I used NGK laser platinums. The job took about two hours. Very little space to work in and those darn OEM plugs are in tight. I tore up my hands when I got them to finally come loose. When the jobs done its nice to look back and pat yourself on the The job isnt really that hard just time consuming.
Next time, use a long extension with a flex-head for the spark plug socket. I can change all 8 plugs in my car in about 30-45 minutes.
Don't be too proud to not wear gloves either. Nothing wrong with using them, I have several sets of thick mechanic gloves and use nitrile gloves too.
One little tip that hasn't been mentioned here is, if you have access to one, to use an airline to blow away any debris from the spark plug well before removing the plugs (and during removal, after backing out about a turn, some gets loose once the plug is moved).
This helps to stop any 'undesirables' getting into the cylinder and getting between the plug sealing gasket, ruining the seal.
There shouldn't be anything there but dirt and grit have a habit of finding their way into every nook and cranny!
A 'Sharpi' pen is handy to write on the plug ceramic to mark its number too.
When I do them I never use a torque wrench. I think for some maintenance items it's necessary but for plugs not really. I think people need to take care though with them. So many have a tendancy to way over tighten these things thinking that they need to be super tight. Really, you need to get them snug and then tighten slowly till it starts to get difficult. At that point they're pretty much done and you don't need anymore than that. Done 4 cars now and so far installation has been perfect.
Also take care when removing them, go slowly, and steadily, there is no rush! Install you should pretty much be able to screw them in till snug without a wrench using just the extension and socket. Then put the wrench on there and tighten up a bit to crush the crush washer and provide the seal. 30Nm is not very much at all! Wheel bolts are done to around 90Nm and even that doesn't feel that tight with a big bar! 30Nm is very little indeed, you'll get close to that without using a wrench at all.
It's one of my pet hates, that and people tightening up canister oil filters on cars with wrenches so tight the won't come off! Then I have to get a big screwdriver, hammer it through and turn it using that! You can screw these on tight enough by hand only that's all it needs!
Please ignore my remarks here about the torque wrench use, I have since learned this was not a good idea, please use one if you have it! Thank you
Did mine today at 77k miles. The one plug that has given me intermittent miss fires (code C8, cylinder 5) looked pretty much like the others. This is a 1.5 hour job, and the only thing I would add to the other descriptions is that you really should use some air to clean out the recess, lots of dust and small particles flew out for me.
Torque wise - unless you have a a very small torque wrench, it will be hard to get access. For some plugs you can use a long extension. Once you have angle joints, torque calculations get much more complicated. Using the "tight and then 180 degrees" works well and is described on the box of the plugs. Also always remember to turn the plug in reverse until you feel the beginning of the thread! This will eliminate the danger of cross threading, which I think is a much bigger threat for DIY guys than getting the torque value off by 50%. Especially for an aluminum head...
Lastly - to avoid the taping of the spark plug socket to the extension (which would be a pain since I used different lengths every time), get one of these and you can always pull out the socket:
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'03 LMB/Caramel
Dinan 3.45, JRZ stage 3, swaybars, strut brace, short shifter, sf
V1/Stealthone and LI - when V1 won't help...
Black kidney's, iBright V3 angel eyes, HID fogs, and tint
Illuminated M5 door sills (now that's very, very cool!)
Magnaflow 14816s, euro brake ducts, Brembo BBK To come:
Nothing - the mod itch has been scratched enough...
did my spark plugs today. not too difficult and there is room to operate. no need to remove the air duct on the passenger side but i did remove on the driver side which is easy. i removed the coils as i go but made sure to label them so i can put them in the same order.
did our m5's came with bosch plugs from the factory? if so, the plugs have been changed since its ngk's. passenger side is dry while drivers has a small trace of oil; clearly traced form the valve cove gasket. will to the gaskets soon.
did our m5's came with bosch plugs from the factory? if so, the plugs have been changed since its ngk's. passenger side is dry while drivers has a small trace of oil; clearly traced form the valve cove gasket. will to the gaskets soon.
as you can see from my recent picture - at least in '03 the OE plugs were NGK, and stamped with BMW.
Just did mine today- much easier than I was expecting but definitely a PITA. She's running great after. Some thoughts from my experience:
1. Remember to put a rag or towel between the head and the strut tower. Could save you an R&R on the under-engine cover if you drop a tool or nut down there.
2. I removed the cabin ventilation air ducts on both sides- they're so easy, give yourself the room.
3. In my experience there is no need to take the coils off the wiring harness. There is plenty of room to work around them to R&R the plugs, but after reassembly press the metal clips down to reseat them firmly- a couple of mine loosed up during the process.
4. Watch the underside edge of the plenum cover; it is sharp, and you're pulling items up towards it all during the procedure. I lost a bit of knuckle skin and wished I had put some electrical tape along the edge to make brushes against the plenum simple bumps instead of skin slices.
5. I think that the advice to disconnect the battery is a good one.
It is a great DIY project- a little less than 2 hours here.
6Likes
The job isnt really that hard just time consuming.
11/2000 M5 Le Mans Blue
Linear Mode
