Although the poster probably meant 5, not 4, BMW was originally planning to label the E90 (E92) coupes & convertibles as a "4" series. IIRC, the Z4 was named during this period.
If the (not for U.S.) 1 series 2 doors were also called a "2" series as planned, then BMW would have all series from 1 thru 7 covered. Luckily, saner heads prevailed and we now have a detuned 3 litre engine badged as a
Read about that. Evidently the cost of just changing the 3 series coupe to "4 series" is substantial and BMW changed their minds.
R / John
Well, the 323 was a 2.5, but they wanted a bit more differentiation from the
328, ergo 323. And the 540 was a 4.4, and so on and so on.
There's a significant mechanical difference between the "25" and the "30" even though the displacement is the same. The 3 liter in the 330i has SERIOUS grunt and I suspect is at least the equal of the majority of 3.5's the Japanese are currently marketing.
Nobody had a go at you. You asked, they answered, you argued, they replied to your argument. Your original question was flawwed at best, and yoru premise was flat out wrong.
In a BMW (for the most part) the first digit (3, 5, 7) refer to the body or chassis, the last two digits are the engine size in liters. If the last two are 25, then the motor is 2.5 liters, 35 is 3.5 liters. After the '96 model year they had to distinguish from the OBD I (1) and OBD II (2) motors, and the 323 and 328 were born. These are essentially the 2.5 liter motor, and one is detuned a bit. So, if you were to compare a '95 325i against a '96
528i, you have the same motor, but the 328 is OBD II compliant. Its displacement is the same as the 325i.
PS You still need to comply with the posting ettiquette, observe how the discussion is going and follow along. I'm not going to rant about top posting because I do that alot, but I typically only do it when I am the first to reply to a new post, or when others are already top posting. It REALLY sucks to have one person (you) top post when the others are using the proper format. Get with the program, or go away.
Yup, it's true. The E36's M50 motor is badged as an n25 and n28, but its displacement is always 2.5L. It's also badged as a 323. The 323 and 328 (also 528) are OBD II motors, and are different essentially in the torque and horsepower, while the displacement is the same.
I'm not sure about your 97 Z3, I think it also gets the M50 -- which means it is 2.5L. I could be wrong on that point though.
Better re-check your "facts" Jeff. Up until the end of the '95 MY the only six available (in the US) was the 325, which was an M50 engine at
2.5l displacement.
In MY 1996 they changed to the M52 engine and it was a 2.8 liters. The
323 model was added in 1998 and it had a 2.5 liter engine. The idea was to highlight the performance advantage of the 2.8L over the 2.5L (323i) engine.
Later, in MY 2001, when the 3.0l engine was released they went back to labeling the 2.5l equipped cars as 325's. But that was the E46 by then.
So the only E36 model which was "mislabeled" as to engine displacement was the 323.
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