M10 info

[LeeLee]

My m10 1.8 auto (now manual)
Is doing my head in,
Core plug and head gasket leaking from the looks of it drinks water crap in the oil rusty water in rad every few months have to tune the weber every now and then since all this,so I'm lookin at swapping it out but don't wanna put a smaller engine or a m20 I was wondering if m10 2.0 are rare?
as I never see them parted
Is the m10 auto engine any different than from the manual m10? Like bigger valves?

[e21-Mark]

Auto heads have slightly bigger valves, or at least 2002's do. 2 litre m10's come from 02's, early e12 and NK etc and are usually more sought after for their extra capacity. Your best bet is an e30 318i engine.

[LeeLee]

I want to run twin carbs on a m10,I'm just wondering if to stick with the lump I have or go for another m10 it's all confusing as to the diffrences

[e21-Mark]

They're all basically the same though, so as long as you use your mounts, sump & exhaust manifold, it should be fine, no matter which version you use. Performance will be much the same too.

[LeeLee]

Ok that's good to know I think I've seen a m10 316 engine up for grabs were all 316 m10 1.8? Mines a 1.8 and called a 316 or did they do 1.6 aswel

[e21-Mark]

I think the really early ones were 1.6 but you're unlikely to stumble onto one of those.

[Jeroen]

Afaik they were 1.6's until mid 1980 so you better check first. Engine no is the same as the VIN of the original car so you can always drop engine no in a VIN decoder to check

[steed]

my '79 316 has a 1.6 m10 in it, (just so you know...)

[polov8]

I still don't know why they didn't call the later 316's a 318. I really hate it when the number doesn't match the capacity!

[Jeroen]

At the start of the E21 is was all clear over here: 316 was a 1.6, 318 was a 1.8.

After the facelift they had to come up with a little power gains as well so they gave the 316 a 1.8 and the 318 was turned into 318i with the same engine but fuel injected.

But it didn't take long until they found that a more basic version was needed and out came the 1.6 again, but now as 315.

In the US the 320i started off as a 2.0i but after the 2.0i was retired and the 6 cylinder cars didn't meet their exhast gas requirements they used the Euro 1.8i as basis, but the model designation remained 320i.