Engine Identification

Post Mon Jul 03, 2017 1:36 am

Hi there,

New to the forum. I just bought a 1991 316i E30 Touring. I believe it has the M40B16 engine, but when I search up pictures they look very different to my engine. Can anybody tell if this is the stock engine or if it's been swapped with something else?

http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o59 ... xkhqqv.jpg

if you copy and paste that into a search bar it should be able to find it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Post Mon Jul 03, 2017 1:43 am

not stock engine -

possibly IS .

Post Mon Jul 03, 2017 1:45 am

Feels a lot more peppy than a 1.6 should. Possibly 318is ? Is there any way to tell on the engine? Any identification or VIN number anywhere?

Thanks for your reply!

Post Mon Jul 03, 2017 5:22 am

Inlet manifold is an E36 item and with an AFM would suggest it's a 1.8 M42 engine from an E36.
The engine number should be under the starter, right at the very bottom of the block near to the engine mounting arm. You should see a flat surface with the number of it - you may need to clean the surface up to see it.

Did Canada get the M40 engine?

Post Mon Jul 03, 2017 5:26 am

Thank you very much for the info. I will take a closer look tomorrow and see what I can find. I actually imported this car from England, originally from Poland so that's why anything was on the table. I believe we got the M40B18 but not the B16 on our E30s.

Thanks again

Post Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:03 pm

definitely an M42 from an e36.
For peace of mind you may wish to convince yourself of the integrity of the rear gearbox cross member and mounts.
When in Oz I came across many horrific bodges in this area as the e36 gearbox had a different mount positions.

Post Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:08 pm

I will definitely take a look at that once I start working on it. Thanks for the advice

Post Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:03 pm

mark_i wrote:definitely an M42 from an e36.
For peace of mind you may wish to convince yourself of the integrity of the rear gearbox cross member and mounts.
When in Oz I came across many horrific bodges in this area as the e36 gearbox had a different mount positions.

Only really an issue if you use an E30 6cyl gearbox on an E36 engine - the gearbox is rotated slightly.

The 4 cyl gearboxes bolt up fine and at the right angle for the E30 crossmember to be used - my E30 currently has an E36 M44 engine and gearbox bolted straight in using all E30 mounts.