BMW "e" numbers

iaind · 13 Jul 2009 at 23:19

For some reason I was pondering this on the way home from work today.

e46, e90 etc etc

Where on earth do they come from? There doesnt seem to be any logical progression to them through the model ranges that I can see.

I'm sure its either going to be the most obvious thing in the world or the nerdiest technical explanation ever, but either way I'd still like to know

iaind · 13 Jul 2009 at 23:39

Yes I was aware they were internal codes from development, but the progression of them doesnt seem to make much sense.

Are they chronological, so the bigger the number the newer the car?

iaind · 13 Jul 2009 at 23:45

MrLOL said:
roughly speaking yes.

e60 is the newest 5 series and e90/e92/e93 is the newest 3 series

e39 is the previous 5 series and e46 was the previous 3 series.

They're missing a few then, are 7x and 8x numbers unlucky or something

iaind · 14 Jul 2009 at 08:04

Ah so it is a bit more logical than it first seemed.

Why they cant just call them "3 series mk3" like every other manufacturer I dont know

Personally I can never remember them, I always end up calling them "you know the new one? not that one, the one before that one?...No not the old one, the one in the middle... you know"