[henkinc]

Sorry for new thread but can't find answer on forum. I have 59k miles and drive 4k miles per year. My wrench says BMW calls for new spark plugs at 60k. Is this necessary? I have Dinan stage 1 and ER metal downpipe replacement. Engine runs flawlessly. Thoughts?
Charlie

[wishbone]

Originally Posted by henkinc

Sorry for new thread but can't find answer on forum. I have 59k miles and drive 4k miles per year. My wrench says BMW calls for new spark plugs at 60k. Is this necessary? I have Dinan stage 1 and ER metal downpipe replacement. Engine runs flawlessly. Thoughts?
Charlie

Necessary? I believe it's recommended at 60K as a maintenance interval.

May as well replace the coils, too if you have them off.

[thejeremyman9]

Book maint. schedule is 60k for plugs. If they have never been changed i would change them. Even with low mileage they start to rust with age. I replaced my original ones after ~8 years and 45k miles and they worked fine but were quite rusty and looked dirty coming out even though my car is a California car (so no winters etc).

I would change them before you have a problem. I would not replace the coils unless you observe issues with them when you remove. Depending on the life the car has lived prior they can come apart when removing, have oil on them if you had a VC leak, or otherwise seem like they need replacing. I didnt replace mine they looked brand new. They are 9 years old now and still fine.

[co_440i]

Yes you should replace your plugs, especially if you've been tuned for a while. The job is very easy.

+1 on changing the coils while they're off.

[toxik]

there are 2 types of people in this world, those that do preventative maintenance and those that wait until something breaks. just pick which one you wanna be and roll with it

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by toxik

there are 2 types of people in this world, those that do preventative maintenance and those that wait until something breaks. just pick which one you wanna be and roll with it

And then those that break stuff or introducing more problems by doing preventative maint. and 'fixing' stuff that isnt broken. I've been on both sides too many times

[henkinc]

The coils evince performance issues when they need replacing, and I agree to leave them alone for now. Question- aren't the coils mounted on the spark plug connector or nearby and wouldn't replacing the plugs alone contain some risk of buggering the coils?

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by henkinc

The coils evince performance issues when they need replacing, and I agree to leave them alone for now. Question- aren't the coils mounted on the spark plug connector or nearby and wouldn't replacing the plugs alone contain some risk of buggering the coils?

Its a COP setup. So you have to pull the coil off the plug. I have heard of coils literally pulling apart so part is stuck on the plug in the hole which can be a nightmare. Hence, inspect the coils when you remove them as i mentioned above and if they are showing signs of "i better replace sooner rather than later" then do them preventatively. Otherwise, preventative replacement is probably not needed.

[Fliplegend]

Originally Posted by henkinc

The coils evince performance issues when they need replacing, and I agree to leave them alone for now. Question- aren't the coils mounted on the spark plug connector or nearby and wouldn't replacing the plugs alone contain some risk of buggering the coils?

If you remove them barbarically, they have a chance of breaking.

[Livetodrive]

The spark plug replacement interval for my 2016 is 60k miles or every 6th oil change. Yours is probably the same. If the plugs haven’t been replaced, they’re way overdue. Google “BMW plugs seized” if you need convincing.
If you do it yourself there are YouTube videos for guidance. I didn’t replace my coils when I did mine, and had no problems removing and reinstalling them.

[wishbone]

I was sitting at ~58.5K and went ahead and did both the plugs and coils together. The original (I assume) coils were in fine condition and probably didn't need to be changed out.

I did have to buy two different thin-walled spark plug 14mm 12 point sockets because the first swivel extension was longer than could handle for the 4th cylinder.

I also ended up with some nice latex 3/8" inner diameter tubing to lower and thread the spark plugs before using the above tool.

Was an otherwise easy install.

[sspade]

Plugs at 50-60k miles and coils the next time around. Senseless to throw money out the window... Coils either work or dont, theres no degradation factor. ~100k miles on the factory units is easily within their engineered lifespan.

[wishbone]

Originally Posted by sspade

Plugs at 50-60k miles and coils the next time around. Senseless to throw money out the window... Coils either work or dont, theres no degradation factor. ~100k miles on the factory units is easily within their engineered lifespan.

I wasn’t the original owner to my f30 (which I’ve now owned for 7 years) so now I know!

Wonder if there is a market for used coils