M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
FAQ / REFERENCE => M42 Reference => Topic started by: 2002swap on October 21, 2013, 10:02:15 PM
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I picked up an M42 as part of a sale of my beloved e36 M3
Am swapping it into my new project - total restoration of '76 2002
Supposedly 120K on the engine so I'm taking advantage of its being on a stand to do some house keeping
Timing chain, guides, gaskets and profile gaskets all around, including head gasket, water pump, thermostat
Lots of stuff to make sure it runs for a while longer plus some mods to help it run better
Anyway, was told this was a '92
Ordering the timing chain guides, I found that the '92 doesn't have the timing chain deflection rail like I have on my engine
Instead, it has a deflection wheel
Real OEM shows the deflection rail starting 9/93, so I'm thinking my M42 production date must be at least 9/93
Block number is 103034
Any idea how I can find out what I've got??
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I found this link http://www.kneb.net/bmw/E30/BMW%20E30%20M3%20Repair%20Manual/miscellaneous/engine_information.htm (http://www.kneb.net/bmw/E30/BMW%20E30%20M3%20Repair%20Manual/miscellaneous/engine_information.htm) which may help but it states the block number should be two sets of 4 numbers. The first number is the type of engine. In our case 0 or 1 = m10 or m42. The next three are a serial number. The first number in the second group is the plant code 0-4 is Munich 5-9 is Steyr. The final three are the production day. You have to use a Julian calendar converter like this http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.php (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.php).
Aggh, just noticed it doesn't appear to give the year, not much use to you.
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They used to stamp the VIN on blocks, but I guess that ended a while ago. I took a look at my spare motor. VIN sticker on the transmission, but nothing on the motor.