Did a 60K tune-up yesterday. Was surprisingly easy

[NVHoo]

First time. The car was hesitating sometimes when accelerating. 56K on the ticker so I decided to do a full tune; plugs, coils, cabin filter, engine filter. Checked out a few on-line videos which provided some helpful tips. Took me about 3 hours. Removing all the junk near the rear of the engine was an annoyance but easy. Engine air filters on most newer cars are just a PIA. I long for the old days when the air filter was held in by a wingnut. Car is running smooth as silk.

[swunder]

Nice - think I'm due for all of those as well. I already have the filters, is it worth doing the coils/plugs at the same time or does it not really matter parts removal wise?

[fotontom]

Did the same routine a little while ago at 96K, myself. Yes, it was relatively easy. I skipped the coils, might do that on the next plug replacement if they don't give me trouble before that. They are easy enough to address if they go in the meantime.

[NVHoo]

Originally Posted by swunder

Nice - think I'm due for all of those as well. I already have the filters, is it worth doing the coils/plugs at the same time or does it not really matter parts removal wise?

With a 60K mile plug interval and the fact that you have to remove the coils to replace the plugs, it costs you nothing in time, just the cost of the coils. I wouldn't trust any coil for 120K miles.

[Lester]

Which model/engine do you have? There is a note on Arizona Autohaus web site refering to N54 coils having had a BMW manufacturing change that makes it necessary to modify the plug support sprue as older harnesses were off center. This sounds risky, but only an issue if you happen to have an older model harness.

[krhodes1]

I'll be doing a lot of this on my 128i this weekend - I'm at 50.5K. All fluids other than gearbox (already did that). Air and cabin filters. While the fluids are drained and the airbox is out, the OFHG preventatively. Oddly enough, it's original, even though the oil pan and valve cover have been done already. So have the plugs and coils. I blame that on the Texas heat and slow Austin traffic - that is where it came from.

Also replacing the super dusty OEM BMW brake pads - can't stand the grime anymore. I'll live with less bite to not have black wheels.

Then I need to run the wiring for the BT mic and antenna, and figure out the MULF2 coding. Fun...

Figure better to do this in my well-equipped shop in Maine than in my tiny garage in Florida where the car is going to live starting in a couple of months.

Need to change the oil, flush the brake fluid and change the diff oil on my 328i too while I am at it - bought a 5L jug of Pentosin LV so might as well do both cars at the same time. 48K on that one. Did the rest of it last year on that car. It will need rear brakes "soon" but at 1.5K-2Kmi a year "soon" can be a really long time!

[NVHoo]

Originally Posted by Lester

Which model/engine do you have? There is a note on Arizona Autohaus web site refering to N54 coils having had a BMW manufacturing change that makes it necessary to modify the plug support sprue as older harnesses were off center. This sounds risky, but only an issue if you happen to have an older model harness.

I used OEM BOSCH 0221504470 {#00044, 12138647689} Indexing Tab Center of Connector from Rock Auto @ $18.42 each. Based on prior forum discussions, some folks prefer the more expensive $25 Delphi coils.

[nazali]

after you've removed the plastic stuff a few times, you can do it in a few minutes, MAKE sure you put all the rubber's and the engine tray back correctly, OTHERWISE you will get water leaks into the engine bay, don't ask me how I know this

Originally Posted by NVHoo

First time. The car was hesitating sometimes when accelerating. 56K on the ticker so I decided to do a full tune; plugs, coils, cabin filter, engine filter. Checked out a few on-line videos which provided some helpful tips. Took me about 3 hours. Removing all the junk near the rear of the engine was an annoyance but easy. Engine air filters on most newer cars are just a PIA. I long for the old days when the air filter was held in by a wingnut. Car is running smooth as silk.

[nazali]

plugs YES
coils - hmm
was told that it's a waste of money replacing the coils until they go,
but do a full set of plugs for sure. if the plugs are worn they take the coild with them

Originally Posted by swunder

Nice - think I'm due for all of those as well. I already have the filters, is it worth doing the coils/plugs at the same time or does it not really matter parts removal wise?

