[chinniciF32]

So I bought my car at 41k and it now has 76k miles. I decided to get the spark plugs changed while is getting a wheel alignment and tire rotation done at a shop. When I got the car back I noticed the car "thuded" a few times at the stop light and had a little bit of a rough idle. Then I wanted to test out the car so I did a couple of pulls in 2nd and 3rd gear, i noticed the car was hesitating then all of a sudden I got a drive train malfunction cel on the dash and the car got real choppy (I think it must of shut off a cylinder).

I then pull over and read the codes

I bring it back to the shop and I tell them I don't think the plugs were gapped properly so tech takes a look and agrees but he can't put get new bosch plugs till Monday. They install the old plugs and I flashed the car back to stock stage 0 and drove it home. My question is, is it ok to drive the car around town till Monday even though I'm still getting engine misfiring codes? I would assume no but I'd rather not Uber around (literally sold my nissan 2 days ago)
My car has FBO stage 2+ mhd

[Tpriest7893]

If you had stock plugs before and you had the tech put the stocks back In shouldn't the codes be gone once you clear codes?
With the engine malfunction i would drive very easily or not drive at all

[chinniciF32]

Originally Posted by Tpriest7893

If you had stock plugs before and you had the tech put the stocks back In shouldn't the codes be gone once you clear codes?
With the engine malfunction i would drive very easily or not drive at all

That's what I thought to but I fear they don't know what their doing, I'm probably going to give them another shot on Monday or get a refund and take it to a more trust worthy indy shop.

[Tpriest7893]

Originally Posted by chinniciF32

That's what I thought to but I fear they don't know what their doing, I'm probably going to give them another shot on Monday or get a refund and take it to a more trust worthy indy shop.

What are you using to read code? You should be able to clear code and they should be fine with the stock plugs, but yeah make sure they Gap them correctly and if you still have issues a second time it could be a coil. I changed my sparks recently and one of my coils was broke so I had to throw a new coil in and then cleared and everything was fine

[thejeremyman9]

The attachment for the codes doesn't work. Post up a screenshot of the codes pulled from MHD.

I am a little confused as well, the issue remained after they swapped the stock plugs back in?

When they get the new Bosch plugs, make sure they check the gap (wire tool is better than feeler gauge), but you are technically not supposed to adjust the gap on those plugs, or at least do so very carefully. It should be in the 0.030-0.032 range. Also make sure they are competent enough to use a swivel socket or Ujoint per the manual, as they could crack the ceramic and cause misfires that way if they do not.

[chinniciF32]

Originally Posted by Tpriest7893

What are you using to read code? You should be able to clear code and they should be fine with the stock plugs, but yeah make sure they Gap them correctly and if you still have issues a second time it could be a coil. I changed my sparks recently and one of my coils was broke so I had to throw a new coil in and then cleared and everything was fine

Yea that's what I did, I cleared the codes after they put in the old stick bosch ones and yes I was still getting misfires (never ever happens before that day) is it possible the improper installation of the new plugs messed up a coil in the process?

I used mhd to read and clear the codes and flash back to stock (stage0)I'll try and post the codes

[chinniciF32]

Originally Posted by thejeremyman9

The attachment for the codes doesn't work. Post up a screenshot of the codes pulled from MHD.

I am a little confused as well, the issue remained after they swapped the stock plugs back in?

When they get the new Bosch plugs, make sure they check the gap (wire tool is better than feeler gauge), but you are technically not supposed to adjust the gap on those plugs, or at least do so very carefully. It should be in the 0.030-0.032 range. Also make sure they are competent enough to use a swivel socket or Ujoint per the manual, as they could crack the ceramic and cause misfires that way if they do not.

Yes the issue remained after they reinstalled the original plugs that were replaced, I'll have to ask them what tool they used I don't think they even have a bentley manual. But I'll askz I think the pic posted

[Tpriest7893]

Originally Posted by chinniciF32

Yes the issue remained after they reinstalled the original plugs that were replaced, I'll have to ask them what tool they used I don't think they even have a bentley manual. But I'll askz I think the pic posted

If they put your stock in and you deleted codes and there's still a mis Fire it could be a plug. Like I said before I had my new plugs in and one coil was broke and it caused a chain reaction but once I threw the new plug in everything was fine

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by Tpriest7893

If they put your stock in and you deleted codes and there's still a mis Fire it could be a plug. Like I said before I had my new plugs in and one coil was broke and it caused a chain reaction but once I threw the new plug in everything was fine

I assume you put "plug" several places you meant "coil" lol.

But yeah it is possible a coil was damaged during the remove and reinstall process. At this point I would have them proceed with the new plugs with confirmed gap. If you still get the misfire after that, hopefully its only one cylinder (like 5 above), and you can swap the coil to another spot and see if the problem follows the coil. If it does, replace the coil.

[Tpriest7893]

Originally Posted by thejeremyman9

I assume you put "plug" several places you meant "coil" lol.

