"21 USA" block casting?

[MarcD]

Anyone recognize this? These markings are just behind the cylinder head. My immediate thought is this a reman block given the lack of markings near the starter boss. 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by MarcD

[2002iii]

Taken from another thread:

On 10/24/2018 at 4:24 PM, Conserv said:

 

Some of the BMW-remanufactured engines had new identification stamped into the engine’s VIN boss. Some of the BMW-remanufactured engines had printed labels with the new identification pasted to the engine’s VIN boss. Some of the BMW-remanufactured engines had new identification stamped into the narrow shelf at the top rear of the block, just behind the head. Some new BMW bare (short) blocks came with blank engine VIN bosses — this is why I was asking for the dates. I’m confident there are other means that both BMW and aftermarket engine suppliers used, but I’m not familiar with them!

 

[Mike Self]

That appears to be the boss where the factory stamped the engine's number.  If you look carefully you'll note that the machined area is below the surrounding metal, indicating the original number has been machined off.  

 

That number shown doesn't jibe with any factory remanufactured engine numbers I've seen (or are noted here on the FAQ) so my guess is that someone in the US who rebuilt engines did this one, and it was their 21st product.  The stamp immediately preceding the 21 looks like a BMW roundel but I've never seen one stamped on an engine before...interesting mystery...

 

mike

[TobyB]

That doesn't look familiar to me, either- but Steve might recognise it.

 

I HAVE seen the roundel stamped, but the rest of it looks too... sloppy... to be BMW.

Also, the characters are US looking.

 

fwiw, which isn't very much

t

 

[MarcD]

6 hours ago, TobyB said:

looks too... sloppy... to be BMW.

 

My thoughts also. I'm unaware of any domestic builders that stamped the boss with a roundel but since I started tinkering with these I've learned I am unaware of a lot of things.  

 

I guess it's time to start measuring parts to see what all was done. Would cam lift be a good indicator of stock sized pistons?

 

 

[Lorin]

9 hours ago, Mike Self said:

That appears to be the boss where the factory stamped the engine's number.  If you look carefully you'll note that the machined area is below the surrounding metal, indicating the original number has been machined off.  

 

That number shown doesn't jibe with any factory remanufactured engine numbers I've seen (or are noted here on the FAQ) so my guess is that someone in the US who rebuilt engines did this one, and it was their 21st product.  The stamp immediately preceding the 21 looks like a BMW roundel but I've never seen one stamped on an engine before...interesting mystery...

 

mike

Mike, notice the coolant outlet on the back of the head. That stamping is directly onto the block casting behind the cylinder head, not in the traditional spot on the machined surface by the starter. 
 

I can’t imagine that roundel stamp being applied by anyone besides BMW. Can’t help on the other numbers. 

[Conserv]

Agreed: this was not The Stamper’s finest hour (he was later found sleeping in the janitor’s closet)… 

 

But this is certainly a factory remanufactured engine. This upper shelf at the aft end of the block, barely visible behind the head, was an oft-used location for the factory engine stamps. The first photo below shows a remanufactured factory turbo engine (“22 T” was the engine code for a turbo). Code “21 US” was an E21-head engine, intended for 1976 49-state versions, second photo below (part number 11009057924).

 

Rather than re-write what has been written previously, I’d recommend the following article to fully identify your engine and decode the remanufacturing stamp. I wouldn’t be shocked to find a month and year stamp — and maybe even a 4-digit serial number on that same shelf, to the right, just beyond the head’s port.

 

 

The third photo below shows a late, and very complete, factory stamping placed on the original engine number boss, also with the BMW roundel.

 

So, what is the casting date of the block, and what type of head does it have currently — and what is its casting date?

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[71bmr02]

I looked at my intake and block and it looks nothing like that, 71 carb.  what year the example, carbureted, fuel injected.  looks like cast iron head on a al block unless that pic is upside down.

[kbmb02]

3 minutes ago, 71bmr02 said:

I looked at my intake and block and it looks nothing like that, 71 carb.  what year the example, carbureted, fuel injected.  looks like cast iron head on a al block unless that pic is upside down.

