m20 m30 s38 m20 s50

[BoostedGT]

I'm new to the BMW thing and will be doing a swap in the future.

What year/body are these:

M20 M30 S38 M50 S50?

Is there a link to these abbreviations / codes?

[EtaSport]

m20-e30, e28, e34 (early)
m30-e3, e12, e28, e24, e32 (i think there are more)
s38-m5, m6
m50-e36, e34
s50-m3

i know there is a site that will tell you all the names, and I have lists on paper, but i dont know and links. someone will chime in.

[JoeMadoo]

M10s are the old little 4 bangers, M42s and M44 are the new DOHC 4 cyls.
M20 and M30 are the older 6 cyl single cam engines.
M20's (baby six) range from 2.3l to 2.7l and have about 121hp to 164hp.
M30's (big six) range from 2.5L to 3.5L and have somewhere between 150hp and 218hp.

M50's replaced the M20's, and i guess the M30's also, they have dual cams, and some other goodies too. They range from 2.5L to 2.8L I believe. I think they hit around 180hp

S38's are built around the M30 block, but have dual cams, individual TBs, and a whole bunch of other upgrades to bring it up to 286hp (in euro anyway)

S50's are the 3.0L M3 engines, they make about 240hp.

M10 - e21, e30 318i (84-85)
M42 - e30 318i (1991)
M20 - e30 325e, 325i, e28 528e, e34 525i
M30 - e12 528i, e23 728i, 733i, 735i, 745i (turbo), e24 628i, 633i, 635i, e28 533i, 535i, e32 735i, e34 535i.
M50 - e36 325i, 328i , e34 525i >1992,
S38 - e34 M5, e24 M6
S50 - M3

Hope that helps, I'm glad i have extra time on my hands