135i Spark Plug replacement DIY...

[cbl117]

Originally Posted by JM35

Plugs that aren't OEM wont necessarily cause misfires. If you get non OEM just make sure they will fit and also make sure you correctly gap them before installing them.

But stick with OEM, if there were something better to use out there people would be using them.

Thanks. I had already purchased the OE plugs from Tischer. Just making sure thats the same as buying from a brick and mortar dealer.

[kioneo]

Originally Posted by JM35

I have a heads up for anyone doing this:

When I was going to put the spark plugs back in, the socket keep pulling off the extension and sticking to the spark plug. There is a little black rubber piece inside the socket that you can remove which will fix this issue.

I think this is mentioned in the first post, I just had an issue and it took me a couple minutes to realize this.

Did mine today and I ended up using a little oil on the rubber o-ring in the socket. This lets it release the spark plug but still gives you the grip needed to hold the spark plug when inserting/removing.

Just my trick I figured I'd mention.

[slickman]

I just welded a 12 point 14mm spark plug socket to a 6 inch extension. Problem fixed.

[JM35]

Originally Posted by kioneo

Did mine today and I ended up using a little oil on the rubber o-ring in the socket. This lets it release the spark plug but still gives you the grip needed to hold the spark plug when inserting/removing.

Just my trick I figured I'd mention.

Yepp, this is exactly what I did, just took me a bit to figure it out lol

[naeshy]

Just did this a couple days ago and want to say this thread made it straightforward and easy. I'm sure without it I would have been unpleasantly surprised by using non-BMW plugs or not having the special socket (not to mention getting all of those plastic vent/cowling pieces off).

My car and I thank you Dack!

[WP1]

[Captainrob]

Thanks for the writeup on this as well Dackelone!

I will be doing all the maintenance (and mods on my Gf's 09 135i. I had just installed burger 12mm and 15mm spacers onto her car and was just taking it for a little test drive and experienced a bad stutter that I correctly assumed was a misfire. My code reader said P0303, Which I found was probably due to cylinder 3.

I picked up new plugs from the dealership using the exact part # supplied on page one. I had to chase down a snap-on truck for the socket and he got me for $36 on the socket, but I didn't have time to wait for one from online and it was the weekend. The install took me about an hour and a half just poking around taking my time. Extension kept coming off the the socket leaving it on the plug after installing the new one. I used needle nose pliers to get pull it off and out off the hole. Car runs great and seems to pull smoother than it has since we just acquired it a few weeks ago. Oh, I also did the filter, which I already had just bought and planned on replacing.

Next up I have everything for an oil change and a serpentine belt sitting here to go on.... the belt looks like no fun. The previous owner just took the car in for things if it came up on the dash like oil changes so I had no idea where exactly the car was so I'm just trying to do all normal maintenance myself to KNOW where the car sits. These writeups really help us DIY out of warranty people

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Captainrob

Thanks for the writeup on this as well Dackelone!

I will be doing all the maintenance (and mods on my Gf's 09 135i. I had just installed burger 12mm and 15mm spacers onto her car and was just taking it for a little test drive and experienced a bad stutter that I correctly assumed was a misfire. My code reader said P0303, Which I found was probably due to cylinder 3.

I picked up new plugs from the dealership using the exact part # supplied on page one. I had to chase down a snap-on truck for the socket and he got me for $36 on the socket, but I didn't have time to wait for one from online and it was the weekend. The install took me about an hour and a half just poking around taking my time. Extension kept coming off the the socket leaving it on the plug after installing the new one. I used needle nose pliers to get pull it off and out off the hole. Car runs great and seems to pull smoother than it has since we just acquired it a few weeks ago. Oh, I also did the filter, which I already had just bought and planned on replacing.

Next up I have everything for an oil change and a serpentine belt sitting here to go on.... the belt looks like no fun. The previous owner just took the car in for things if it came up on the dash like oil changes so I had no idea where exactly the car was so I'm just trying to do all normal maintenance myself to KNOW where the car sits. These writeups really help us DIY out of warranty people

Glad it all worked out well for you. One little trick when your ratchet extensions keep falling off your socket... put a small dab of (wheel bearing)grease on the extension end. That will keep the socket from falling off. It has to due with the clearances of the two parts.

[7smurfs]

Bumping an old thread, looking to change my spark plugs as I am getting misfires on cold start, throwing 29E0 Fuel mixture control codes (running rich).

My spark plugs were only changed approximately 6000 miles / 10,000 kms ago however I used bosch plugs. What is the consensus with OEM BMW plugs not causing problems over bosch ones?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by 7smurfs

Bumping an old thread, looking to change my spark plugs as I am getting misfires on cold start, throwing 29E0 Fuel mixture control codes (running rich).