[nazali]

117k on orginal coils, well 3 changed out during the course of ownership, got mine at 25k

Originally Posted by NVHoo

With a 60K mile plug interval and the fact that you have to remove the coils to replace the plugs, it costs you nothing in time, just the cost of the coils. I wouldn't trust any coil for 120K miles.

[nazali]

OP has an E88 N52k

Originally Posted by Lester

Which model/engine do you have? There is a note on Arizona Autohaus web site refering to N54 coils having had a BMW manufacturing change that makes it necessary to modify the plug support sprue as older harnesses were off center. This sounds risky, but only an issue if you happen to have an older model harness.

[Converted1]

N54 w51K with a super slight valve cover leak. Did the OFHG, OCHG, tensioner, pulleys, belt 5K ago. I’ll do the plugs while I’m in there. I’ll prob only change the coils if they got oil damaged. The engine bay is tight but with patients and the right length tools, it gets done.

[NVHoo]

Originally Posted by nazali

plugs YES
coils - hmm
was told that it's a waste of money replacing the coils until they go,
but do a full set of plugs for sure. if the plugs are worn they take the coild with them

I do a lot of week long fun runs through the rural West. A hard failure of a coil could mean up to 2-3 days of being stranded somewhere. Either wait half a day for a tow (assuming you have cell service which is a bad assumption) or limp to the nearest garage which is frequently 50+ miles away. Then it is unlikely that there is a parts store in that small town and/or have the part in stock so it has to be Fedexed the next day. At a minimum I would have a new coil in my trunk along with my spare tire because run-flats have similar rural availability issues.

If I lived in the East where towns are much closer together and you are rarely more than an a half-hour away from any car part, I might feel differently.

IMO, if you can't afford $115 every 60K miles (less than $2 per thousand miles) to replace the coils when you do the plugs, you can't afford a BMW. But then I have the same problem with folks that claim the can't afford the extra few $ a week to get max performance out of their car with premium fuel when they spend $5 a day at Starbucks.

To each his own.

[nazali]

TBH
Everyone is different, my car is not too much older than yours,
when a coil goes, usually you can still drive but it get's a bit lumpy
so you could get home. (3 times I've had coils go and one I managed to drive carefully for a week LOL)
usually on our 6 bangers, a coil wont leave you stranded

Things like this I get from dealer, OEM, there about $100 odd bucks each.
I dont mess around with other parts, unless I have no choice.
I did look into this a while ago when 1st one went and common concenus was no need to change all of them out.
So in 5 /6 years I've never have and only changed out as they come.
Of course if your situation is different and your using cheaper components then it doesn't matter

Originally Posted by NVHoo

I do a lot of week long fun runs through the rural West. A hard failure of a coil could mean up to 2-3 days of being stranded somewhere. Either wait half a day for a tow (assuming you have cell service which is a bad assumption) or limp to the nearest garage which is frequently 50+ miles away. Then it is unlikely that there is a parts store in that small town and/or have the part in stock so it has to be Fedexed the next day. At a minimum I would have a new coil in my trunk along with my spare tire because run-flats have similar rural availability issues.

If I lived in the East where towns are much closer together and you are rarely more than an a half-hour away from any car part, I might feel differently.

IMO, if you can't afford $115 every 60K miles (less than $2 per thousand miles) to replace the coils when you do the plugs, you can't afford a BMW. But then I have the same problem with folks that claim the can't afford the extra few $ a week to get max performance out of their car with premium fuel when they spend $5 a day at Starbucks.

To each his own.

[NVHoo]

Originally Posted by nazali

TBH

Things like this I get from dealer, OEM, there about $100 odd bucks each.
I dont mess around with other parts, unless I have no choice.
I did look into this a while ago when 1st one went and common concenus was no need to change all of them out.
So in 5 /6 years I've never have and only changed out as they come.
Of course if your situation is different and your using cheaper components then it doesn't matter

I installed the exact same coils that I would have received from the BMW dealer but it costs a lot less if you buy them on the open market.