 

What you are seeing: the rear edge/corner of the cylinder head (intake side), the back of the block, and the front edge of the transmission 'bell housing'. -KB

[Conserv]

15 minutes ago, kbmb02 said:

 

What you are seeing: the rear edge/corner of the cylinder head (intake side), the back of the block, and the front edge of the transmission 'bell housing'. -KB

+1

 

Red box around head. Blue box is transmission. The meat in the middle is the block.

 

[Conserv]

9 hours ago, MarcD said:

 

I guess it's time to start measuring parts to see what all was done. Would cam lift be a good indicator of stock sized pistons?

 

If (a.) it still has an E21 2,0 head — which is indicated by the “21 US” engine code — and (b.) there is no sign whatsoever  🙄 that the engine has been cracked open since the remanufacture, you should expect flat-top pistons (8.1:1), first or second oversize, and a stock camshaft — albeit the super-hot 😋 # 5 type, found only on 1976 49-state versions. Of course, it’s probably been 3 or 4 decades since this was remanufactured, so it’s hard to predict the current components. You can insert a scope in the spark plug openings to check for flat-top versus bathtub or piano-top pistons.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[Mike Self]

Wow--Steve, thanks for the detailed information.  I never knew the factory stamped anything on a reman block other than a new coding number where the old motor number was stamped.  And while I've seen a couple of reman blocks, I never noticed that stamp.  Interestingly this stamping was on a machined pad, while the picture you posted showed it stamped directly on the rough casting.  

 

After 53 1/2 years of owning/working on 2002s I learn something new from the FAQ almost every day.

 

mike

[71bmr02]

ok thats the water outlet at the back of the cylinder head. finally got oriented correctly.   just double checked mine again no stampings on that flat. bmw logo looks good to me, agree with others this is a factory rebuild although there should be some kind of stamping on the flat above the starter boss to confirm factory rebuild.  strange indeed.

[Conserv]

6 hours ago, Mike Self said:

Wow--Steve, thanks for the detailed information.  I never knew the factory stamped anything on a reman block other than a new coding number where the old motor number was stamped.  And while I've seen a couple of reman blocks, I never noticed that stamp.  Interestingly this stamping was on a machined pad, while the picture you posted showed it stamped directly on the rough casting.  

 

After 53 1/2 years of owning/working on 2002s I learn something new from the FAQ almost every day.

 

mike

Me, too, Mike. That’s why this forum is so amazing!

 

The remanufactured markings varied over time, with BMW’s single-digit year code making it, today, impossible to definitively distinguish in which decade the remanufacturing occurred. So how do distinguish engines remanufactured early, middle, or late in 30-year process! 😡 Casting dates on blocks and heads can sometimes eliminate earlier dates. I’m guessing BMW assumed, early on, that they’d only be remanufacturing ‘02 M10’s for a decade, and provided a single-digit year code. So we can’t tell a November 1977 remanufacture (e.g., “11  1”) from a November 1987 remanufacture (also, “11  1”), from what might even be a November 1997 remanufacture — the program appears to have ended in the 1990’s.

Near the end of the program — well, maybe it was near the end —  they even tried applied labels. The photo below shows a “22TI US” engine remanufactured in April 1993 (“04  3”), or perhaps April 1983….

 

(If you go back to the Engine Identification article, linked above, which reproduces one of the factory documents, or even the single page of that document I reproduced a few posts back, you’ll see the application for the “22TI US” is a U.S.-spec E12-head tii — so a 9.0:1 compression ratio — along with its part number, 11009056520).

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

 

 

 

[Son of Marty]

In the 80's the EPA got on BMW and other brands case about selling non approved parts to a smog equipped car, for example for a number of years factory rebuilt engines were priced very competitively with a good rebuild and most knowing owners would buy the 9.5 to 1 euro tii block thus angering the almighty smog gods. Anyhoo this might be what BMW did to assure the right block was used before they went to the more comprehensive stickers.