My spark plugs were only changed approximately 6000 miles / 10,000 kms ago however I used bosch plugs. What is the consensus with OEM BMW plugs not causing problems over bosch ones?

Yep, looks like it's your spark plugs.

See post #16.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=311993

[7smurfs]

Thanks! Will chase it up

[Misshe11]

Hi

I just replaced the spark plugs on my 135 and it was super easy because of this DIY! A bit messy but very easy. I saved like $200!

All of the plugs were easy to remove except for cylinder 6 (the one furthest back, is that #6 or 1?). It was on there super tight. Also when I removed it there was a strong smell of fuel on it, it was a bit wet looking too, which the others didn't have? Was it difficult to remove because that cylinder was under compression or did someone just over tighten the heck out of that last spark plug? Does this indicate some other problem with the motor? Just curious. I started the car and it ran nice and smooth (well idled)! yay! I will take it for a drive after it stops raining .

Thanks much!
M

[GuamX1]

Originally Posted by Misshe11

Hi

I just replaced the spark plugs on my 135 and it was super easy because of this DIY! A bit messy but very easy. I saved like $200!

All of the plugs were easy to remove except for cylinder 6 (the one furthest back, is that #6 or 1?). It was on there super tight. Also when I removed it there was a strong smell of fuel on it, it was a bit wet looking too, which the others didn't have? Was it difficult to remove because that cylinder was under compression or did someone just over tighten the heck out of that last spark plug? Does this indicate some other problem with the motor? Just curious. I started the car and it ran nice and smooth (well idled)! yay! I will take it for a drive after it stops raining .

Thanks much!
M

It was tightened too much

[BigRussia]

Thanks for a great DIY Dackelone, sorry to bump the thread but has anyone had an issue with the 12 point socket getting stuck inside the chamber??
My extension keeps coming off the socket when I try to remove it and cant get it out! I've even doused the chamber in WD40 to loosen the socket's grip on the plug but still no use. Any help or advice?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by BigRussia

Thanks for a great DIY Dackelone, sorry to bump the thread but has anyone had an issue with the 12 point socket getting stuck inside the chamber??
My extension keeps coming off the socket when I try to remove it and cant get it out! I've even doused the chamber in WD40 to loosen the socket's grip on the plug but still no use. Any help or advice?

There are two solutions for the socket coming off inside the hole... get a locking type extension or.... apply some wheel bearing grease to the tip of your extension. The grease will prevent the socket from coming off bc it adds to the clearence between the socket and extension. Sounds weird but it works.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Misshe11

Hi

I just replaced the spark plugs on my 135 and it was super easy because of this DIY! A bit messy but very easy. I saved like $200!

All of the plugs were easy to remove except for cylinder 6 (the one furthest back, is that #6 or 1?). It was on there super tight. Also when I removed it there was a strong smell of fuel on it, it was a bit wet looking too, which the others didn't have? Was it difficult to remove because that cylinder was under compression or did someone just over tighten the heck out of that last spark plug? Does this indicate some other problem with the motor? Just curious. I started the car and it ran nice and smooth (well idled)! yay! I will take it for a drive after it stops raining .

Thanks much!
M

You might want to check for codes(for a bad coil) or even go back in and remove that #6 spark plug - to see if it still is wet or smells like fuel. You could have a bad leaking injector. Injectors should be replaced in sets of three. IF it were my car I would just replace all six injectors - if only one is bad. BMW has had so many different injector(s) for our cars. I think they have a handle on the injectors now.

Dackel

[ayao]

Just followed this DIY on a 1M with 23k miles. Car feels the same as it did before -- no misfires or drama afterwards. Just some back pain from hunching over the car and a unexpected amount of adult beverages consumed.

Between Dack's pictures and the Cobb video, there were no big surprises.

I used the BMS socket ($20 + shipping) which is a quality piece. I also noticed some of the black paint of the socket getting rubbed off but I wasn't too concerned about it making into the spark plug well because nothing rubbed off the socket when I ran my fingers/gloves against it. I was going to replace the plugs with OEM Boschs but then found OE plugs from a BMW dealer on eBay which were only $20 more.

Here are a few random things I noticed that weren't explicitly covered:

-The passenger side sensor wire that gets unplugged from the trim tray was annoying but in the end you just pull up hard on the wire supports.

-The plastic trim screws that attach the microfilter trim piece are easy to strip.

-It required more force than I expected to unscrew the spark plugs. There's a bit of friction between the steel of plug and aluminum threads of the head. This was also the case when hand-threading the new plugs back in before torquing.

-The plugs themselves looked both better than I expected (not a huge gap between the prongs and the electrode) but worse than I expected (carbon chunks at electrode, particulate matter in spark plug well, carbonized plug threads ...) I'm glad I took the time to do this.

