Thanks a lot for the great explanation!

 

Planning on using NGK BPR7ES since i use this for my Lancer evo III too... Im running a2006 stock cooper s right now but adding mods down the road... Is that a good choice or is the stock JCW better? Should i gap it around 28-29?

I got my MCS last september and this would be the first time the plugs would be changed in this car since i owned it.. It has 44,000+ miles right now

 

I personally would gap them at 0.030".

Also, I'd like to recommend the BKR7E. Pretty much the identical plug, but with the V-cut electrode for better ignitability.

If you install the colder plugs before you mod, you'll more than likely foul a few plugs.

 

Is the Bkr7e or bpr7es is to cold for my stock? Its going to be months before i get mods so really just looking for good replacement thats good for mpgand a little better performance than stock at the same time

 

I wouldn't change them to a colder plug (7) until you up the boost a good bit. I assume that you'll foul them out after a short while. As of right now, just replacing the current plugs with fresh stock heat range plugs will do the trick.

The only way that plugs themselves can improve performance in any sense, is by running the correct heat range and the correct gap for your current setup. In this case, stock heat range and stock gap are what you need, and the fact alone that they're new will give you better performance than what's in there now. Just grab some "copper"(nickel) BKR6E plugs, or maybe the Platinum equivalent. I say "copper", because you're going to swap them in 6 months anyways, so need to splurge on Platinum or Iridium.

 

Last question...
I found 2 different bkr6e in autozone and they have significant price difference
$6.49 & $2.29
Which one is better? Whats the difference between the 2? Gap should be 30 right?

I really appreciate all the info!!! Thank you!

http://m.autozone.com/autozone-mobile/en/parts/2006-Mini-Cooper/Spark-Plug/_/N-jo2l6Z8gctd?searchText=Ngk%20copper

 

Ngk standard or ngk v power ? I think theyre both bkr6e, but one in $6+ and the other is $2+

and are they pre gapped? If not, i gap at 30 right?

Thankyou!

 

BKR6E should be cheap; around $3.00. Not sure why you're seeing so much variation.

Anyhow, the V-power is a better bet, and in theory more efficient.

They come pre-gapped to 0.036" I believe, so you should take them down to 0.032" for a car running stock boost. Contrary to what a lot of people post here, you're supposed to decrease plug gap when increasing boost. Meaning, when you finally mod the Mini, you can bring the gap a bit tighter.

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_su...p.asp?mode=nml

 

So, I just read was seems like an encyclopedia's worth on info on the "right" spark plug for my MCS!! I think I get the general consensus on what to use, but before I run to the store and get a new set I'd still be interested in a few opinions on my specific set-up.

I have an 03 MCS with 15% pulley and CAI which are the only 2 engine mods on my car. I have no idea how long the current plugs have been in, but they are the NGK BRK7EQUP which from my reading are meant to be "colder" which I assume was done due to the pulley mod.

See picture attached of what the plug I just pulled looks like.

One thing this thread and others generally don't show is the condition of a plug for comparison and diagnostic. Does this one look to have "normal" wear? Of course since we don't know how long it's been in that could be a difficult question to answer. I got the car in Jan '14, so I'm going to change these just for posterity if for no other reason. The car is a bit slow to respond at first pedal press, so I'm hoping this improves that.

As always, your collective input is invaluable and appreciated!
Thanks!
Pat

 

Not bad, but not great either, replacing them will be a smart move. Those are the same plugs I'm about to put in mine. As for the The car is a bit slow to respond at first pedal press, have you looked into a Sprint Booster? I put one in mine, and a friends, and several members of our MINI group have them in their Gen 1 MCS. You won't believe the difference ...good luck either way you go.

 

Thanks John! Never heard of the sprint booster. Interesting idea albeit another "not cheap" accessory! If the new plugs don't make a big difference, I may look into that.

 

This is a bit late, sorry, but looking at the pic from PSA1 3 posts up, that plug looks not bad, but on the dark side of normal to me for an EFI engine. Seems they are usually a little lighter tan/gray color when everything is spot on. Does anybody else agree? That might indicate a slightly cold plug. The fact that Mini put the colder plugs in the JCW is compelling, but the JCW has about twice the HP gain of an overdrive pulley.

I recently installed a 15% pulley and am trying to decide whether to go to the colder plugs. I have no pinging, even in the desert heat of Tucson's summer, but I don't know if the ECU is pulling timing back to prevent discernable pinging due to the knock sensor?

Jeremy

 

While reading plugs can indicate things like ash deposits and oil gunk, overall, reading them becomes less significant with modern fuel injection because the ECU is constantly calculating the proper 14.7:1 air/fuel ratio. The only time this goes out the door is when you go into WOT mode, which is typically 80% or more accelerator pedal.

The general consensus is a colder set of plugs will help performance. How much, I cannot say, without putting the MINI on a dyno and determining what kind of gains you will get. A "colder" plug changes the nose length exposed in the combustion chamber. The Wikipedia article on plugs actually explains it well in the "Heat Range" section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_plug.

Colder plugs do just that... they run colder based on the amount of insulator in the combustion chamber. This becomes evident when increasing boost, as boost generates heat. Heat is the bane of a boost-fed engine and can certainly lead to lean conditions, which can cause pistons to pop. I don't think changing a heat range is necessarily going to cause this condition in a MINI block. The idea is to create the most optimum conditions. If you really want to get technical, get an EGT gauge (for which I still have intentions of installing one).

When I upgraded the plugs in my '06 MCS, the ones I removed from factory were actually BKR5EQUP. After talking around with other MINI owners, I found out the range can change based on how far north or south you live. To my best knowledge, my '06 MCS was delivered and stayed in the Virginia area, so I'm not sure why these were installed. I would perhaps expect a hotter set in perhaps Pennsylvania or Massachusetts.

Most literature I have read says a tan to light gray color is best. Based on the picture above, I would say the plugs appear to be burning fairly well. In my experience, plugs are almost always cleaner in boost-fed conditions, which the Cooper S owners fall under.

Without incorporating a tune into the formula, I would suggest picking up a stock set of plugs and a colder set, then running each for a set distance, perhaps 50 miles, with combinations of nominal and hard acceleration, and then determining how they turn out. And remember, any time a new set is put into an engine, regardless of heat range, the engine will always seem a bit peppier.

 

Looking at the part description on O'reilly Auto and Autozone, they state that both the standard and V Power 'copper' NGK plugs have a copper core electrode but only a nickel electrode tip. Nickel is at the bottom of the chart for thermal and electrical conductivity. So does this mean that the 'copper' versions of the NGK would actually perform worse than the platinum and iridium plugs since both electrodes are not copper? Seems like the electrode tip would be the one that makes the difference.

 

Spark plugs have two electrodes: the central electrode and the side electrode. The central electrode is the one that contains the conducting material through which the spark is delivered. The side electrode helps to create the "arc," but the energy delivered through the central electrode ignites the fuel and is burned off. The electrodes only have a thin "coating" to help resist melting (as copper does have a low melting point).

Here is another link to help answer some questions: http://www.nology.com/silverquest.html.

 

Old thread but CZAR with a tuned R56 JCW running 23lbs of boost with IP coils and lots of mods would the BRISK Silver or race plugs be neter suited for my application?
I use the car mostly for track days pushing 250 HP

 

You don't need special "race car" spark plugs. Just buy the correct heat range in the metal composition of your choice (target lifetime) and gap them correctly for your application.

Just grab a platinum plug in one step colder than stock, and close the gap a bit compared to stock gap. You can probably get away with running stock gap on yours, since you have ignition upgrades. Whatever you do though, don't open the gap a bunch. I don't know where people on this forum got the idea to do this when increasing boost, but it's generally flat-out wrong to do. When in doubt, ask a pro:

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_su...d.asp?mode=nml

 

I just ordered a set of NGK BKR7EIX ( with the stock .032 gap )

I have a set of the four prong JCW NGKs to put in but wanted to try both.

Having turbo/supercharged cars over the years i know the general rule of thumb is to decrease the sparkplug gap when running higher boost to avoid 'flameout' . However, if one is willing to do some testing you can in fact gain a bit of power increasing the gap. I think it would be prudent to run a stockish gap at first and THEN go to a larger gap if you dont encounter any issues with misfires/detonation.

Everyone's setup is different so i dont think there is a true 'plug n play' sparkplug when modded.

 

Those BKR7EIX should work just fine. I generally avoid Iridium just because it hates being gapped (the Iridium coating can be damaged). Even when you buy plugs pre-gapped, it's good to check them once arrived. Say you get an Iridium plug that has a bad gap; tapping it or bending it can damage the material.

Sure- you can experiment with the gap a bit. Widening the gap a tiny bit (say 0.005 - .007) is totally acceptable if you have an upgraded ignition. Even with a stock ignition, you can probably get away with a modest increase through trial and error.

Where people go wrong is tossing in a plug that is essentially "un-gapable", has 4 ground electrodes, made of Iridium, and comes pre-gapped at .044" or the likes of. Most people have nothing but problems with those JCW QUP suffixed plugs. My good friend is a shop foreman at a local MINI dealer, and even bone stock JCW R53's were having misfire issues with those.

 

I've got a MCS '09 R56. Back on page 3 someone asked about the discrepancy between the NGK plugs for the R56. PLZBR7A-G or ILZKBR7A-8G. I've been looking for the platinums, but every website seems to have the Iridiums (and not have the platinums). I don't have any mods. Why are the platinums no longer being offered? Will I notice any difference if I go with the Iridiums? If so, what differences?
David

 

The only advantage to platinum and iridium plugs is longevity. For that reason, either is fine and will last 100K miles.

 

Hello all,

Just wanted to pipe in with something I just handled on my '06 R53 - in terms of "spark plug gap".

I just installed a 17% pulley on my vehicle & purchased a set of the "one-step-colder" plugs off of eBay (the NGK #BKR7EIX-11/6988).

Contrary to what I had read here on NAM, that these plugs come "pre-gapped" out-of-the-box = Not True.

The gap on each plug was, interestingly enough, was .042" and they ALL needed to be gapped down to .032" - which I confirmed, verbally, by calling NGK's customer support department.

The gap on these specific plugs for R53 Coopers is = .032" and for R56's....I think they said .044" - but, don't quote me on that figure I was only attentive to the R53 gap-spec.

Anyhow, anyone installing these 7EIX plugs needs to 100% = CHECK THEM = right out of the box!

Hope this helps & Motor On!

Russ

 

OK- this is getting old, guys. I posted a half-dozen times in this thread that the "-11" suffix means they are in fact pre-gapped to a specific measure, which can be found by simply viewing an NGK part # decoder. BUT, that pre-gapped measure happens to be wrong for the R53, yet people continue to run them in their cars without checking the gap, and proceed to post "OMG MISFIRE" threads on NAM.

The "EIX" part isn't the issue, it's the "-11" suffix that affects electrode gap. Here's a great way to stop this spark plug confusion:

-Stop buying Iridium plugs, as they cannot be reliably gapped.
-Stop buying multi-ground electrode plugs, as they cannot be reliably gapped.
-Stop putting any plug in your car without checking gap first.
-Stop buying plugs that have a numbered suffix in the part number, whenever possible. If you must, at least know the meaning of suffix, and the associated gap.

 

Wanted to pop-in and drop this article I found.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...90447912000883

You may find section 4.1 and 4.3 especially interesting. The few and minor faults found in section 4.1 have since been mitigated by NGK, through offering a finer and more durable electrode (V-Power). CliffsNotes: Single ground electrode spark plugs offer a more consistent and hotter spark, and are easily gapable for custom applications.

In short, stop running those goofball JCW plugs that have 4 ground electrodes. Select a "copper" or platinum V-Power plug in the correct heat range, gap it correctly for your application (0.032" for R53's with stock boost levels & 0.030" for mild pulleys), and be on your way. Ditch the Iridium, too.

 

This thread rocks! I'm in the market for spark plugs for my R53. I chose to get DR14YS. I'm currently running NGK BKR7 with no issues. I hope I'm making the right call...