Help picking Z4 - N52 or M54???

[Willbott]

Cheers Chris. Good to know you were in the same position as me and are happy with the pre face lift.

Re map is interesting...with the money saved over an N52 I could get re map and sports exhaust and maybe even custom dampers..???

My 330d rides pretty hard (too hard really) so used to harsh ride. Don't like it though. My old E30 had a great ride, don't know why BMW feels the need to make them so stiff? You could actually go faster with a softer ride!

Thanks Chris. Anything else you think I should watch out for really appreciated.

Will

 

[tomTVR]

Don't think they changed much 03-facelift. You could retrofit cruise control on early cars but they removed that facility from september 04 onwards i belive. They also added better door sound insulation at some point (the early ones clang like a transit van when you close them). But otherwise nothing major.

I may be talking crap here. But i think there are rare 05 plate 3.0si models going about which have the pre facelift bumpers and rear light design but also have the newer faster engine AND the clear indicators. In other words the untimate allround E85 Z4! Like rocking hosre poo though.

I wouldnt bother with remaps, they dont do much on any of these engines, spend the money on petrol

 

[chris]

I hopefully will be getting mine remapped at santa pod on the 19th, so people are welcome to view the results

As i personally feel the M54 you can get at least an extra 20bhp from a remap, and was proved on many a car. Different maps etc will gain different results, but my engine is not really broken in at 36k, so should be nice to see the difference. If there is no change then i will stand corrected. And i have left my engine std for the mo, bar a pipercross air filter element, as the one in there was a bit dirty.

 

[Willbott]

Interesting stuff Tom. Wouldn't surprise me. My old E30 325i convertible had the facelift gubbins under the bonnet but still had the Chrome bumpers etc. Perfect! But that was a fluke, and if I'd set out looking for one like that I'd never have found it.

Was good fun taking it to the BMW dealers and confusing them though!

Point taken on remap. Non turbo BMW - I can imagine it doesn't do much. Exhaust could be fun though...!

I think a late pre face lift is looking like the way to go for me. Talking of spending the money on petrol, what RON do most people run the M54's on? Do you notice a big difference with super or not?

Will

 

[Sticks]

I may be talking crap here. But i think there are rare 05 plate 3.0si models going about which have the pre facelift bumpers and rear light design but also have the newer faster engine AND the clear indicators. In other words the untimate allround E85 Z4! Like rocking hosre poo though.

I thought just TVR did that sort of thing

In terms of value, spec and colour will make a big difference. Pre facelift, Black, Silver and Grey were most popular. Prof sat nav was £1900 new and Xenons £400. Heated seats are popular with the girls, sorry, members on here :wink:

ETA - had an SE E46 330d but when I changed it for the 120d I went for the M SPort because th seat was more supportive and found it more comfortable. Just a thought.

 

[Willbott]

Cheers Sticks. Interesting re the M Sport 120d. My E46 330d is an SE and the ride is only just on the right side of firm...

Will

 

[Wondermike]

Willbott, the pre-facelift 3.0 was dropped due to emissions and you couldn't order one from mid-2005 onwards until the facelift came in March 2006. So there aren't many 2005 models, the odd 55 plate one, but nothing after that.

You'll definitely notice the additional poke of the 3.0Si but depends if you would actually use it day to day. The M54 runs smoother on super unleaded.

 

[Sticks]

Cheers Sticks. Interesting re the M Sport 120d. My E46 330d is an SE and the ride is only just on the right side of firm...

Will

Yes. I liked the firmness of the E46 SE but wanted less roll. Supportive seats make a difference though my Z4 seats are generally fine.

 

[ZermattV]

I went looking earlier this year for an 03-04 3.0 se and came back withh an 05 3.0i ........... for me as it was not going to be my daily driver i could not really justify the extra for the 3.0si which seemed a big Jump for the added power and clear lights. the one i found had M seats and i would recommend getting one with these fitted.

Mine has black CD and vents which earlier 3.0s don't have ... someone told me that this was because its a shared part with the X3 which had already changed.

I had 17" RFT on mine but recently changed to 18" with non RFT..... i think 18" with Non RFT are more comfortable than the 17" with RFT. Why the change?.... mine has an aero kit on it and it looked a little underwheeled on 17" wheels.


