[kiwi29]

So,
I need to get newr spark plugs. BUT Im not looking to spend 130+ on some OEM spark plugs. what have been your choices? I dont need them to last 100k miles, 50k miles is more than enough but i dont want crappy misfiring issues. What brand and material should i look for?

[mcpcolas]

Originally Posted by kiwi29

So,
I need to get newr spark plugs. BUT Im not looking to spend 130+ on some OEM spark plugs. what have been your choices? I dont need them to last 100k miles, 50k miles is more than enough but i dont want crappy misfiring issues. What brand and material should i look for?

I picked up 6 oem at auto zone for about 90 bucks . Shop around instead of buying at the the dealer

[willsull80]

I got new plugs for my e92 at O'Rillys for 8.50 a plug.... And that was iridium spark plugs. The platinum plugs were even less and
They were original equipment.

What year and motor do you have?

Like in my case the 10/08 n51 I have came with platinum but the 02/09 n51 came iridium. The main difference being the miles between changes.

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by mcpcolas

I picked up 6 oem at auto zone for about 90 bucks . Shop around instead of buying at the the dealer

at the autozone next to my house, they dont carry any e90 stuff without special request :/

Originally Posted by willsull80

I got new plugs for my e92 at O'Rillys for 8.50 a plug.... And that was iridium spark plugs. The platinum plugs were even less and
They were original equipment.

What year and motor do you have?

Like in my case the 10/08 n51 I have came with platinum but the 02/09 n51 came iridium. The main difference being the miles between changes.

i completely forgot the manufacturing date but i think it is somewhere in march of 09? its also the n51. what are the difference in platinum and iridium? which ones last longer?

[willsull80]

Iridium last longer but pull one of your out and see what it is.

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by willsull80

Iridium last longer but pull one of your out and see what it is.

what happens if i use the wrong material?

[willsull80]

Well on these plugs I'm not sure anything will happen. They changed plug material on the n51 but the gap stayed the same and the coil packs are the same part number. On some cars (mainly ford) you can get miss fire situations and even make the motor throw codes with the wrong plugs. I myself have not had that issue with both the BMW's I own and I have ran iridiums on my n51 for about 8,000 miles with no issues that I can see. The only catch with iridiums that I know of is you can not set the gap on them. They are suppose to be .040 - .042 the issue with iridium is that it's so hard you can break the tip trying to set the gap.

Here is a little info on all of that.

http://prodcds.bmwuniversity.com/library/bmw/Technician/Core%20Courses/ST055%20Engine%20Electronics/05_Ignition%20Management.pdf

[gimmethemuumuu]

Rockauto.com. I got eight plugs for my E90 M3 a little while back for only about $80. They were the standard OEM NGK plugs. Look around for a discount code and you save a little more too

[Castle]

I took advantage of a special sale at the dealer, at $11.99 each. I later realized the sold me the part number that was superseded and I guess that's why they were selling them at that price

They've worked fine so far, anyway, but it makes me wonder why BMW changed the part number?

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by willsull80

Well on these plugs I'm not sure anything will happen. They changed plug material on the n51 but the gap stayed the same and the coil packs are the same part number. On some cars (mainly ford) you can get miss fire situations and even make the motor throw codes with the wrong plugs. I myself have not had that issue with both the BMW's I own and I have ran iridiums on my n51 for about 8,000 miles with no issues that I can see. The only catch with iridiums that I know of is you can not set the gap on them. They are suppose to be .040 - .042 the issue with iridium is that it's so hard you can break the tip trying to set the gap.

Here is a little info on all of that.

http://prodcds.bmwuniversity.com/lib...Management.pdf

hmm so are the iridium ones pre gapped?

Originally Posted by gimmethemuumuu

Rockauto.com. I got eight plugs for my E90 M3 a little while back for only about $80. They were the standard OEM NGK plugs. Look around for a discount code and you save a little more too

thanks! im gonna give them a look over

Originally Posted by Castle

I took advantage of a special sale at the dealer, at $11.99 each. I later realized the sold me the part number that was superseded and I guess that's why they were selling them at that price

They've worked fine so far, anyway, but it makes me wonder why BMW changed the part number?

holy crap. if theyre that price on sale, whats the regular pricing ??/

they porbably changed the part number because they got new companies to make the spark plugs?

[Brett335i]

Always Use The Spark Plugs Intended For Your Vehicle!!!!!! Do Not Use Anything Else!!!! Beware!!!

