a barn find) but should be able to see enough

[Dominitry]

Sorry for the crap photos and the state of it, but yea..

[alan1272]

thats just an early cam cover, had one on my old 320i.
the inlet manifold certainly appears to be a m20b25 one!

[Grrrmachine]

Definitely a pre-facelift rocker cover, but I can't tell from your engine bay whether it's a pre-facelift engine or not. You really need to get the engine number from the block, like the Wiki says.

[Kedge]

Ik that's definitely a 325i inlet manifold.

[B7]

You need to get to the engine number plinth. And then give us what it says.

At the sump joint below the inlet. There's a machined plate. Clean it up and tell us what it says. It's the code with letters in it we need not the actual engine number.

[HairyScreech]

Will be e1 or e2 for an early 2.5 engine and k1 for a late 2.5