I was under the bonnett, getting familiar with my R56 and pulled a couple plug wires off to have a look at the wells for the spark plugs. None of this is alien territory for me; I'm comfortable poking around and seeing what, if anything needs to be added to my tool cage.

I cleared the insulator boots and looky here! Spark plugs with many, many lands instead of the usual hexagon. Damn.

So, my question is to my fellow technicians: what's the special socket I need and has anyone sourced one yet? If so, who was the vendor? I've got a lifetime's investment in Snap-On, but I ain't got this socket (and apparantly, neither does Snap-On!).

 

Are not they "Lifetime" sparkplugs, just like the "Lifetime" transmission oil ?...I have always wondered, who's lifetime?

They probably require some special BMW sparkplug socket that lists for about $75.00

 

They are 100,000 mile plugs for the MC, 60,000 for the MCS.

 

Thanks, knew that, was making light of BMW's "lifetime" claim for the gear oil.

 

Yeah CM, I know...."Lifetime Warranty"..."You'll never need to change them"..."30K between oil changes"... blah, blah, blah. Is it just me, or is anyone else sceptical of longevity claims? I know there's a lot of embelishments in this type of stuff (mostly coming from Marketing Depts.) and I generally don't trust manufacturers guidelines. I take stated service interval and divide by two. That gives me a comfort zone.

I know quality of manufacture for most stuff is better than ever and lubricants are doing things never imagined 30 years ago, BUT...I spent a nice chunk of money for my car, I give a ***** about how it's maintained and I do my own work when ever possible because I can and I care (and I set the "quality bar" high for myself). So when I open a service schedule and get the "Renew spark plugs @ 60,000 miles" I usually just chuckle.

I won't be putting 15K on my engine oil either. It's contrary to my religious beliefs.

 

+1 Paul. All of this stuff is cheap compared to purchase or repair costs. Except, of course the cost of the Snap-On/BMW socket.

 

Paul, could not agree more...after 4 years/50k miles, it's not BMW's problem anymore. Changing fluids, plugs, etc is cheap insurance.

 

I understand the concern for wanting to work on the car, but with 10k miles it is WAY premature to change plugs (I'm presuming you haven't eclipsed 10k but please correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, I'm anxious to hear what plug wrench it takes. Please keep us posted.

My Z3's OEM Iridium plugs went the 100k they were supposed to. And when I pulled them out they were in good shape with only a bit of discoloration on 2. They really lasted really well. When I replaced them with platinums they went far less (about 40k). We throw enough crap away in this world without at least considering that engineers can actually outdo themselves and create a better mousetrap. I've also been doing full synthetic oil changes on the engine at the car inspired designations, though they're far beyond the "change your oil and filter every 3k" that many swear by. Closer to 11k. And it's run beautifully for 152k so far.

 

Oops, Sorry No way on the gear oil. It will come when the warranty is over.

 

Hi Karl - I'm not in any hurry to change them out (just rolled 1300 miles); just want to have the socket in my box when the time comes to pull and read them. I have a world of other things that monopolize my time (a 4 y/o son can yeild more BHp than many internal combustion engines! ) As soon as I find a vendor and a spec for the socket, i'll post it here.

 

It's not just a 12 point, is it? Those look weird, but fairly common.

 

Hey DW!

If I had to best describe it, it looks like 12-point inverted Torx. But I haven't seen that being used elsewhere and wasn't expecting to find spark plugs with that configuration. This is gonna be an adventure. I'm off the the NGK site to dredge for data.

 

You've seen 6 point sockets. Have you seen 12 point sockets? They fit normal nuts & bolts, like they're overlayed, so you can rotate the socket 30 degrees instead of 60 degrees to the next position. That's so you can work in more limited space-the arc to the next position is smaller.

I've seen a couple other 12pt bolts on the car. They used to be aerospace only. Seem to be getting more common. I hadn't seen a 12pt sparkplug before.

(from a random place to show you a 6-pt and 12-pt socket)
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...25-_-100007822
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...de=cii_1038957


The front cover of this catalog shows a 12pt bolt
http://www.arp-bolts.com/Catalog/Cat...ARPCatalog.pdf

 

Here's a socket. Official BMW tool is 14mm 12pt. Other than a BMW tool, or this one, I tried Sears, Matco, Snap-On and couldn't find any.
http://www.asttool.com/detail_page.p...stype=advanced

That even has a picture of the spark plug!

 

Here's a socket on ebay-might work (bi-hexagon=12pt=12 point)
http://cgi.ebay.com/FRANKLIN-M8-14mm...QQcmdZViewItem

 

The lifetime of the part that's going to fail prematurely due to lack of maintanence. The oil will be good until then.

 

Well said !

 

By George DW, I think you've nailed it. 14mm Bi-Hexagonal long reach. It looks like a winner; I'm going to order one (once i find a source). I'll revive this thread with some photos when it arrives.

Thanks a ton, neighbor!

 

Here is on e on e-bay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mini-...26879665QQrdZ1

 

RealOem says: (these are the spark plugs, not the sockets to get them out)
Beru 12ZR65SP03 for the 07 Cooper
NGK ILZKBR7A-8G for the 07 Cooper S
not in NGK's data bases yet, nor anywhere else I looked so far.

I stand corrected (at least for the Beru plug)
http://www.beru.com/english/produkte...&action=step04

 

First, what is a "sparkplug"??

Second, are you telling me the bonet (whatever that is!!) on the Mini Cooper OPENS??? Wait a second!!! If I am reading this correct, you can actually OPEN the bonet, and see "things" under it that make the car go???? That is amazing, BUT, I'll leave that to the folks that have seen it before. Are you folks sure the motor on the Mini is in the front, and not the back??? ;-) (oh, sorry, I mean boot!)

PS - I always did my own maintenance, and most repairs on all my cars, trucks and boats, until about 5 years ago when everythng was instead of just suplimented with computers and electronics, is now ALL computers and electronics. I now leave it to the guys who do it all day wrong(oops, I mean LONG), and have the correct tools. I haven't even been able to locate the spark plugs on my wifes Audi A8. I'm not convinced there are any!! Glo plugs?? Who knows...? Anyway, you get the point. I'd let em do it.

 

Careful. That's a 5/8" which works out to 15.875mm (16mm). I believe that's for gen1 (and probably a 6-pt socket)

I think for R56 you need a dual-hexagon or 12pt 14mm