But yeah it is possible a coil was damaged during the remove and reinstall process. At this point I would have them proceed with the new plugs with confirmed gap. If you still get the misfire after that, hopefully its only one cylinder (like 5 above), and you can swap the coil to another spot and see if the problem follows the coil. If it does, replace the coil.

Yes lol good catch.

[jv004]

It's possible a coil was damaged. Try switching Cyl 5's coil to another cyl and see if the faults follows that coil. Also if old plugs were put back in, if you're still getting a code then could be something else causing your misfire. How does you car feel after they put the old plugs in? still misfiring? Did you clear the codes? if you did and code came back, did it have the same cyl misfiring?

[TSA8151]

Makes you wonder if they removed the brace to get to cylinder 5 and 6 or just forced the coils and plugs out with no clearance..

[chinniciF32]

Originally Posted by thejeremyman9

I assume you put "plug" several places you meant "coil" lol.

But yeah it is possible a coil was damaged during the remove and reinstall process. At this point I would have them proceed with the new plugs with confirmed gap. If you still get the misfire after that, hopefully its only one cylinder (like 5 above), and you can swap the coil to another spot and see if the problem follows the coil. If it does, replace the coil.

Yea im hoping this gets resolved once they put in the new plugs but I have a feeling a coil was damaged and will need to be replaced. I'll let you guys know today, I just dropped it off.

[chinniciF32]

Originally Posted by jv004

It's possible a coil was damaged. Try switching Cyl 5's coil to another cyl and see if the faults follows that coil. Also if old plugs were put back in, if you're still getting a code then could be something else causing your misfire. How does you car feel after they put the old plugs in? still misfiring? Did you clear the codes? if you did and code came back, did it have the same cyl misfiring?

Yes so after they put the original plugs back in (the plugs I was having replace initially) the car had a rough idle so I tried clearing the codes and flashing back to stage 0. The car seemed ok at first (still a rough idle keep in mind this never happened before this day) and then the CEL came on and the car went into limp mode and I read the same codes that cylinder 5 was misfiring. yes it was the same cylinder.

[chinniciF32]

Originally Posted by TSA8151

Makes you wonder if they removed the brace to get to cylinder 5 and 6 or just forced the coils and plugs out with no clearance..

yea thats what I read the first 4 plugs are pretty accesible but that back 2 require an extra step, I certainly know I will NEVER bring my car there again they even cracked the windshield when replacing the blades (something I should have done my self but I figured the car was already there anyways), brought my nissan there for years and never had a problem, I guess they dont know BMW's or the tech didn't know his stuff.

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by chinniciF32

yea thats what I read the first 4 plugs are pretty accesible but that back 2 require an extra step, I certainly know I will NEVER bring my car there again they even cracked the windshield when replacing the blades (something I should have done my self but I figured the car was already there anyways), brought my nissan there for years and never had a problem, I guess they dont know BMW's or the tech didn't know his stuff.

Trying to do the back 2 plugs without taking off the brace would be ridiculous and lazy... if you havent already you should watch the kies or another DIY video so you are aware of what all does into it and the 'proper' way to do it incase you need to talk to the shop about it. That sounds like a nightmare though; I've had my fair share of bad maintenance experiences from BMW dealers as well.

[XxThe_RemedyXx]

Do it yourself. The cowl, brace, and plastic covers are extremely easy to remove. The O2 sensor bracket has to come off as well, one screw. Easy. Torque for brace is 41.5 and a 90 degree turn. Torque on the plugs is 18.

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by XxThe_RemedyXx

Do it yourself. The cowl, brace, and plastic covers are extremely easy to remove. The O2 sensor bracket has to come off as well, one screw. Easy. Torque for brace is 41.5 and a 90 degree turn. Torque on the plugs is 18.

+1 for DIY. I was a little worried at first too after reading horror stories for cracked plugs, etc, but its not bad at all. However, the shop should still be responsible for fixing their errors and parts they broke.

I have lots of info in this thread, including tools and plug links: https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1709198

[Tpriest7893]

I personally had a cracked coil but I pulled it out and like I told Jeremy before it took me hours to get it out. Using a pick tool having to fish out rubber pieces. But do what Jeremy said. Pull out coil 5 and move it. If it's broken you'll know.

[chinniciF32]

So luckily all they had to do was put in a set of plugs and now there is no more misfiring or anything, I drove around for a little bit then flashed back to stage 2+ and did a couple strong pulls on the highway (still nervous to go WOT because of what happened before, car going into limp mode). First mistake was bringing it to this shop, the second was being too lazy to do it myself although work has me so tired these days along with the new puppy i'm usually shot.

Appreciate the help guys im just glad a coil wasn't damaged (as far as I can tell) and that the car isn't misfiring infact the car starts up perfect now even on cold starts with the new plugs (pretty good before but once in a while would get a rough initial idle).

These forums are great! now to change that potentially faulty coolant line (at 74K miles) before my trip up to boston