E89 4 pot or 6?

Smartbear said:
“N52B30 doesn’t need to be tuned“
If you want it to keep up with a mapped n20 it does :thumbsup:
Rob

These cars aren’t about straight line speed.

But again, N52B30 supercharged would cruise past N20B20 tuned :rofl:
 
R60BBA said:
Smartbear said:
“N52B30 doesn’t need to be tuned“
If you want it to keep up with a mapped n20 it does :thumbsup:
Rob

These cars aren’t about straight line speed.

But again, N52B30 supercharged would cruise past N20B20 tuned :rofl:

That’s after fitting thousands of pounds of hardware so I think you’ve missed the point.
After bolting on a space X BFR interplanetary rocket my n20 would power past anything you’ve got :)
Rob
 
Smartbear said:
R60BBA said:
Smartbear said:
“N52B30 doesn’t need to be tuned“
If you want it to keep up with a mapped n20 it does :thumbsup:
Rob

These cars aren’t about straight line speed.

But again, N52B30 supercharged would cruise past N20B20 tuned :rofl:

That’s after fitting thousands of pounds of hardware so I think you’ve missed the point.
After bolting on a space X BFR interplanetary rocket my n20 would power past anything you’ve got :)
Rob

I haven’t missed the point at all, I was responding to Twin Turbo’s comments about remapping initially.

N20B20 has forced induction from the factory. N52 and S54 don’t. It’s not exactly fair to compare a forced induction engine vs a naturally aspirated engine. Nor is it fair to compare a remapped turbo engine vs a factory mapped turbo engine.

Plus I initially said the N52 doesn’t need to be tuned, it’s good enough out the box :thumbsup:

The 6 pot wins my vote everytime. :driving:
 
R60BBA said:
Smartbear said:
R60BBA said:
These cars aren’t about straight line speed.

But again, N52B30 supercharged would cruise past N20B20 tuned :rofl:

That’s after fitting thousands of pounds of hardware so I think you’ve missed the point.
After bolting on a space X BFR interplanetary rocket my n20 would power past anything you’ve got :)
Rob

I haven’t missed the point at all, I was responding to Twin Turbo’s comments about remapping initially.

N20B20 has forced induction from the factory. N52 and S54 don’t. It’s not exactly fair to compare a forced induction engine vs a naturally aspirated engine. Nor is it fair to compare a remapped turbo engine vs a factory mapped turbo engine.

Plus I initially said the N52 doesn’t need to be tuned, it’s good enough out the box :thumbsup:

The 6 pot wins my vote everytime. :driving:

I just wondered how many n20 engined cars you’d owned to base your opinion on?
I speak from personal experience having owned both varieties, both great in different ways & neither should be rubbished imho :thumbsup:
Rob
 
Maybe going off topic a little.. But to the uninitiated.. What z4's do the following engines belong in..

N52B30 doesn’t need to be tuned.
N54B30/T0 is very tuneable and can make circa 400bhp from stage 1.
S54B32 supercharged will smash N20B20 tuned and will sound a million times better whilst it’s doing it.
 
Smartbear said:
R60BBA said:
Smartbear said:
That’s after fitting thousands of pounds of hardware so I think you’ve missed the point.
After bolting on a space X BFR interplanetary rocket my n20 would power past anything you’ve got :)
Rob

I haven’t missed the point at all, I was responding to Twin Turbo’s comments about remapping initially.

N20B20 has forced induction from the factory. N52 and S54 don’t. It’s not exactly fair to compare a forced induction engine vs a naturally aspirated engine. Nor is it fair to compare a remapped turbo engine vs a factory mapped turbo engine.

Plus I initially said the N52 doesn’t need to be tuned, it’s good enough out the box :thumbsup:

The 6 pot wins my vote everytime. :driving:

I just wondered how many n20 engined cars you’d owned to base your opinion on?
I speak from personal experience having owned both varieties, both great in different ways & neither should be rubbished imho :thumbsup:
Rob

My friend has a 228i which uses N20 I believe.

It’s decent, but as I said...6 pot is better. :driving:
 
I much prefer n/a cars over forced induction so it was the 6 cylinder 3.0 all the way for me.

The fact that it is more reliable, gives decent fuel economy and tax bracket is just icing on the cake.

To be honest all the above is pretty much the main reason why I have chosen a 3.0 over a 370z or even an s2000.

It just ticks all the boxes for me.
 
There are three available engine types in the e89 Z4

161018c3c1f3326827a2c85b25e3cf60-full.png


N54 is the most powerful and tunable.
N20 all models can be tuned to the same power
N52 has very limited tuning potential
 
Broads said:
Maybe going off topic a little.. But to the uninitiated.. What z4's do the following engines belong in..

S54B32 - E46 M3, Z3M (2nd gen) and Z4M
N52B30 - Z4 E85/E86 3.0si and E89 30i
N54B30 - Z4 E89 35i
N54B30T0 - Z4 E89 35is
N20B20 - Z4 E89 18i, 20i and 28i
 
Twin Turbo said:
Broads said:
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Post by R60BBA » Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:27 pm

6 pot all the way.

The 4 pots were designed for the hairdressers.
E46 M3 Coupe
S54B32
Carbon Schwarz

IG: bavarianjunkie
https://youtu.be/y0ymv8jOC0Y
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Depends whats important, 3L better sound, more solid engine - limited tuning, and higher cost of ownership

28i, cheap to run, very tuneable - will put any Stock Z4 to shame inc Z4M and 35is - if tuned to stage 2, sound not as great, been a high-pressure turbo engine, you get the issues associated.

Get it remaped/jb4/ downpipes, induction kit, coilovers and you transform an E89 to a sports car. I have some videos of my Z4 doing track days and beating M3 doing the 1/4 mile.

A stock 35is will do the 1/4 mile in 13 seconds, some users showing slips as low as 12.8 and 12.9 and that's a fully stock car. I'm yet to see any modified 2.0 Z4 get close to that.

There are some modded N20 equipped 3 series getting under 13 seconds but those are XDrive cars.

Also see some Z4M users reporting 13.2 seconds so it's false to claim that the 28i will put any Z4 to shame.
 
^

Yes I completely agree, anyone that tells you the N20's can keep up with an N54 hasn't tried.
My 35i is stage 2+ with DP, intercooler and charge pipe. It eats E92 M3's for breakfast :evil:

This is a fairly heavily tuned Z4 35i beating quite a few cars in the drag strip!

(Rolling start at 50kph)
[youtube]GqB7k5dac-o[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/GqB7k5dac-o
 
cowboyjon said:
I much prefer n/a cars over forced induction so it was the 6 cylinder 3.0 all the way for me.

The fact that it is more reliable, gives decent fuel economy and tax bracket is just icing on the cake.

To be honest all the above is pretty much the main reason why I have chosen a 3.0 over a 370z or even an s2000.

It just ticks all the boxes for me.

I dont think you're quite right about the tax. Turbo'd cars always beat N/A cars on emissions at the same power level. This is partly the reason manufacturers are moving towards small engine forced induction these days. Better economy and lower emissions.

I've updated my Table to include Tax.
28i vs 30i similar power, but the 28i is faster to 60. £100 cheaper in road tax
30i vs 35i/is only £25 more road tax but far more powerful

Capture.png
 
Nick9one1 said:
^

Yes I completely agree, anyone that tells you the N20's can keep up with an N52 hasn't tried.
My 35i is stage 2+ with DP, intercooler and charge pipe. It eats E92 M3's for breakfast :evil:

This is a fairly heavily tuned Z4 35i beating quite a few cars in the drag strip!

(Rolling start at 50kph)
[youtube]GqB7k5dac-o[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/GqB7k5dac-o

I think your getting mixed up between n52 & n54 engines?
N20 can outperform the n52 :thumbsup:
Rob
 
Nick9one1 said:
cowboyjon said:
I much prefer n/a cars over forced induction so it was the 6 cylinder 3.0 all the way for me.

The fact that it is more reliable, gives decent fuel economy and tax bracket is just icing on the cake.

To be honest all the above is pretty much the main reason why I have chosen a 3.0 over a 370z or even an s2000.

It just ticks all the boxes for me.

I dont think you're quite right about the tax. Turbo'd cars always beat N/A cars on emissions at the same power level. This is partly the reason manufacturers are moving towards small engine forced induction these days. Better economy and lower emissions.

I've updated my Table to include Tax.
28i vs 30i similar power, but the 28i is faster to 60. £100 cheaper in road tax
30i vs 35i/is only £25 more road tax but far more powerful

Capture.png

Sorry fella you misunderstand me.

When I mentioned tax I'm talking relative to other petrol engines (doesn't even have to be 3 litres) pushing similar performance figures.

An s2000 from 2005 onward or any 370z are all max tax brackets while the 3.0 n/a is not even close.
 
Once you start talking about after market performance upgrades you really need to look at bang per pound spent.....

The N20 for a £350 ECU reflash goes from around 185BHP to 280BHP..that just be about the best value going...

Most of the mods that start with inter coolers / charge pipes / exhaust systems / turbos etc quickly run into £1000s...

As others have said, and it’s analogous to the E89 brake upgrades, you can spend a lot of money to look cool, but the on street braking performance won’t be much different....

A track car is a different beast to on road usage...you can never extend the car enough to get the benefit of some of the more exotic goodies...
 
Clobber said:
Do the N20 engined cars need uprated brakes etc when modded to stage1/stage2 ?

Not really, even though they don’t look sexy, on the road the N20 engined E89s brake adequately even when re-mapped..
 
R60BBA said:
How reliable is a remapped N20 vs a stock N52 is another question :poke:

Time will tell, but, it does have a forged crankshaft rather than the N52 cast crankshaft, it benefits from all the in service experience of previous generations, such as improved head cooling to stop the injectors/coils going south prematurely.

The twin scroll turbo doesn’t seem to have manifested any great issues unlike its earlier cousins on the 35i.

It’s usally mated to the ZF 8 HP 45 box that is good for more torque than you can get out of a remapped N20.

So providing you keep it south of 300 bhp in a road car it looks like it should go on for a long time.

All IMHO...
 
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