Via the years, BMW has launched and discontinued a variety of nameplates, naming conventions, and trim ranges. Maintaining all of it straight could be a little bit of a problem – even for fans. We’ve acquired you lined – right here’s BMW naming by way of the years, defined.
Traditional BMW Naming Conventions
So, let’s begin on the very starting. Early on, BMW’s naming was much more complicated than it’s at this time. The primary automotive BMW delivered to prospects was the BMW 3/15 PS. “PS” stood for the German equal of “horsepower,” and the three stood for the way a lot of that horsepower may very well be thought-about taxable. BMW took a variety of approaches to naming within the a long time that {followed}, together with a couple of fashions that acquired precise, honest-to-goodness names. The ultimate one was the BMW Isetta, produced from 1962. BMW began naming fashions primarily based on engine displacement starting with the Neue Klasse fashions – i.e., the 2002 sported a 2.0-liter. The “02” on the finish designated the variety of doorways. 4-door fashions usually sported a “00” suffix.
BMW’s naming habits began extra carefully aligning with what we see at this time within the Seventies. The 520i was the primary that used a badge that {followed} the cleaner Collection-followed-by-displacement conference that many people know and love at this time. Additionally launched round this time had been ultra-sporty CS (Coupe Sport) and CSL designations (Coupe Sport Light-weight [construction]).
Fashionable BMW Naming Conventions
The 520i launched a couple of particulars into the combo. First, mannequin numbers. The 5 Collection, {followed} by the three Collection in 1975, changed the Neue Klasse vehicles, and issues acquired simplified. The primary quantity denoted the Collection of the automobile – which, over time, took on a “smallest-to-biggest” scale starting from the 1 Collection to the 7 Collection. Following the Collection comes engine displacement. A mannequin like the unique 520i, for instance, featured a 2.0-liter engine. Then, there’s fueling.
One now-repurposed suffix you may see on older BMW autos is the “e” designation, as in 325e. These “eta” motors optimized low-end torque. The thought was to cater to the American motorists who had been accustomed to torquey V8s. They’re additionally fuel-injected, regardless of the “i” after different fashions that ostensibly stands for gas injection. Should you see a “d” or “e” on the finish, it’s a diesel or hybrid mannequin, respectively. After all, a lot of this naming modified with turbocharging, new fashions, and the introduction of BMW SUVs.
BMW dubbed their SUV fashions the X Collection, prone to hold familiarity robust with the xDrive all-wheel drive nomenclature they’d already launched. Naming {followed} an identical logic that it did on the opposite fashions, with a quantity from one by way of seven denoting measurement and luxurious. Trim ranges, like xDrive30i, denoted drivetrain format and engine displacement.
Alongside all these adjustments, BMW additionally launched new physique kinds. The ti/tii fashions – standing for Turismo Internazionale and Turismo Internationale Iniezione, respectively – translated to Touring Worldwide and Touring Worldwide Injection in Italian. You’ll find them on fashions from the 2002 to the E36 compact and past. Equally, GT fashions – Gran Turismo – had been launched bridging the hole between sedan and wagons. Lengthy wheelbase – L fashions – arrived for buyers who wished to be chauffeured slightly than drive themselves.
BMW M Fashions and Naming Conventions
The primary BMW M badge appeared on the M1, nevertheless it wasn’t till the BMW M535i appeared in 1979 that BMW Motorsport turned a producer of collection manufacturing vehicles. The BMW M5 and BMW M3 {followed}, once more, with comparable naming conventions operating parallel to non-M variants. We noticed GTS (Grand Touring Sport, presumably) fashions crop up within the later generations, {followed} by a reimagination of what CS means. At this time, it stands for Competitors Sport slightly than Coupe Sport. CSL is now “Competitors, Sport, Light-weight.”
Future and EV BMW Naming Conventions
With the widespread introduction of turbocharged fashions within the late 2000s, BMW’s names began to see vital adjustments. The final two numbers not positively pointed to engine displacement. Later fashions just like the 335i, 530i, and M550i have little relation to their engines. Oh, and supplemental M badges began showing on the range-topping trim of many vehicles, to indicate their supplemental sportiness.
BMW has lately introduced that they’re dropping the “i” from the tip of future gas-powered fashions, too. So, that’s a giant change. The primary one is the 1 Collection, appropriately, so that you’ll solely see fashions just like the BMW 120 and BMW M135. Moreover, fashions just like the i4 and iX designate full electrification by their “i” prefix. The “e” not refers to eta engines – now it’s for hybrid energy. A notable exception to each guidelines is the BMW i8 – a hybrid. Because the EV lineup grows, you’ll see names just like the iX2, iX3 – that are already accessible in some markets – and extra.
What’s in a Identify, Anyway?
Whereas we did our greatest to the touch on the commonest names, we invariably missed some that didn’t match properly into the timeline. The CSi suffix briefly existed after the Neue Klasse vehicles left manufacturing, which stood for Coupe Sport Injection. The extraordinarily limited-production M3 CRT boasted Carbon Racing Know-how, an abbreviation but to seem anyplace else. Ci and iS, too, have gone the way in which of the dodo. The previous was a coupe and convertible designation; the previous denoted Sport-Bundle coupe vehicles. Lastly, the Z Collection is a run of two-seater coupes and convertibles created from 1990-ish into the current day.
BMW’s abbreviations are assorted and, generally, inconsistent. Hopefully we made it somewhat simpler to stumble your manner by way of it.