-After the plug was out, there was a surprising amount of fine particulate debris at the bottom of the spark plug well. I used a shop vac crevice attachment, sealed it with duct tape around a drinking straw attached to the end of the tool. The stuff got sucked up easy. It was all dry particulate, no oil. When I looked down the well before removing a plug, there wasn't much stuff, but removing the plug caused some of that stuff to get burped up. It was all accumulated on the ignition coil side of the plug. Best I can tell, there's some corrosion on the exposed part of the plug. It seemed worst on cylinders 1-3 -- the back half didn't have as much. I bet the dealer would have just stuck a new plug in without any cleaning the crap up first.

-Cylinder 5 was the most awkward to get to because the strut brace plus some hoses were in the way. I used a wobble at first to get in there but then figured out a better angle that allowed me to torque it without the wobble.

-The large tray below the cabin microfilter was kind of a bitch to reattach. You just push on it hard to get the tabs underneath the weatherstripping.

Thanks again Dack for the DIY. It's a keeper.

[ozma]

Thanks for the superb DIY with pictures.

Just a quick question - can anyone help me with an accurate measurement of how thick the BMW socket is ?

Or can someone measure their BMS socket and let me know how thick that is?

I have a 12 point, 14mm spark plug socket but it's around 19mm thick.
Not exactly sure if it fits, but we don't have the BMS socket here so I'm trying to see if I can use a substitute.

Thanks for the help

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by ozma

Thanks for the superb DIY with pictures.

Just a quick question - can anyone help me with an accurate measurement of how thick the BMW socket is ?

Or can someone measure their BMS socket and let me know how thick that is?

I have a 12 point, 14mm spark plug socket but it's around 19mm thick.
Not exactly sure if it fits, but we don't have the BMS socket here so I'm trying to see if I can use a substitute.

Thanks for the help

I just went out to my garage and measured my Hazet thin walled spark plug socket(Hazet tool #4766-2). It's a 14mm, 12 point thin walled spark plug socket(3/8th's ratchet) for newer BMW models(N54, N55, N52's etc).

The outside diamter is 18mm's. Not 19mm!!

Also the distance between the socket wall and the outter wall is only 1mm. I grabbed another socket(12mm from Obi - hardware store) and its wall thckness is 2mm's!

You could take your socket to a grinder and grind it down. But to be honest You should just buy the correct tool for the job. It would really suck to have a socket break or get jammed down in one of the spark plug "holes" durring this basic service job. Buy a good quality tool. Snap-On or the like.

Dackel


Here are my Hazet pics...

18mm outer diamter socket thickness...




Left 12mm socket from local hardware store(Obi -Lux), on the Right is my Hazet 14mm spark plug socket tool...


1mm socket wall thickness of the Hazet


2mm socket wall thickness of the Obi socket

[ozma]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

I just went out to my garage and measured my Hazet thin walled spark plug socket(Hazet tool #4766-2). It's a 14mm, 12 point thin walled spark plug socket(3/8th's ratchet) for newer BMW models(N54, N55, N52's etc).

The outside diamter is 18mm's. Not 19mm!!

Also the distance between the socket wall and the outter wall is only 1mm. I grabbed another socket(12mm from Obi - hardware store) and its wall thckness is 2mm's!

You could take your socket to a grinder and grind it down. But to be honest You should just buy the correct tool for the job. It would really suck to have a socket break or get jammed down in one of the spark plug "holes" durring this basic service job. Buy a good quality tool. Snap-On or the like.

Dackel


Here are my Hazet pics...

18mm outer diamter socket thickness...
Attachment 1321041

Attachment 1321042

Left 12mm socket from local hardware store(Obi -Lux), on the Right is my Hazet 14mm spark plug socket tool...
Attachment 1321043

1mm socket wall thickness of the Hazet
Attachment 1321044

2mm socket wall thickness of the Obi socket
Attachment 1321045

Attachment 1321046

Super helpful post!

Thanks! I just measured my socket again and it's definitely 19mm (even after doing some grinding just now)

So i'm quite screwed.
Have to buy the correct one from the internet now.

Thanks again!

[dh58]

Just on this.. I bought 2 sockets.. one without a magnet at the end and one with... The one with the magnet makes a big difference because then you can just pull up once you've unscrewed the spark plug and you'll feel it.. makes it a little easier to figure out when it's ready to come out especially when you're doing 6 of them

[mr.fabulous]

Bumping an old thread. I'm curious as to how many of you have had a coil pack stick to the plug on removal, ultimately destroying the pack trying to get it out? Seems this has happened to some, and I'm wondering if I should play it safe by having a fresh coil or two on hand when changing my plugs (which I believe are factory)? This is my only car & I can't have me leaving it stranded in my garage.

(and to clarify, there is no coil extension as in the older motors, just one part[the coil]... right?)