please help identify my engine!

[brennon]

there will be a project thread coming in a few days time but the short story is..........

blind bid on ebay ended me with a 320.
didn't see any pics, car arrived yesterday lunchtime.

i pop the bonnet to find this -



so............... thats not a carb!!!

i know its a 323 injection system, but want to know if its a 323 block or if the injection has been put on the 320.

i can rule out e30 block as it doesnt have the displacement on the side.
so its definatly an e21 block.

looking online says it should have a code printed on the inlet manifold side which will have the displacement.

I've looked hard and im scared the code should be here -



so, is the code supposed to be there? if so, i need another option for discovering the displacement!
OR am i looking in the wrong place?

[Peter V.]

The code should be over there indeed. Try to remove some of the paint and maybe you can read it then.

The cylinderhead has a code also (original BMW) which ends with the figure "200" for the E21 and the early E30. If it says 731 or 885 you have a cylinderhead most likely of a E30.

In the dutch section we have a topic with the engine and cylindercodes. Page 3 has the summary.


http://www.bmwe21.net/forum/viewtopic.p ... 1&start=30

[brennon]

Thank you very much!
That confirms I was looking in the right area!
Im very much hoping there will be a number under the paint!!

[brennon]

Where abouts on the head is the code printed, so I know where to look?

[Mihajlo]

here

[brennon]

I'm now one step closer, i have the code from the engine, took about 10 mins with the sandpaper but i revealed

7255321

how do i get the displacement from this?

[brennon]

just checked the cylinder head as well - 1 284 200 (more likely im blind and its 1 264 200!!)

so its definatly e21?

[Jeroen]

Already looked like it was E21 all the way but these numbers confirm that. Engine comes from a March 1980 produced RHD 323i auto.

[brennon]

Already looked like it was E21 all the way but these numbers confirm that. Engine comes from a March 1980 produced RHD 323i auto.

Jeroen you are a star!!
thank you very much for that!
That has made my day, absolute result finding a 323 engine when i was expecting the 2.0 carb!

[Jeroen]

Nice bonus when you expect to have bought a 320 carb!

Theres more info btw, likely to be hiding under the same paint. Above the engine number it should tell you more about the engine. For a 2.3 litre 6 cilinder the code is 236 followed by a 2-letter code. Someone posted the breakdown of that code here as well but I can't find it. Anyway, added value is limited, based on engine number (corresponds with the VIN of the vehicle it was fitted in originally) we already know it's a 1980 2.3 litre straight 6 M20 engine (M20B23) now, what more info do we need?

BTW this is what it looks like on my engine, engine code 236EA:

[brennon]

I could only see one row of numbers, I'll have to look tomorrow morning and try to get a picture.
Hopefully it will only be a day or two before I get a project thread up, it's going to be quite a comical story!

[cobbler2u]

Brennon what part of the world you from ie uk, eu.

seems you got a result with the car

[brennon]

From the uk, down south, near Guildford.

To an extent I did well, it's definatly got its money's worth in parts so I'm happy it's just missing a roof!
That's what you get when you take a gamble and buy a car blind off eBay! Thought I'd hit a winner with it when I got the first couple of pics from the seller after the sale was agreed but then the next couple suprised me somewhat!
It's not a Bauer before you get the wrong idea, it's just missing a roof!

In a couple of weeks when I've had time to get around thing it will be stripped and cut up so repair panels will be available.