In terms of colour on preface lift .. silver and grey probably the most popular; my fav is the toledo blue..... but slowy falling in love with maldives blue.

 

[jan_tekin]

I hopefully will be getting mine remapped at santa pod on the 19th, so people are welcome to view the results

As i personally feel the M54 you can get at least an extra 20bhp from a remap, and was proved on many a car. Different maps etc will gain different results, but my engine is not really broken in at 36k, so should be nice to see the difference. If there is no change then i will stand corrected. And i have left my engine std for the mo, bar a pipercross air filter element, as the one in there was a bit dirty.

I think 20 BHP is a little optimistic, might make the power delivery a little smoother and remove any flat spots that will be it. Remaps ant exactly cheep and with the added increase in insurance I'd say save your money.

with the money saved over an N52 I could get re map and sports exhaust and maybe even custom dampers..???

I think with the money saved buying a M54 you spend it buying sport seats, M wheel, clear lights which most people want and retro fit to there zeds, none of which are cheep and the first and last not easy to source.

After buying my Z4 over a year and a half ago there is not one thing i've had to touch thats including the engine. Cars currently on 46.000 mile and sallied through is inspection 1 with no issues and nothing to report.
Every engine has issues, lets face it thats what warranties are for. I personally would not rule out a facelift one because of what if....
If you went for pre-facelift make sure your factor in posable roof motor failure, sticky, notchy and stiff steering when the temperature gets a little hot.
Don't let any of these issues put you off owning Z4 so which ever you choose enjoy

 

[Willbott]

Wondermike - thanks for the advice and the link to the pre/post specs. Really good.

ZermattV - I think my journey might go like yours...set out for one thing and get another... I started out thinking that I wanted an si but know think an M54 might be the ticket.

Very interesting about the 17" and 18" wheels. Great to hear that 18"s with Non RFT are as comfy as 17's on RFT. Sounds like the combo for me!

You happy with the performance of the 3.0i over the si?

Jan_tekin - thanks for your thoughts. It's great to hear from someone who has an si. Sounds like in your experience the N52 is no issue, and I take your point about not stressing too much about engines. Is it that this HVA issue is a bit like the Nikasil problem that E36's and 8 series had??? You read a lot about it, but all the people I actually know who had one never had an issue...? I'm trying to get my head around the number of cases of this HVA issue, to see if it's a once in a blue moon thing.

Good advice though, I'll look at facelift models too - if the price is right.

Cheers

Will

 

[Smokin]

I never drove a pre-faclift 3.0, but I can tell you, so far, my 3.0Si has been damn reliable and will really move out if you get the revs up. More torque than the M!

 

[srhutch]

Jan_tekin - thanks for your thoughts. It's great to hear from someone who has an si. Sounds like in your experience the N52 is no issue, and I take your point about not stressing too much about engines. Is it that this HVA issue is a bit like the Nikasil problem that E36's and 8 series had??? You read a lot about it, but all the people I actually know who had one never had an issue...? I'm trying to get my head around the number of cases of this HVA issue, to see if it's a once in a blue moon thing.

I would say there have been 5 or 6 people on here that have had the problem with HVA's on the N52 engine.

 

[ZermattV]

Never drove the Si............ so can't comment on the performance..... My journey started looking at 03 MX-5s so when it arrived at an 05 3.0 SE Z4 someone told me my Journey had reached it's destination.


What I would do is look at both and be swayed by what you see in terms of condition.... i bought a garaged everynight sub 30 k pre face lift ... I would be happier buying that than an 06 parked on the street 50k miler..

Go and try a few out and see what you prefer and most importantly what condition you can find..... I'd also try the 2.5si out if you come across a nice example......

 

[Willbott]

Hey Smokin! Thanks for getting in touch. Your motor sounds great, and it's good to hear someone having no issues with an N52. If my budget stretches to one in good enough condition I'll definitely be looking at them. I'm going to try and do a back to back drive of N52 and M54 to form a really good idea of the differences. There are some dealers that have both, so shouldn't be too hard. And like you say, the torque is very appealing...

srhutch - good to put some numbers to the HVA problem. That doesn't sound like too many considering how active this forum is?

I thought I should post up something I just found out myself. I had to take the 330d to my BMW guy for a little job on it today. While he was having a look at the issue (pro-shaft donut - they always go) I asked him what he made of the Z4 and the N52/M54.

He has a lot go through his garage and he rates the Z4 as one of the most reliable BMW's and said I should get one - as a mechanic he likes them. I asked him about the N52/M54 choice. He said both were great strong engines. He said the issue with the N52 is you need to be totally sure the right oil has always been used - he said it's really sensitive to oil and this can bring on the HVA issue. So I guess buy a car with receipts and invoices, not just stamps in the book. This way you can see what oil was put in.

In terms of the M54 he said these are amazing engines for reliability. No issues if looked after. He has one himself with 250k miles on the clock and it's fine!!!

Thought that might be interesting to people on here.

By the way the guy I use is Scott at "First Call" in Nailsea near Bristol. He's really good, knows his stuff and his prices seem fair. Here's the website http://www.german-specialist.co.uk/

I'll stick that in the Dealer section of the forum too, for any other West Country types.

ZermattV, that's funny - I've done exactly the same! I thought I'd get rid of the 330 and get something cheaper, smaller and older...an MX5! Then having looked at some I realised I just couldn't live with that sort of car and what I really wanted was something more modern and plush...a BMW Z4!

I agree with you - condition is the main thing. I like my cars to be totally standard and very very straight. It's always worked for me in the past, so I'm going to stick to it!

I'm going to try as many as I have time to, and also not rush in to buying the first I see.

Cheers guys

Will

 

[craig3.2]

Like others may have said,i think the facelifted front lights look nicer than the pre facelift ones,tho the rear lts and front bumpers look better on the pre models,imo.
As for reliability,very few major probs with either,from what i know.(inc other owners exprncs),tho they did improve roof motor seals from 2006,which a few ppl have had to renew(not cheap),on earlier z4's,but only seems to happen to a small % of owners/forum members.

Regards power/performance,the newer 3.0si models 30bhp extra,makes a negligble difrnce/0-60 in 5.7s as oppsd to 5.9. but on the flipside,the si models are less tunable,from what i have been told,espcly in regards to s'chargers,etc/but i may be wrong on this point??

While tyres/wheels,u should go with non-runflat tyres/18inch wheels. the non-rft's improve comfort/handling,and ;whatever model/age u get,fit a (bmw)strutbrace,which stiffens roadsters,and improves handling nicely

 

[Willbott]

Cheers Craig,

It's interesting to hear that in real world driving (I'm not going to be red-lining my pride and joy very often!) there's not much in the performance. It's low down torque I'm after more. Gave the 330d a boot-full today and it reminded me just how much torque that thing has! Have you tried both?

I've heard this about roof motors on pre-facelift cars. So BMW never improved this before the facelift? Is there anything you can do to minimise this risk of this happening??? What does it cost to sort?

Great advice re tyres and wheels. 18s with non RFT is what I'd like. Anyone have issues with the insurance on this? Think I'd be with Admiral as I have multi-car with them. Do you know if they mind you fitting a sports exhaust too?

Strut brace is a great idea. How much are they, and where can I get one? Direct from BMW?

Thanks again Craig, great tips.

Will

 

[ZermattV]

Just got a price from Joe Lake at Soper's Lincoln today 204 delivered ............. give him a call when you are ready..........

No problems with Adrian Flux when i changed to 18" Non Run Flats.. and they were pretty relaxed about the aerokit on mine.

on the MX-5 front I've had them in the past great cars but when you look at having to pay around 6-7k for a decent Mk2.5 then a Z4 of similar age for 10k makes a lot of sense.

 

[Willbott]

Thanks Craig - I'll be getting that brace ASAP when I get the car. Top man!

Re the MX5 - that's the conclusion I drew. And as a car like this is not a practical choice anyway, you should really love it!

Now that still leaves the question 3.0 or 3.0si...Where best to place my bets?!

Thanks again mate.

Will

 

[ZermattV]

If my quick look at autotrader is right an 06 plate a post face lift car on approx 30k miles is going to be in the 14-15.5 k mark whereas an 05 pre face lift is going to be in the 10.5-12k mark............ you can buy a lot of black MFSWs for 3.5k.....



I reckon you'll plumb for a nice 04-05 3.0i .......... best of luck