Face lift or prefacelift?

Poll Poll Z4 3.0i prefacelift of face-lift

  • Pre-face-lift

    Votes: 21 42.9%

  • Facelift

    Votes: 28 57.1%
  • Total voters
    49
I doubt there is much in it in terms of retaining value.

But I voted facelift because the 3.0Si is a bit more powerful and revs a bit higher, which IMHO suits a 2 seater. And the Sport models all have the M-Sport seats as standard! :wink:

I don't know how many 3.0is came to the UK, but I suspect it was more than 3.0Sis as we got less than 1,000 of those as E85s - so maybe some rarity value too?
 
I wish I'd held out for a facelift. There weren't many 3.0sis around when I was looking and (I thought) I really needed a 3ltr. In hindsight I should have gone for a 2.5si instead of passing on quite a few of them.
 
Voted pre- cos I simply prefer the look of it: especially the rear lights.
Oh and I love how easy the M54 is to work on. :thumbsup:
 
i also prefer pre facelift, i do prefer the way the rear lights look pre facelift.

also, the M54 engine is pretty bulletproof, wheras the N52 engine will definitely require a new water pump at some point.
 
I prefer the rear of the facelift, but think the front of the pre-facelift looks much better - although the front of the M is a big improvement over the other models because it doesn't have those pesky foglights!
 
brillomaster said:
i also prefer pre facelift, i do prefer the way the rear lights look pre facelift.

also, the M54 engine is pretty bulletproof, wheras the N52 engine will definitely require a new water pump at some point.
Click to expand...

It’s not just electronic pumps which can fail, i replaced the mechanical water pump on mrs smartbears Yeti last week after only 28k miles! :o
Rob
 
Smartbear said:
brillomaster said:
i also prefer pre facelift, i do prefer the way the rear lights look pre facelift.

also, the M54 engine is pretty bulletproof, wheras the N52 engine will definitely require a new water pump at some point.
Click to expand...

It’s not just electronic pumps which can fail, i replaced the mechanical water pump on mrs smartbears Yeti last week after only 28k miles! :o
Rob
Click to expand...
Yes I was going to say the same. I had to replace the water pump on our 2.5i a few months back.
The difference being that you get a warning leak from the tell-tale hole under the bearing whereas the N52's just stops!
 
enuff_zed said:
Smartbear said:
brillomaster said:
i also prefer pre facelift, i do prefer the way the rear lights look pre facelift.

also, the M54 engine is pretty bulletproof, wheras the N52 engine will definitely require a new water pump at some point.
Click to expand...

It’s not just electronic pumps which can fail, i replaced the mechanical water pump on mrs smartbears Yeti last week after only 28k miles! :o
Rob
Click to expand...
Yes I was going to say the same. I had to replace the water pump on our 2.5i a few months back.
The difference being that you get a warning leak from the tell-tale hole under the bearing whereas the N52's just stops!
Click to expand...

I did get a warning of sorts on my N52 car, the cooling fan was roaring from a cold start - this doesn’t appear to always be the case though! :?
Rob
 
The rarity of the facelift 3.0SI roadster, particularly in manual form and having perhaps BMWs finest na engine outside of the M cars in the N52 is the key thing here. This seems to have been increasingly reflected in their prices, closing in and in cases exceeding equivalent coupes which used to command a material premium. Other than the steering they represent peak ‘analogue roadster’ in my eyes, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather swap it for, short of a v8 vantage.

I know I could pick up a nice 3.0i any day of the week, however you may be waiting a while for the right SI.
 
I'm expecting the big-engined Z4's in general to start heading the same direction of the 2.8/3.0 Z3's over the next few years. I think we will start to see a few mint examples trade for big money on sites like Collecting Cars or Bring A Trailer to some automotive press fanfare once the earliest M54 engine cars hit about 20 years old, then the rest will follow suit. The Z4M is a different beast entirely, they already command decent money and I can imagine them hitting E30 M3 money in the next 5-10 years alongside the E46 M3.

If you are into Z4's as an investment, a straight 6 manual of almost any variety is the one to have. The 4-bangers don't seem to have the same cachet, you can see this with Z3 prices.
 
out of the 14 Z4's ive had, i think the vast majority have been N52 facelifts. possibly 10.

The M54 is a good engine- but the ancilaries are crap, the cooling system is made of chocolate - granted the WP on the N52 is a consumable, but on the M54 so is the bottle, rad , PCV, DISA etc etc. oh and they fixed the sticky steering by the time the facelift came along, which can be a scary fault!
 
I chose the facelift because I think it looks more modern, saying that some of the pre facelift models do have more of a classic look so it all depends what floats your boat.
 
The externals can be changed. Either upgraded or downgraded, depending on which way you're looking at it.

It's the internals that sway things for me, the M54 as mentioned is super easy to work on and actually has a dip stick! Which I dearly miss on my N53 (which is basically the same as the LCI Z4).

If you're her and you have a coupe, then well you shouldn't be here influencing! The facelift/prefacelift question is geared towards the roadster :P
 
(Impartial observation from a coupe owner)

Given the question was “what would be the best investment and best performance?”, surely the 3.0Si wins on both counts.
 
I change my answer. The performances aren’t too dissimilar. And same for aesthetics… it’s a e85 Z4 whether pre or post.

So it boils down to investment. And my answer to that would be lowest mileage with best service history that you can find (for your budget)!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom