Did you remove the coil connectors or left them alone?

 

No need, there was plenty of slack in the wires to just pull the coil packs off and out of the way. The hardest part was the foam over the HPFP. I wasn’t able to get it off, but I was able to push it out of the way enough to get the cylinder 2 and 3 coil packs and plugs out.

 

This YouTube video (hop to the 28 second mark) will help you with the foam next time:

Short explanation: remove a single screw holding the horizontal intake tube in place, push the tube backward (towards vehicle rear) & hold, that gets you enough wiggle room to remove the foam block covering the HPFP without damaging the foam.

Even though this video is for the 3 cyl, it also worked on my 4 cyl (2017 F56 Cooper S), so seems to be generally applicable.

 

After changing the plugs, did you perform a service reset telling the car about the new spark plugs? If not I wonder how you got the service light to begin with...

 

There wasn’t anything in the car that said the plugs needed to be changed. The Connected app, however, sent me a message about the service that was due, and in it was the note about the spark plugs needing to be changed. The oil, oil filter, cabin filter, and spark plugs were changed, and then the normal
swrvice reset was done. Presumably, that told the car the plugs were changed. Didn’t see any way to separately say the plugs had been maintained, so I’ve no idea if that worked!

 

Here is my experience with the spark plugs replacement at 32K miles on a 2017 - the reason why I did it is because the car is running the BM3 Stage 1 tune which will shorten the lifespan of the plugs.

First, I was not able to completely remove the foam over the HPFP even when removed the screw holding the horizontal intake tube in place. I was pretty gentle and did not want to risk ripping it... so I decided to push it away as shown with the picture below.

Next are the connectors to the coils, I very carefully unlock the white clips with a flat head screw driver with tape around but the connectors would not come loose even when I pressed the clips down and try to pull them at the same time! After struggling a bit, I had the idea to insert the same flat head screwdriver at where the connectors and coils meet and prey it gently while I pressed down the clips. That did the trick!

Removing and installing the spark plugs were easy... I did use air to blow off the dust BEFORE removing the plugs. Also used a microfiber towel to wipe clean the coils. The manual states "Do not oil or grease the silicone tube of the spark plug connector. The silicone tube is coated with talc to reduce the pulling forces."

Torque the plugs at 23Nm and coils at 8 Nm. The OEM plugs are Champion made in France. I replaced them with NGK. Looking at the old plugs they seemed normal for the mileage of 32K.

Total time taken about 1 hour.

 

Just replaced plugs on F56 2015 MCS manual. This video is spot on even if it's showing the 3cyl and not the 4cyl in the "S". Very easy job and it was my first time ever doing it. Coil Packs would be very easy to replace as well, I noticed.

My only tip for newbies: have the right tools, esp the BMW/Mini Spark Plug socket which grabs the plug and lets you pull it out. It's not magnetic, it has some method of clasping mechanism in it. I bought a non OEM version on Amazon for $10 which was identical and it worked perfectly. Do note, you'll need to COMPLETELY loosen the plug (more than you think) or the socket wont be able to pull it out. Also, pushing the foam out of the way was very easy when following the instructions in the video. When reinstalling, torque plugs to 23NM (~17lb/ft I believe). I bought a $39 Quinn digital torque adapter at HF which worked beautifully. for this.

 

Got a link to the tool? I used your typical plug socket and it worked OK. Would rather have a knockoff of the OE version that works as designed. Thanks!

 

Here you go: