EXHIBIT 5
July 2, 1997

Board of Directors
Minnesota Mining and
Manufacturing Company 
3M Center
St. Paul, Minnesota 55144


As Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Minnesota Mining and 
Manufacturing Company ("3M"), I, or other attorneys reporting to me, have 
acted as counsel to 3M in connection with the filing under the Securities Act 
of 1933, as amended, of the Registration Statement on Form S-8 relating to 
6,000,000 shares of 3M common stock with a par value of $0.50 per share. 
The shares are to be offered and sold in connection with 3M's 1997 
General Employees Stock Purchase Plan (the "Program").  In such capacity, I, 
or other attorneys reporting to me, have examined originals or copies, 
certified or otherwise identified to my satisfaction, of such documents, 
corporate records and other instruments relating to such securities as I 
have deemed necessary or appropriate in connection with this opinion, 
including the following: (a) the Restated Certificate of Incorporation and 
the By-Laws of 3M, as amended to date; and (b) the records of corporate 
proceedings of the stockholders and Board of Directors of the Company 
relating to the authorization and issuance of its stock.

Based on the foregoing, I am of the opinion that:

1. 3M has been duly incorporated and is an existing corporation in good 
standing under the laws of the State of Delaware.

2. All of 3M's presently outstanding common stock is validly issued, fully 
paid, and nonassessable.

3. The Board of Directors has duly authorized the issuance of the 6,000,000 
shares.

4. The shares of common stock covered by this Registration Statement, when 
issued in accordance with proper corporate authorizations, will be validly 
issued, fully paid, and nonassessable.

I hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the  
aforementioned registration statement. I also consent to the reference to me 
under the caption "Interests of Named Experts and Counsel" contained in the 
Registration Statement.

Sincerely,

/s/ John J. Ursu

John J. Ursu
Senior Vice President and General Counsel