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by Brett335i

Always Use The Spark Plugs Intended For Your Vehicle!!!!!! Do Not Use Anything Else!!!! Beware!!!

i figured that much, i was just curious on using the wrong material but for the right motor? like using iridium instead of platinum

[willsull80]

That motor had iridium and platinum plugs, NGK offered the iridiums later after the platinum plugs. I can find no change in gap or coils. This was just a plug improvement. I iridiums on mine like I said before and I have had no issues with the change. Gas mileage and performance are the same.

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by willsull80

That motor had iridium and platinum plugs, NGK offered the iridiums later after the platinum plugs. I can find no change in gap or coils. This was just a plug improvement. I iridiums on mine like I said before and I have had no issues with the change. Gas mileage and performance are the same.

would you recommend using NGK over the OEM bousch brand?

[willsull80]

NGK is what BMW uses oem. It's best to go with what you know works..

[willsull80]

Also you should always go back with the same style spark plug on sophisticated engines like ours due to something called flame-front propagation

Basiclly that motor needs the big fireball inside to to burn a certain way for maximum efficiency of
Fuel burn as well as cylinder temp as well. There is more to that but just know different plugs create the flame inside the combustion chamber in different ways.

For example the Bosch platinum 4 makes its spark in a different orientation than an NGK platinum or a AC Delco copper top.

The Gap plays a bigger part in cylinder temp and coil recharge time that changes with different plugs as well.

With all that nerd junk said its best to go back with what came in it. Just get NGK platinum plugs. If you mess with your car like most of us do putting another set on in 50000 miles won't really bother you. You can get the plugs for about 8-9 each if you look in the right spot.

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by willsull80

Also you should always go back with the same style spark plug on sophisticated engines like ours due to something called flame-front propagation

Basiclly that motor needs the big fireball inside to to burn a certain way for maximum efficiency of
Fuel burn as well as cylinder temp as well. There is more to that but just know different plugs create the flame inside the combustion chamber in different ways.

For example the Bosch platinum 4 makes its spark in a different orientation than an NGK platinum or a AC Delco copper top.

The Gap plays a bigger part in cylinder temp and coil recharge time that changes with different plugs as well.

With all that nerd junk said its best to go back with what came in it. Just get NGK platinum plugs. If you mess with your car like most of us do putting another set on in 50000 miles won't really bother you. You can get the plugs for about 8-9 each if you look in the right spot.

i guess the people at napa dont really know their stuff lol so i should search for ngk platinum plugs? would the plugs vary from n52 to n51s?

[willsull80]

As far as I know the n51 and n52 have the same plug the main difference is compression is lower in the n51 and the n51 has a "more efficient" combustion chamber. (Even though i get worse gas milage in my n51 than i did with my n52) Goto sparkplugs.com put your info in and go from there. The double platinum is the original plug but the iridium is fine as well.

[CrAzY ChInOz]

As a former BMW tech, I advise u check all your new plugs if u buy from dealer.

I have seen both bosch and NGK plugs under the same part numbers. Only difference is the packaging. One of the spark plugs have darker ink design and the other have lighter ink design on the packaging box.

Make sure u use 6 plug that's the same brand. Don't mix and match the brand.

[kiwi29]

Originally Posted by willsull80

As far as I know the n51 and n52 have the same plug the main difference is compression is lower in the n51 and the n51 has a "more efficient" combustion chamber. (Even though i get worse gas milage in my n51 than i did with my n52) Goto sparkplugs.com put your info in and go from there. The double platinum is the original plug but the iridium is fine as well.

thank you! ill check on that info tomorrow

Originally Posted by CrAzY ChInOz

As a former BMW tech, I advise u check all your new plugs if u buy from dealer.

I have seen both bosch and NGK plugs under the same part numbers. Only difference is the packaging. One of the spark plugs have darker ink design and the other have lighter ink design on the packaging box.

Make sure u use 6 plug that's the same brand. Don't mix and match the brand.

are there any other places that you'd recommend besides from the dealerships themselves?

[Rotorocious]

Find the part number and then go to the parts store. Those guys are idiots ( except carquest) and their eyes gloss over as soon as they hear BMW , then everything they tell you is dealer only

[Delta0311]

BMW uses both NGK and BOSCH for their spark plugs, currently I'm running NGKs. Don't be afraid to shop around. For instance I replaced all my coils, OEM BMW where like an arm and a leg and the BOSCH ones where about $25 cheaper. Upon further research it turned out that OEM BMW coils are BOSCH. Quite a few of parts in these cars are made by BOSCH and Siemens.