Metric System: Notes

All BMW specifications are metric. Therefore, a thorough knowledge of those areas on the metric system which apply to BMW vehicles is vital to a BMW Service Technician.

The unit of length, and the basis for all other metric units of measurement is the meter. The meter (1 meter), as a point of reference, is slightly longer that a yard (39.37 inches).

The divisions of a meter are hundredths and thousandths. One hundredth of a meter is called a centimeter, and is equal to.3937 inch or about half the diameter of a nickel.

One thousandth of a meter is called a millimeter. The small marks between the centimeter increments are each one millimeter, or one tenth of a centimeter. And as a point of reference, a standard paper clip is about one millimeter thick.