N52 engine reliability?
Discussion
Afternoon all,
I’m thinking about getting an early manual Z4 sdrive 23i. I understand that this car comes with the earlier N52 series engine rather than the later N54 unit.
Are there any issues that I need to be aware of with regards to this engine? Does it use much oil?
The car will be used as a daily driver and cover around 15000 miles a year.
Thanks and all the best.
I’m thinking about getting an early manual Z4 sdrive 23i. I understand that this car comes with the earlier N52 series engine rather than the later N54 unit.
Are there any issues that I need to be aware of with regards to this engine? Does it use much oil?
The car will be used as a daily driver and cover around 15000 miles a year.
Thanks and all the best.
Best out of the 52 53 54.
I love it, it's so much more reliable than the 53. SOunds great,revs great and is just plain great.
No common issues that I know of and there have been no issues in 60k here.
Whats also useful is that the yanks get it over there aswell, so there is so much information about this engine, but no common as such issues.
I love it, it's so much more reliable than the 53. SOunds great,revs great and is just plain great.
No common issues that I know of and there have been no issues in 60k here.
Whats also useful is that the yanks get it over there aswell, so there is so much information about this engine, but no common as such issues.
Ecosseven said:
Afternoon all,
I’m thinking about getting an early manual Z4 sdrive 23i. I understand that this car comes with the earlier N52 series engine rather than the later N54 unit.
Are there any issues that I need to be aware of with regards to this engine? Does it use much oil?
The car will be used as a daily driver and cover around 15000 miles a year.
Thanks and all the best.
The N52 in my opinion is the more advanced engine than the N54, for example it has a lighter magnesium-aluminium block and valvetronic which is missing on the forced induction N54 engine. But most important is the fact that the N52 engine is a port injection engine and NOT A DIRECT INJECTION ENGINE which all seem to have carbon build up problems in the inlet tracts. This carbon build up ultimately effects performance and efficiency over time and the claimed new figures become diminished as mileage increases. Also N52 does not use the HPFP which has been problematic on the N54. I’m thinking about getting an early manual Z4 sdrive 23i. I understand that this car comes with the earlier N52 series engine rather than the later N54 unit.
Are there any issues that I need to be aware of with regards to this engine? Does it use much oil?
The car will be used as a daily driver and cover around 15000 miles a year.
Thanks and all the best.
Edited by piper on Wednesday 11th January 19:03
Moar said:
Ah yes, they fixed this was fixed by the time it reached my car.
I don't this has ever been "fixed", but having said that, like has been previously mentioned I don't think it's an actual issue other than the sound it makes. I don't believe it does any long term damage.Many people have had "fixes" and replacements, but the noise comes back from time to time.
Generally it's more of an issue on cars that make short town journeys - these engines need a good thrash every now and again to keep them healthy.
Other than this, I think they're pretty much bullet proof (touch wood!). The 23 isn't the N52's highest state of tune either so that should help
navier_stokes said:
I don't this has ever been "fixed", but having said that, like has been previously mentioned I don't think it's an actual issue other than the sound it makes. I don't believe it does any long term damage.
Many people have had "fixes" and replacements, but the noise comes back from time to time.
Generally it's more of an issue on cars that make short town journeys - these engines need a good thrash every now and again to keep them healthy.
Other than this, I think they're pretty much bullet proof (touch wood!). The 23 isn't the N52's highest state of tune either so that should help
I don't even know what we're on about.Many people have had "fixes" and replacements, but the noise comes back from time to time.
Generally it's more of an issue on cars that make short town journeys - these engines need a good thrash every now and again to keep them healthy.
Other than this, I think they're pretty much bullet proof (touch wood!). The 23 isn't the N52's highest state of tune either so that should help
Are we on about the noisy lifters?
If so, then these were sorted out by BMW...
Moar said:
navier_stokes said:
I don't this has ever been "fixed", but having said that, like has been previously mentioned I don't think it's an actual issue other than the sound it makes. I don't believe it does any long term damage.
Many people have had "fixes" and replacements, but the noise comes back from time to time.
Generally it's more of an issue on cars that make short town journeys - these engines need a good thrash every now and again to keep them healthy.
Other than this, I think they're pretty much bullet proof (touch wood!). The 23 isn't the N52's highest state of tune either so that should help
I don't even know what we're on about.Many people have had "fixes" and replacements, but the noise comes back from time to time.
Generally it's more of an issue on cars that make short town journeys - these engines need a good thrash every now and again to keep them healthy.
Other than this, I think they're pretty much bullet proof (touch wood!). The 23 isn't the N52's highest state of tune either so that should help
Are we on about the noisy lifters?
If so, then these were sorted out by BMW...
I've got s 130 with over 50K on the clock, it uses literally no measurable amount of oil.
I've never had any lifter noises on mine but I do mainly long journeys.
As others have said there seems to be very few problems with them.
Mine has the performance exhaust and intake and it really is a very nice engine, sounds great, plenty of torque, a nice zingy top end and great throttle response.
it can also be surprisingly economical.
I've never had any lifter noises on mine but I do mainly long journeys.
As others have said there seems to be very few problems with them.
Mine has the performance exhaust and intake and it really is a very nice engine, sounds great, plenty of torque, a nice zingy top end and great throttle response.
it can also be surprisingly economical.
robbo32 said:
Great engine & I've come from a 3.6 litre 997 porsche carrera to the Z4 with this engine.
It's a peach & I've used no oil in 10,500 miles.
Also a remap on this engine really makes it sing nicely & makes the throttle response much sharper.
It's a peach & I've used no oil in 10,500 miles.
Also a remap on this engine really makes it sing nicely & makes the throttle response much sharper.
rm163603 said:
I've got s 130 with over 50K on the clock, it uses literally no measurable amount of oil.
I've never had any lifter noises on mine but I do mainly long journeys.
As others have said there seems to be very few problems with them.
Mine has the performance exhaust and intake and it really is a very nice engine, sounds great, plenty of torque, a nice zingy top end and great throttle response.
it can also be surprisingly economical.
I'm looking at a few mild upgrades to my e90 330 too, what difference have your upgrades made, many noticeable gains?I've never had any lifter noises on mine but I do mainly long journeys.
As others have said there seems to be very few problems with them.
Mine has the performance exhaust and intake and it really is a very nice engine, sounds great, plenty of torque, a nice zingy top end and great throttle response.
it can also be surprisingly economical.
My aim was to try and squeeze an extra 40hp to round it up to a nice 300
but without spending a fortune and without ruining how it is now...siwebster said:
robbo32 said:
Great engine & I've come from a 3.6 litre 997 porsche carrera to the Z4 with this engine.
It's a peach & I've used no oil in 10,500 miles.
Also a remap on this engine really makes it sing nicely & makes the throttle response much sharper.
It's a peach & I've used no oil in 10,500 miles.
Also a remap on this engine really makes it sing nicely & makes the throttle response much sharper.
rm163603 said:
I've got s 130 with over 50K on the clock, it uses literally no measurable amount of oil.
I've never had any lifter noises on mine but I do mainly long journeys.
As others have said there seems to be very few problems with them.
Mine has the performance exhaust and intake and it really is a very nice engine, sounds great, plenty of torque, a nice zingy top end and great throttle response.
it can also be surprisingly economical.
I'm looking at a few mild upgrades to my e90 330 too, what difference have your upgrades made, many noticeable gains?I've never had any lifter noises on mine but I do mainly long journeys.
As others have said there seems to be very few problems with them.
Mine has the performance exhaust and intake and it really is a very nice engine, sounds great, plenty of torque, a nice zingy top end and great throttle response.
it can also be surprisingly economical.
My aim was to try and squeeze an extra 40hp to round it up to a nice 300
but without spending a fortune and without ruining how it is now...I think the intake makes a little difference to the low end. Looking at the power curve compared to others I've seen for the 130 mine has a bit more torque around 2500. It had about 260lb/ft when stock is supposed to be in the 230s. (usual caveats apply with dyno figures!)
I also had my car remapped which made the biggest (if still small) increase. Before the remap it made 261hp and after 280.
To get to 300hp you'd probably need a new exhaust manifold and cams etc which is quite extreme.
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