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BMW Model Identification




BMW Model Identification

BMW uses two different methods of identifying its products:
- External Designations are for customers to identify BMW products. These are marketing designations commonly referred to as trunk badges.
- Internal Designations are used by BMW and center personnel to identify a particular production version.

External Designations
External designations located on the trunk or tailgate are the model names. Customers and the public identify BMW products by these names.

The external designations are created by the sales and marketing department to position each model in a certain target segment of the vehicle sales market.




The trunk badges consist of a combination of numbers and letters. The badge shown above is typical of 3, 5, and 7 series vehicles. The first digit represents the series identification. The last two digits mark the engine displacement. Occasionally there are examples where the actual engine displacement does not match the designation. This is a marketing decision to continue familiar name recognition from one version to the next and to create a spacing between models. Examples are:

- 1996 - 1999 318ti with a 1.9 liter engine
- 1996 - 2001 740i with a 4.4 liter engine
- All 323i are equipped with a 2.5 liter engine.




There is another series of badges that begin with a letter followed by a single digit. These are found on the Z3 roadster and coupes, X5 SAV, Z8 roadster and Motorsport versions of series cars.

Additional letters sometime follow the badge numbers and are used to further identify each model. Examples include:
- C-Coupe
- L-long wheel base
- i-Fuel Injected
- s-sport
- x-all-wheel drive
- ti-touring internationale

Internal Designations
Internal designations are created and used by the Engineering and Technical Development departments to identify a new model during the design of the car. The use of the internal designations carries over to the Technical Support groups after the car is produced. Internal designations refer to the entire vehicle series of a particular body design ( Example: E46 describes all 3 series cars of that design). BMW products start with an "E" and are followed by a two digit number. Not all design concepts make production, so internal designations are usually not sequential. Table 1.1 lists the internal designations, series number and the years produced.







The E designations often include an additional number separated by a slash (/). Example:
- E36/7 - Z3
- E36/5 - 3 door touring
- E46/3 - Sport Wagon
- E46/16 - All-Wheel Drive
- E46/2 - Coupe

Model Identification

E36




318i/is/iC/A 1992-1996
325i/is/iC/A 1992-1995
323is/iC/A 1998-1999
328i/is/iC/A 1996-1999
M3/A 1995-1999
318ti/A 1995-1999


E36/7




Z3 roadster 1.9/A 1996-1998
Z3 roadster 2.3/A 1999-2000
Z3 roadster 2.5/A 2001-
Z3 roadster 2.8/A 1997-2000
Z3 roadster 3.0/A 2001-
M Roadster 1998-


E36/7




Z3 Coupe 2.8/A 1999-2000
Z3 Coupe 3.0/A 2001-
M Coupe 1999-


E46




323i/Ci/iC/A 1999-2000
325i/Ci/CiC/xi/A 2001-
328i/Ci/iC/A 1999-2001
330i/Ci/iC/xi/A 2001-
M3 2002


E34




525i/it/A 1989-1995
530i/it/A 1994-1995
540i/A 1994-1995
M5 1991-1993


E39




525i/it/A 2001
528i/it/A 1997-2000
53Oi/A 2001-
54Oi/it/Protection/A 1997-
M5 2000-


E53




X5 4.4iA 2000-
X5 3.0i/A 2001-
X5 4.6iHP 2002-


E32




735i/iL/A 1988-1991
74Oi/iL/A 1992-1994
750iLA 1988-1994


E38




740i/iL/Protection 1995-2001
750iL/Protection 1995-2001


E31




840Ci/A 1994-1997
850i/Ci/Csi/A 1991-1997


E52




Z8 2001-

R50/R53




Mini Cooper 2002-
Mini Cooper S 2002-