FlugWeasel:
I did the ME PIFR, plus all the FPAs, when the scheme was first introduced a couple of years ago. The reason why I went down this path was because I did not have the required cross-country PIC time to qualify for the CIR at the time and I needed to have an instrument rating asap to allow me to fly with confidence into/out of where I live. Therefore, I am quite thankful that the PIFR path existed otherwise I would've had to wait some time before gaining some IFR proficiency under the CIR path.
Some personal observations based on my experience that may help you in your decision re PIFR vs CIR:
1. Do the CASA IREX exam, not the "mickey mouse" instrument rating exams that are sometimes set by the PIFR training organisations. Firstly, by doing the IREX your theoretical knowledge of instrument flying will be significantly improved and, secondly, you can change to the CIR later on without having to do another exam.
2. There is no functional difference between a full CIR and a PIFR with all the FPAs attached. The training syllabus is the same, the testing standards are the same and the priviledges, rules and procedures are the same. It should be noted that the PIFR is not recognised, or accepted, by other internation regulatory agencies for instrument flying overseas (including NZ) whereas the CIR is.
3. Despite (2) the recency requirements for a PIFR ARE NOT the same as a CIR and this is probably the major area of objection from the established CIR training organisations. My personal point of view is, if you wish to enjoy the same rights and priviledges as the CIR pilot, then you owe it to the CIR pilots, your passengers as well as yourself to maintain the required level of IFR competency and proficiency so that you don't endanger anyone else's life. Therfore, in the absence of a clear-cut recency standard, this requires the PIFR pilot to demonstrate a higher level of personal responsibility, professionalism and self-assessment, as well as the guts to rule himself out of an IFR flight if he feels he is not up to the required (short term) competency standard. Make sure you go out and buy a proper PC-based IFR proficiency program such as "On Top" or "Elite" etc and practice on it regularly at home to maintain scan proficiency and to keep IFR procedures and tolerances fresh in your mind.
4. If you hold a PIFR rating without any FPAs (not recommended), then you should plan for an alternate and CONTINUALLY MONITOR the status of that alternate while enroute to your primary destination. Don't be caught out at the last minute by not being able to get down below the LSALT and then finding you don't have any alternate, or insufficient fuel to get to that alternate or, worse still, your alternate is also socked in. My recommendation; at least get one FPA attached to your PIFR (preferably a GPS NPA or NDB to give you the most number of approach options).
5. It may be more cost effective to do the full CIR, or full PIFR, in one go rather than adding FPAs on a staged interval basis.
Hope this helps.