why is my 318is a 1.8?

[MrAlan]

I know how stupid it sounds but why is my 318is a 1.8? my mate has one and its a 1.9, people keep saying oh cool its the 1.9 version but its not.. my log book says 1796cc.. help! why did bmw do this and is my engine still a good one? lol.. thanks

[MrAlan]

i cant believe how thick i am sometimes! obviously its a m42 engine and therefore a 1.8! im abit new to cars having mostly ridden motorbikes up till now..

[cozmic]

Hi the earlier 318is had the m42 1.8 the later 318is had the m44 1.9 the same engine as fitted to the original z3 I believe they changed over in 1996 or thereabouts.
Just out of interest a lot of people believe the m42 was the better engine as it was a direct descendent of the bmw racing teams touring car engine which produced over 300 bhp on individual throttle bodies.The m42 produces the same power as the m44 but slightly less torque the m44 is a bit of a lazy engine and the internals are nowhere near as able to put up with the same amount of tuning/abuse as the m42

[MrAlan]

cheers cozmic, that makes sense plus itll irritate my m44 mate! thanks for the info mate

[Hodge]

Yeah the M42 and M44 have alot of similarities but alot of differences too.

I'd rather have the M42. They really can take a ton of abuse.