[StephenOrd]

Hi,

Anyone else having problems with ignition coil failures on a 330i? For the second time in 18 months my car is off the road with a coil and spark plug failure, my dealership (who have been excellent on both ocassions!) are now doing a software upgrade as this is the second time it has happened. Is this a known issue, anyone aware of a TSB on this recomending an upgrade?

Steve

[e90pilot]

I do know it's common for coils to fail on BMWs in general. I'm not sure of any software updates or TSBs though.

[blackbeast06]

I just replaced an ingnition coil on cylinder number 1 on my '06 325i an hour ago in the parking lot next to the stealership. SES light came on and car was sputtering so I had them run a diagnostics. They said a coil was bad and wanted to replace all six spark plugs for $600. I bought the coil at the parts department for $60 and put it in next door in ten minutes. Car has 76k.

[Me_Hi]

I had the same coil replaced 1 month ago at 117 000 KM.... looks like a trend

[e90pilot]

Just had the same problem. ~$600 to replace all 6 coils including labor. If you have over 50k miles, replace all 6. It's just gonna happen again. Fortunately they are SUPER easy to DIY.

[StephenOrd]

That's ironic, here in the UK the dealership said they wanted to replace all six of my coils under warranty, but BMW wouldn't let them! So I suppose my car will be off the road for another day or so when the next one goes...

They look a fairly easy DIY job (which I would do were my 330i not under warranty) but how on earth do you tell which one has failed without all the diagnostic kit?

Steve

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by StephenOrd

That's ironic, here in the UK the dealership said they wanted to replace all six of my coils under warranty, but BMW wouldn't let them! So I suppose my car will be off the road for another day or so when the next one goes...

They look a fairly easy DIY job (which I would do were my 330i not under warranty) but how on earth do you tell which one has failed without all the diagnostic kit?

Steve

You can't....you can only do trial and error until the misfire goes away.

Btw, OP I havent had a coil fail yet....62k. Knock on wood....

[stevepoz]

I just had a coil fail at 58k miles on an '06 330. Luckily under CPO warranty still.

[Me_Hi]

Coil failure is an indication the battery is on it's way. An almost dead battery puts a lot of stress on the coils. I suggest you replace all 6 coils, spark plugs and battery in the same time so you don't pay the same labor when you change each coil at the time...very easy DIY though so you can eliminate labor all the way

[BlackSheep343]

Started up the Bimma one morning and it was pissed... It was Most defiantly miss firring. Just had a Coil Pack and all 6 plugs replaced just over a month ago at 80k miles...

[Me_Hi]

Originally Posted by BlackSheep343

Started up the Bimma one morning and it was pissed... It was Most defiantly miss firring. Just had a Coil Pack and all 6 plugs replaced just over a month ago at 80k miles...

How's your battery ?

[BlackSheep343]

Originally Posted by Me_Hi

How's your battery ?

Battery is fine as far as I can see.. There has been the few occasions where I would detail the car and have the radio blasting for hours and had it run out once or twice... Just had it jumped after that...

But that was way before I had the work done...

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by Me_Hi

Coil failure is an indication the battery is on it's way. An almost dead battery puts a lot of stress on the coils. I suggest you replace all 6 coils, spark plugs and battery in the same time so you don't pay the same labor when you change each coil at the time...very easy DIY though so you can eliminate labor all the way

My battery was holding 11.5v when the car was off. I had slow cranks but it turned over ever time.

^no failed coil packs....im at 63k.

I replaced the battery with a lightweight Braille and programmed it as a 70ah agm, then registered it.

I still get slow cranks when it's cold out but that's because the braille only has 550ccas compared to my stock battery, 900ccas.

[ShowTime12]

Just had a failed ignition coil (coil 4) replaced yesterday on my 06 330i at 61k. Better be the last one that fails.

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by e90pilot

Just had the same problem. ~$600 to replace all 6 coils including labor. If you have over 50k miles, replace all 6. It's just gonna happen again. Fortunately they are SUPER easy to DIY.

Maybe I'll just add this to the preventive maintenance list. Seems like it's happening as early as 60k, hmm...

[bmwstylexx]

I just replaced a coil and plugs this week @ 89k miles

[Chewy734]

I had an ignition coil fail at about 45k miles. I'm at ~65k miles now. Hopefully it doesn't happen again anytime soon.

[ShowTime12]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

I had an ignition coil fail at about 45k miles. I'm at ~65k miles now. Hopefully it doesn't happen again anytime soon.

Did you just replace the one coil or all coils and/or battery?

[AlB]

Cost $336 from the stealer for the first one

Went online and ordered 5 more at $40 each and replaced the second one myself (simple OBDII checker will tell you which cylinder is misfiring). Took longer to remove the engine cover than to swap the coil pack (You dont even need a tool to swap the coil pack) whole job took an hour. fortunately no recoding was required and SES light went off after coil pack replacement (im sure this will change!!)

IMO coil pack failures are related to the spark plug gap which (if you follow BMW service interval reccs) is 100K I did not know this and assumed they were changed at 50K. I pulled the plugs and the gaps were over .060 which stresses the coil pack and causes premature failure (had 260K on my E36M3 with no coil pack failures)

Just another example of BMW's new business model whereby they "encourage" you to trade in the car every 4 years by:

• Increasing service intervals to minimize their costs for "free service"
• Charging outrageous service fees (see above $336 charge for coil pack)
• Requiring coding for simple things like battery replacement

What BMW will eventually (sooner rather than later) do is alienate the BMW owners who buy there cars and want to hang on to them for 7-10 years (because they ARE built well) and gain a crappy reputation in the used car market because they increase the service interval such that the cars are falling apart by the end of the free service interval (and the rich flip them for the latest model) when they hit the second owner

[Flagler ///M135]

no problems here with 53K miles

90k no coil pack issues, plugs changed at 60k for 90 bucks price of the plugs plus 90 for labor at Aeperformance

[MPI_Jack]

Um...your battery has no direct effect on ignition coils operation. Its' just there to start your car.

The alternator is what keeps what the voltage up while driving and just charges the battery for your next starting event.

Start your car and disconnect the negative side of the battery, car still runs fine and the alternator puts out 14+ volts(assuming it's a good alt). What supplys the coils with power is the DME(coil drivers are located inside the DME). You probably had the coincidence that your battery was failing at the same time as some of your igntion coils.

But for the records, all CARS have issues with coils at some point and it's always wise to change the plug with the bad coil. I usually replaced all 6 when I can to avoid futher issues for the customer.