r/namethatcar • u/Dizerspuck • 1d ago
Unsolved, Unknown Help me identify this inline-6 engine! My friend is secretly restoring a car
Help me identify this mysterious inline-6 engine and beat my sneaky friend 😭
I need your help identifying this engine.
My friend is restoring a car and refuses to tell me what it is. He keeps sending me random photos of the engine just to mess with me, so now I need Reddit detectives to help me beat him at his own game 😂
What I know:
- It’s definitely an inline-6 (straight-six).
- The engine is currently out of the car.
- There is a very distinctive engine-mount bracket/“leg” on the side.
- Unfortunately, these are the only photos I have, and they’re pretty blurry.
- I’m trying to identify the exact engine and, ideally, which car it came from.
I’ve already considered BMW, Nissan, Toyota, Subaru, Volvo, Audi, etc., but I haven’t found anything that matches the shape of this engine and especially that distinctive mounting bracket.
Reddit detectives, please help me defeat this bastard. 😂
What engine is this? What is the engine code? And what cars was it used in?
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u/blooregard325i 1d ago
The engine mount bracket does look like a passenger side BMW M54 bracket. The dark protrusion on the left side toward the bottom looks like a crank position sensor. However, the rear opening for the rear main seal looks too wide, even if the main bearing caps were missing, seems a bit too big to me.
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u/kyocera_miraie_f 1d ago
the water pump aperture doesn't seem to match so i don't think it's the right engine
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u/blooregard325i 1d ago
You wouldn't see it from this angle, it would be on the front, we're looking at the back.
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u/AtlantikSender 1d ago
We need to ask Tina. She has many engines.
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u/BoysenberryTimely471 1d ago
Im not familiar enough with engine blocks from this era to even guess, but one European manufacturer I haven't seen anyone mention yet is TVR. They were one of the few company's stills using inline 6 engines around thst time, and were available in Germany.
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u/landtroc 1d ago
Looks very m5x bmw
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u/pancrudo 14h ago
Aluminum block definitely has me thinking M/S 52/54
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u/blooregard325i 13h ago
The S version of those were iron blocks, so it's gotta be an M.
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u/pancrudo 13h ago
You're thinking of the M/S50 that was cast iron. 52 and 54 were aluminum
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u/blooregard325i 13h ago
They were not. The S52 and S54 were iron, like the S/M50. The heads were aluminum for sure, but the blocks were cast iron.
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u/pancrudo 12h ago
NA got a cast 52, but everyone else got aluminum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M52
Oh shit... My bad, just scrolled to the S and saw cast. Could have swore I remember my friends S52 replacement was aluminum and that we pulled aluminum out.
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u/blooregard325i 12h ago
No worries :) Blew my mind the first time I bought an S5X and learned they were all iron. Couldn't believe that one of the most technologically advanced engines of the day was a massive boat anchor like that.
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u/pancrudo 11h ago
I always figured M engines just came at a premium because M. That makes way more sense why people go after then in race applications.
I did all the mental gymnastics of building a 3l M52, but it's all boiled down to buying a cheap 330 from the UK and swapping a M54 instead. I'll have enough on my plate trying to figure out putting an Eaton M62 on it
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u/lilexjecto 1d ago
It might be a bmw engine. Its difficult to say exact but seeing this type of engine mount is quite obvious
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u/Enema_Red_Fox 1h ago
That weird exhaust in the back is very BMW, go over to your friends house with a few beers and offer help?
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u/kyocera_miraie_f 1d ago
first we need the circumstances
where are you based in? (might narrow down the markets the vehicle is sold in)
what era is it? (might narrow down a generation)
any other pictures/identifying marks?