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View Full Version : 1985 EURO 316...what motor!?

airmatt0
02-27-2009, 09:23 AM
Hello,

I'm new to E30s and am having a very hard time figuring out which motor I have. I have a 1985 euro spec 316. I would like to say I have a m40b16 but I cannot find any pictures of any or any information on it. The reason why it is so confusing is that I find other M40 motors that are almost identical to mine but my oil filler cap is on the backside of the valve cover and some slight wire routing differences.

Here's the reason why I would like to know which one I have. The current motor has the typical ticking noise on the top end. My noise does not get better or worse with the engine getting warm. Its loud and really just annoying. I have an m40 motor that I can take the camshaft, rockers and lifters out of to put into my motor. But I don't know if it will work because no one has info on the one thats in my car right now. Thanks for your help!
lordofthewaters
02-27-2009, 09:49 AM
I'd think being an 85, that you'd have a m10b16.
airmatt0
02-27-2009, 09:53 AM
ill try getting a picture of the engine bay up. I was thinking m98 at first then the m10 but when I saw an M10 it looked nothing like mine. Thats how I arrived at the m40b16
lordofthewaters
02-27-2009, 10:04 AM
I don't think the m40/42's were around that early. They were on the 90-91 318's and e36's.

Yeah, get a picture.
fcsteve
02-27-2009, 10:04 AM
its an m10. realoem said so :thumbup:
airmatt0
02-27-2009, 10:46 AM
yea your right realoem does list it as an M10. Its just weird that every other M40 looks like mine but the M10 I have see doesnt look like it. Maybe the type of car is wrong from what I was told.
fcsteve
02-27-2009, 10:53 AM
yea your right realoem does list it as an M10. Its just weird that every other M40 looks like mine but the M10 I have see doesnt look like it. Maybe the type of car is wrong from what I was told.

whats the vin # ?
lordofthewaters
02-27-2009, 01:23 PM
Post pics, could've been swapped.
airmatt0
03-01-2009, 12:50 PM
does the m10 looks the same as an older m40?
Ethrty
03-01-2009, 07:50 PM
whats the vin # ?

+1

Theres a site you can enter it on that i saw a link to on here. cant remeber what it was tho :cry:
airmatt0
03-02-2009, 11:36 AM
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2387/199/57/513651157/n513651157_1577378_7319015.jpg
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2387/199/57/513651157/n513651157_1577379_8321920.jpg
lordofthewaters
03-02-2009, 11:50 AM
M10
Lanc3r
03-02-2009, 11:51 AM
M10

wrong
Lanc3r
03-02-2009, 11:53 AM
That is not an 85 BMW 4 cylinder.
lordofthewaters
03-02-2009, 11:55 AM
wrong

I'm not knowledgable on 4 cylinder models at all, but it's not an M40 no coil packs. So what's left?

EDIT: I correct myself, looks like it IS an m40. I thought they used coil on plug as well. I learned something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQFI_6Xilyw&feature=related
Lanc3r
03-02-2009, 11:57 AM
Not an M40/42 either no coil packs. So what's left?

Its a at least 1988 or later M40. Euro.

http://bmwfans.info/original/E30/2-T/316i-M40/ECE/R/M/1988/08/mg-11/
airmatt0
03-02-2009, 12:42 PM
the info I got when I bought the car is 1985, here is the VIN if someone can figure out what it really is. wbaac11020ab16570
Lanc3r
03-02-2009, 12:48 PM
the info I got when I bought the car is 1985, here is the VIN if someone can figure out what it really is. wbaac11020ab16570

http://www.analogx.com/cgi-bin/cgivin.exe?Mode=Decode&VIN=wbaac11020ab16570&Submit=Decode
Lanc3r
03-02-2009, 12:50 PM
http://www.geocities.com/cacatnip/bimmer/vin.jpg
airmatt0
03-02-2009, 12:53 PM
Yea I ran that awhile ago and it wont give me the year. Another different piece about the car is I only have chrome trim on the base of my windows front and back, no where else. I looked pictures of other 316s and they have trim all the way around the window. The motor in the youtube video looks and sounds like mine. My engine does clack a lot more in the top end. Thats why I have been trying to figure this out. I do have an m40 engine that I can pull the cam, rockers lifters out of. It just looks slightly different than this one.
Lanc3r
03-02-2009, 12:57 PM
Yea I ran that awhile ago and it wont give me the year. Another different piece about the car is I only have chrome trim on the base of my windows front and back, no where else. I looked pictures of other 316s and they have trim all the way around the window. The motor in the youtube video looks and sounds like mine. My engine does clack a lot more in the top end. Thats why I have been trying to figure this out. I do have an m40 engine that I can pull the cam, rockers lifters out of. It just looks slightly different than this one.

Linked a pic to the early M40, whcih is what Im sure you have. You can play in that program and see what year you have. Doesnt appear to be original.
airmatt0
03-02-2009, 12:58 PM
this is hard, even here in Germany people dont know what it is. Oh and by the way I used to live in Issaquah, WA
Lanc3r
03-02-2009, 01:01 PM
this is hard, even here in Germany people dont know what it is. Oh and by the way I used to live in Issaquah, WA

Thats funny. I went to Katterbach Elementary school. Lived in Ansbach across from the Loony Bin.
airmatt0
03-02-2009, 01:02 PM
thats actually really weird. Im guessing you had family in the military?
Lanc3r
03-02-2009, 01:03 PM
thats actually really weird. Im guessing you had family in the military?

Pops was in 501st ABC at that time.
airmatt0
03-02-2009, 01:06 PM
thats crazy. Im in the 12 CAB and 3 158 assault helicopter battalion
airmatt0
03-02-2009, 01:10 PM
Thats crazy. Im in the 3 158 Assault Helicopter Battalion
Lanc3r
03-02-2009, 01:11 PM
thats crazy. Im in the 12 CAB and 3 158 assault helicopter battalion

Small world. Enjoy your time there man. I know we did.:thumbup:
airmatt0
03-02-2009, 01:12 PM
So can I steal a camshaft from an m40b18 motor if mine is the m40b16?