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Long story short. I love this car. I have had it for 2 months. 1 of those months it was in the shop under a free 30 day warranty. I had a JB+ that threw codes. Yes, I can prove it.
The engines are exremly well made but are finicky in the air/fuel/ignition department. Probably because it is as well tuned as it can be coming out of the factory floor for its designed use, purpose, and cunsumer base.
Because the JB+ threw codes and caused rough acceleration it threw codes and went in to safe mode. Once I took off the JB+ they went away. They went away in the parking of the dealership lot 5 minutes before leaving it of course. It was Carmax.
They were here able to pull the codes and determined misfires were on cylinders 2 and 4 so they replaced this ignition coils. One I got it back, I installed a brand new JB + tuner thinking after reading all the great reviews I wrongly thought I had a defective JB. Misfires started the next day. I took it off, reset the ECU and its fine again.
I feel the plugs my need replacing now at 50,000 and since I messed with the fuel/air mixture even though carmax said the plugs looked fine. Why would they volunteer they were bad and take the hit for those issues to or they may be fine.
Since I have two new coils and know BMW plugs can need early replacement, Infigured I would replace the other 2 coils and all the plugs just because, just because.
I went to the dealer and they quoted me $421.52 for two coils and 4 plugs.
When looking online I see prices for coils ranging from $39 - $130 each? What is the difference and why the wide range of prices? I hear Mini plugs are great so why change? Do they need a special plug socket or is a 12pt fine?
Any reason not to use OEM? Where can I get a good price? Tork specks would be helpful too.
I started experiencing infrequent misfire just before 50k miles. Not feeling like paying the dealer's labor fees to replace plugs I picked some up at the parts store. Only takes about 10 minutes to change them all out. Only problem was they were not the correct plugs. They gave me Iridium plugs instead of Platinum. I ended up with more misfires, but only under heavy acceleration. So, I ended up ordering the correct ones on Amazon and put them in. Incredibly easy to do, you will need a thin wall socket. Just make sure to get the correct plugs. Did not need to replace coils and as far as I know they should not need periodic replacement. Even after buying the unnecessary set of plugs and the thin wall socket I came in cheaper than letting the dealer do it.
Less than $15 per plug seems in line with quality etc. Since plugs are such a critical part of your engine saving a few bucks for an inferior product doesn't sound that appealing.
Since I have new OEM coils (I think) from Carmax in my engine I might as well replace the other two. Why do the coils run from as cheap as $22.00 to as much as $60 each? Who makes the OEM ones? Bosch is a good brand from what I understand. Then I read on this forum something abut cooper being in one of the manufacturers coils and that is the best. All so confusing. I also read varying reports as to the ft/lbs of torque needed for these plugs. One source says 12 another "Mini Mania" say 17. Do we know the official OEM call on this?
Dielectric grease and anti-seize still a must on new engine these days? I've only replaced plugs on an old 350 and the mantra at the time was to use them as well.
