I am installing brisk silver plugs on my mini. I need to know the proper gap and torque on them. can anyone help me out.

 

Terry, first check the boxes the new spark plugs come in and see if there's a recommended torque there. If you don't see a recommendation there, I have the Bentley service manual for your model and year, and it recommends 17 ft-lb (23 Nm).

I couldn't find the recommended gap in the manual. It just said the gap comes set correctly and shouldn't be altered. That's garbage; we should know what it's supposed to be so we can check to be sure it's correct before we put them in. The replacement plugs I bought for my non-turbo car were gapped at .040 inches. Turbos usually gap smaller than non-turbos though.

 

You won't find any info on spark plug gaps for the R56 MCS, you can Google it to death and find nothing, only threads and posts where people discuss it. Not even the Bentley manual lists the correct gap. I have never owned a car before where there is a complete lack of information regarding spark plug gaps especially on a turbocharged car, that's completely nuts I tell you! Nothing about Mini's surprise me anymore, you ask the dealer and they'll tell you they already come pre-gapped even though they have no clue.

Mini = clueless!

 

Well...not really. http://new.minimania.com/part/G2NME3...2010-R55-56-57

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-plug-gap.html

 

I prefer a gap of 0.6 mm

 

Those are guesses not actual specifications from Mini, the packaging of the spark plugs or the Bentley manual. If it was "known" it would be written down somewhere (like a service manual) and surely the dealer should know but they don't. Many are actually pre-set wrong, many member's have reported pre-set gaps as high as .036, remember these plugs have many applications and fit more than one car.

Any re-seller or person in a thread can make a guess, that don't make it a fact. Anyhow .032 is too large a gap for a forced induction engine as many have already found out, .026 - .028 is what Mini enthusiasts have found that works best. Mini on the other hand doesn't have a clue about their own cars, not the brightest car manufacturer be a long shot.

 

with platinum tip plugs there is risk of damaging the tip if you try to adjust it, which is why they are supposed to be properly gapped as recieved.

of course QC aint what it used to be.

 

I gaped mine (R56 S, 2009) at 0.8mm, I find it works great, I was indeed careful in gaping them as previous members have said, the tip is as tick as a needle.

Anyone think 0.8 is too much? Perhaps I should regap them.

 

At stock tune and stock boost levels you should be ok. If you notice misfires then tighten up the gap.

 

Hmmm...I am running NGK 5992 ILZKBR7A-8G Laser Iridiums for almost 25k miles now. Now starting to wonder if these are even the proper plugs for my 2011 N18 MCS! Dealer said they looked good, warranty company approved 4 coil packs to fix my most recent misfire issues. Feels good now. BUT...am I using the wrong plugs? Running a JB+ as pretty much my only engine mod, besides a PiperCross AF and exh resonator delete. I understand the theory behind forced-induction spark blow-out. I guess my question is do I have the wrong spark plugs? I am hoping that someone can confirm or deny my spark plug choice, and maybe let me know if I should take them out and tighten up the gap some?

 

renchjeep. My 2012 MCS with JB+ in UK was running on the standard BERU12ZR6SPP2-1 plugs and when I put my spare NGK ILZs in it felt lifeless so I put the BERUs back and performance was restored. I repeated this a week later and exactly the same happened...no measurements just 'butt-dyno'
If the dealers have them, they're expensive so I grabbed 2 sets off ebay because of this. All came with random gaps so I made sure they were all gapped to 0.7mm.
I'm convinced 'stock' is best. I found BERU are not a 'big' maker of plugs but they do supply ignition parts...