Advise needed on 2012 4 cyl 28i

[vinman]

Hello,
I am looking to purchase a 2012 28i manual trans with just over 100k. It has had two owners. No accidents. $18k

I want a stick and a hard top; I just would like thoughts on the 4cyl turbo. 2012 being the first year to market, and it's been 10 years, I figured someone would know if I should stay away from this model year.

Besides any problems I would also like input on 4 vs 6 preferences from those willing to share.

Thanks in advance,
Vin

 

[B21]

The one issue with the N20 engine that powers your car is that pre 2015 the camchain tensioner and it’s associated parts can fail..badly…

At 100k there is significant risk that your luck may ..maybe may run out..

It’s a Russian Roulette issue many don’t but quite a few do go pop..

If the car is great in all other aspects then budget 1,500 USD to get it replaced sooner rather than later.

Otherwise a N52 powered 30i may be your bag.

 

[javis20]

That price seem pretty high. I bought my 2011 3.0i auto with 32k miles and M-Sport package and adaptable suspension for $20K

 

[Mr Tidy]

Welcome to the forum OP.

Prices in countries with prices in $ tend to be very different to UK prices in £!

But B21 knows all about the N20 engines.

I'm on my 4th N52 (albeit in an E90 3 Series) that is on almost 120K miles - it runs really smoothly and pulls strongly.

 

[vinman]

Thanks guys for the replies...
I will see if there is a maintenance record to see about the chain.
There were two previous owners. The price under the carfax website says that it’s almost 5k below book; I definitely will continue to search.

Ok so what’s the N20 and the N52 designation mean? I did some reading on the car and driver website but I don’t remember any mention of N#s.

Are Z4 with manual transmissions more expensive than automatics?

Thanks again everyone.

 

[B21]

N20 is the later 4 cylinder turbocharged model…

N52 was the preceding 6 cylinder normally aspirated model.

The N20 and N52 came with 6 speed manuals or the N20 had the 8 speed ZF8HP box whilst the N52 could have the 6 speed ZF6HP

I doubt that the N20 you saw had it’s camchain done..if it did then it should then be trouble free , hopefully..one US N20 Z4 has gone past the 500k mile mark with no issues.

Pricing wise for a N20 you would expect to pay a premium for an auto..for a N52 pricing is not so obvious..

N20 cars tend to have a better spec than N52s simply as BMW stuck more goodies on models later in the production life.

 

[vinman]

Wow...you seem to know this car inside and out. Thanks. I appreciate your help. I hope to take it for a ride tmrw.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family; God’s very best to you.

 

[B21]

Wow...you seem to know this car inside and out. Thanks. I appreciate your help. I hope to take it for a ride tmrw.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family; God’s very best to you.

I had a N20 powered E89 for 5 years..I chose to replace the cam chain subsystem for peace of mind…my car had about 40k miles on it at the time…there was no obvious damage but…

I had the ZF8HP auto box and re-mapped it to 275 BHP then with a bigger turbo to over 300 BHP and 450 nm torque…

It was a great car…well balanced and enough go to keep up with anyone I came across..good handling as well..

Having said that all E89s are great cars IMHO..

 

[vinman]

Ok, you got me thinking now. So the e89 with N54 would be what you would recommend? And I could use some help in deciphering what engine is in the cars that I am looking at. Besides it being a z4, how can I narrow my search to get a stick, hard top and the 'correct' engine; until you mentioned e89 I had no idea what that was in reference to as well as the N20, N54...etc. How do I know what engine is in each car that I look at online? Is that designated in the model name or in the vin#? Thanks from this very green newbie!

 

[N4LLY]

The N20 E89's 18 / 20 / 28 are all exactly the same engine. Just at a different Tune stage.

You can re-map a 18 and get 28 performance without issue's. Looking for a 20 may give you a much better spec'd car.
It worked for me 8)

 

[vinman]

So I really appreciate your feedback but humbly request less Greek ...sorry...I’m not a car guru by any means. I do the maintenance on my tundra and I’m just starting my journey on the z4. So most of the nomenclature of what you wrote doesn’t mean a whole lot to me in my search of a vehicle. Meaning I see there is a 4 cyl and a six and then diff generations; I’d like to know how I know I’m looking at “e89” & a “18,20,28” or a “n20” vs a n54,n55 etc.
I guess I’m not following how one deciphers what I’m specs I’m looking at when I first glance at a listing of a z4 search. Thanks...

 

[Ole gits rule]

An e89 6 cal is normally 23i /30i or 35i or 35iS

An e89 4 cal is normally 18i / 20i or 28i

e85 (older generation) and g29 (new generation) have sift tops, e89 is the only zed with a hard top

 

[B21]

An e89 6 cal is normally 23i /30i or 35i or 35iS.. 23i and 30i are N52 powered ..35i/s is N54 powered

An e89 4 cal is normally 18i / 20i or 28i all N20 powered

e85 (older generation) and g29 (new generation) have sift tops, e89 is the only zed with a hard top

 

[B21]

Ok, you got me thinking now. So the e89 with N54 would be what you would recommend? And I could use some help in deciphering what engine is in the cars that I am looking at. Besides it being a z4, how can I narrow my search to get a stick, hard top and the 'correct' engine; until you mentioned e89 I had no idea what that was in reference to as well as the N20, N54...etc. How do I know what engine is in each car that I look at online? Is that designated in the model name or in the vin#? Thanks from this very green newbie!

N54 powered E89 is a 35i or 35is…

Very powerful, heavy, not as sweet handling and much more problematic than the N20 18i/20i/28i…. :tumbleweed:

 

[Silverstar]

You can re-map a 18 and get 28 performance without issue's. Looking for a 20 may give you a much better spec'd car.
It worked for me

I might be wrong but I don't think the US got the 18i or 20i they usually don't get the smaller engines (or in this case lower output engines) over there.

For the OP:

Z4 Sdrive 28i = 2.0 4 cylinder turbo N20 engine
Z4 Sdrive 20i = 2.0 4 cylinder turbo N20 engine (not sure if this version was available in the US)
Z4 Sdrive 30i = 3.0 6 cylinder naturally aspirated N52 engine
Z4 Sdrive 35i or 35is = 6 cylinder twin turbo N54 engine

 

[Pondrew]

So I really appreciate your feedback but humbly request less Greek ...sorry...I’m not a car guru by any means. I do the maintenance on my tundra and I’m just starting my journey on the z4. So most of the nomenclature of what you wrote doesn’t mean a whole lot to me in my search of a vehicle. Meaning I see there is a 4 cyl and a six and then diff generations; I’d like to know how I know I’m looking at “e89” & a “18,20,28” or a “n20” vs a n54,n55 etc.
I guess I’m not following how one deciphers what I’m specs I’m looking at when I first glance at a listing of a z4 search. Thanks...

Yeah 'car people' do tend to presume you know all the designation numbers..

The engine details are posted above by Silverstar

The Z4 has three 'generations'
1st gen was the E85 (soft top convertible) and E86 coupe 2003-2009
2nd gen was the E89 (hard top convertible) 2009-2016
3rd gen is the G29 (soft top convertible) 2018-present

As manual gearboxes (transmissions) are generally less popular in the States, I would expect them to command a premium over autos, but don't know!

 

[vinman]

Thanks for that very nice outline of the 3 generation breakdown; my only other question would be how do I know which engine is in each model I look at? They state 4 or 6 cyl but not n20/n54...etc. so how do I know? Also, I thought I have seen some 2021 hard tops...? Are they not z4’s? I thought they came up in my z4 search.
Thank you again!

 

[Pondrew]

Thanks for that very nice outline of the 3 generation breakdown; my only other question would be how do I know which engine is in each model I look at? They state 4 or 6 cyl but not n20/n54...etc. so how do I know? Also, I thought I have seen some 2021 hard tops...? Are they not z4’s? I thought they came up in my z4 search.
Thank you again!

Look at Silverstar's post above. That details what engine is in each 'model' (on the E89).
Most of us are in the UK, but don't think they have made a hardtop Z4 since 2016. Just to confuse things even more, the latest Toyota Supra coupe is based on the new (G29) Z4, so that may be it?

 

[Scubaregs]

[ref]Pondrew[/ref], That was a very helpful and informative post. I've reported it to admin as obviously your account has been hacked by an adult. :rofl:

 

[Pondrew]

Pondrew, That was a very helpful and informative post. I've reported it to admin as obviously your account has been hacked by an adult.

Yeah sorry mate. I had to go out earlier, so the beer drinking started later than usual. Give me an hour, I'll be back to normal. :lol: