first of all i would like to say i'm driving a stock 2001 s2k and that i'm not the best driver but i'm deffinetly not the worst........ me and a friend where out looking for a little fun when at a red light i saw a z3 behind us. my friend was asking me if i could bet it. "of course i can, i leave him"..... the light turns... he was in the other lane so i wait for him to get into my lane. once he does i wave for him to come on and speed up to about 45 mph. he gets into the other lane and about the same time he is equal with my bumber we punch it. by the time i get out of third gear he has about two and a half cars on me. at first as he pased me i thought he had to be turbo charghed but then i saw the M. to make the story short i got creamed but it still was a fun experiance. we got next to each other and he stated " this isn't a z3', i laghed , gave a thumbs up and said "no sh!t". I was highly impressed with the speed that car had!

 

Must've been the 315-hp M version.

 

The '01 and '02 M roadster have 315hp ('99's and '00's had 240).

The 1999/2000 should be a drivers race.

 

s54 m roadsters are pretty rare, you probably ran a modded s52.

 

I've seen quite a few... Maybe where you live

 

seattle????


but ya your right even though there is hardly anyway to tell the difference from the outside. only real difference is the wheels on s54 cars are slightly darker silver, and a few color changes even though the most common colors are the same.

production numbers

s54 m roadster 1600 built for US.

s52 m roadster 8938 built for US.

but WTF do i know about an M roadster my GF has only had 2 of them. 1 s52 and 1 s54.

 

Badges are the quickest way to differentiate -- and sound.

In my experience S52's will pull slightly from speed, stock for stock. S54's run away.

 

It takes a hell of an ear to tell the S54 from the S52. I don't believe the badging changed between the S54 and S52 though. I always thought the cars were identical (or very nearly so) from the outside.

My friend has an S54 M roadster. Quite a ride! Supposedly people on the bimmer boards can drop them well into the 12's bone stock.

 

I owned both.

Not only did the badge shape change, the rear location changed too.

The wheels (as mentioned above) are another give away.

The engine sound is an easy give away, they sound very, very different.

Inside the S54's have grey instruments.

 

As far as I can remember the S54's have wider tires in the back?