engine production date help

[2002swap]

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??

[mabeer]

I found this link 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.

Aggh, just noticed it doesn't appear to give the year, not much use to you.

[DesktopDave]

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.