bmwe21.net forums

Hi all,
Today I bought a lovely e21 316 in Alpine white in Lisbon. From the various online service sites the build date is Sept 1980 from the VIN.

The car is a facelift model with a single plastic door mirror and the revised dash.

The question I have is what engine does it have - 1.6 or 1.8?

From the bmwe21.net 'history' site this implies that since it is a facelift model then it has a 1.8 however the certificate I have from the Portuguese 'certificate of historic interest' states it is a 1.6. The handbook that I got with the car only has specs for the 1.6 however the illustrations in the handbook are of pre-facelift cars.

Is it possible that some early facelift cars left the factory with the 1.6 engine?

Thanks in advance

Welcome here! If the build date is Sep 1980 it is not likely to be a 1.6, but the chassis number should be able to give you the decisive info.

Indeed. Can you provide the chassisnumber? My money is on the 1.8.

Thanks - I'll check it later today and let you know.

uwbuurman - I've sent you a PM with the info. Thanks again

read the code on the engine...
I guess it is 1.8l engine
prefacelift cars 315 and 316 had 1.6l engine and 318 had 1.8l engine
facelift 315 1.6, and 316i and 318i 1.8l engine...

Checked the vin, Car should be a 1.8 indeed. Like Mihajlo says, next step is indeed to read the code on the engine, to be sure. It will be under some rust and grease. Just brush that off.

M10 so firewall side near the gearbox bell housing, I'll try to post an example

Where 18 means 1.8 and 16 obviously 1.6.

Thanks all

Hi,
I belatedly got round to confirming the engine code yesterday (it was obscured by the air filter and the number had lots of rust on it so I waited until I had the air filter off). The code read '16' on the first line then '7048693' below. The cylinder head is also marked with E21 1.6 (again this was hidden by the air filter).

So it looks like there is a 1.6 engine there even though as a facelift car it should have a 1.8 and despite the fact that it should have a 1.8 according to the VIN.

Interesting isn't it..?

Guess what, the number belongs to a Sep 80 production 316 which is exactly the month they did the changeover, so yes, it is possible it is one of the very last 1.6 316's ever produced.