After many years of having BMW I had lost my taste for the style. The first BMW I had was a 323 Alpina which I drove the $hit out of. Was a great little car, and the engine was a joy to drive. Later on I had moved up to the 750iL and last one I had was the 850ci. Both of those cars is what feel like for me was the peak of my affection for BMW’s. Enough of that, you came for firing orders. I had found few places that had a good supply of BMW parts in the past and always nice to toss a plug for Pelican Parts they have great selection and prices.

BWM Series – E3 E12 E24 E23 E28 E30 E31 E32 E34 E38 (more???)

Some additional model info, but the smaller and larger inline 6’s all follow this pattern. This includes M20, M30 and other models of BMW engines. On later models the distributor is replaced with coil on a plug or similar systems, but the firing order should be the same.

  • 1984-1991 BMW 325e 325es 325i 325ic 325is 325ix
  • 1982-1988 BMW 528e 533i 535i 535is M5
  • 1989-1990 BMW 525i
  • 1989-1993 BMW 535i M5
  • 1982-1989 BMW 633csi 635csi M6
  • 1981-1987 BMW 733i 735i
  • 1988-1994 BMW 735i 735il

Here is the list from Wikipedia that should show most all sizes and engine codes.

  • 1933 – 1.2-1.9 L M78
  • 1936 – 2.0-2.1 L M328
  • 1939 – 3.5 L M335
  • 1952 – 2.0-2.1 L M337
  • 1968 – 2.5, 3.0, 3.2, 3.5 L M30
  • 1977 – 2.0, 2.3, 2.5, 2.7 L M20
  • 1978 – 3.5 L M88/S38
  • 1980 – 3.2 L M102
  • 1982 – 3.4 L M106
  • 1989 – 2.0-3.0 L M50
  • 1994 – 2.0-2.8 L M52
  • 1995 – 3.0/3.2 L S50
  • 1996 – 3.2 L S52
  • 2000 – 2.2-3.0 L M54
  • 2002 – 2.5 L M56
  • 2002 – 3.2 L S54
  • 2005 – 2.5-3.0 L N52
  • 2006 – 3.0 L N54
  • 2007 – 2.5-3.0 L N53
  • 2008 – 3.0 L N54
  • 2009 – 3.0 L N55
  • 2014 – 3.0 L S55
  • 2015 – 3.0 L B58

Everyone has their favorite engines, my would be the M20 in the Inline 6 series. Simple and durable it seems as I beat one up and it never missed a beat. I still miss the 323 Alpina I had.

The BMW Inline 6 Firing order (Zündfolge) in all cases is 1-5-3-6-2-4

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