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      11-15-2019, 06:57 AM   #1
FirstF80InSpace
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Is it normal to change spark plugs so early?

Hello friends.

Quick question. I have a service appointment scheduled for next week. It's for the 3 year service (I bought the car on Nov 2016).

The dealership called me last night saying they received a message from my car that spark plugs will need to be changed and to be prepared for a longer appointment. I said sure, I didn't know my car can send random messages to BMW, but go ahead and I'll just take their shuttle home.

My question is why would the spark plugs need to be replaced so soon? I've only got about 25,000 kms (15,500 miles) on it. Is this normal for the S55 engines?
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      11-15-2019, 11:37 AM   #2
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First off, you should drive your car more

But anyway, spark plugs are done every 3rd oil service so this is correct. Oil service is every 10k miles or one year, whichever comes first. In most instances the mileage hits first so this would equate to spark plugs roughly every 30k miles. But since your car is so low mileage you have hit the 1-year time intervals instead, thus necessitating the plugs at a lower mileage but longer time period.
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      12-24-2019, 03:50 AM   #3
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Dealership got me today with that...Thought I was only having oil service and received a 750Euro bill for spark plug service... My biggest issue is that I was not made aware of this before hand, the Germans just seem to do whatever they want and damn the customer.
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Last edited by metomwhou; 01-16-2020 at 11:22 AM..
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      12-24-2019, 12:58 PM   #4
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I'd change the plugs every 15k. I have 22k on my current plugs and the engine doesn't feel as smooth as before. A bit of idling hiccups upon start up and doesn't feel as peppy at WOT.
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      12-24-2019, 01:13 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hellokitty View Post
I'd change the plugs every 15k. I have 22k on my current plugs and the engine doesn't feel as smooth as before. A bit of idling hiccups upon start up and doesn't feel as peppy at WOT.
Interesting.... While my car did not seem "off" before my plugs were changed, I would be lying if I said the butt dyno did not feel a difference after the plugs were changed. The car did seem more "peppy" after the change - I had mine done at 30k miles IAW the included BMW maintenance schedule plan. Not sure I would change the plugs that frequently unless the engine was heavily modified though....
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      12-27-2019, 05:50 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jmciver View Post
Interesting.... While my car did not seem "off" before my plugs were changed, I would be lying if I said the butt dyno did not feel a difference after the plugs were changed. The car did seem more "peppy" after the change - I had mine done at 30k miles IAW the included BMW maintenance schedule plan. Not sure I would change the plugs that frequently unless the engine was heavily modified though....
The spark plugs used in these engines can last a long time but they start off with a fairly large gap in search of fuel efficiency so as the plug wears and that gap opens up, you can start to feel the difference as it becomes more possible for the spark to blow out. This will depend on how the car was driven and whether or not it was tuned. I've seen stock daily driven M3s and M4s come into my shop at 50,000 or more miles on original spark plugs and the car is still running smooth and I've seen others at only 20,000 miles that are driven hard, more high RPM / high boost, maybe some track events and their plugs are already at a point where you can feel the slight hesitations during acceleration that are cured by a fresh set of plugs.

Off the top of my head I believe the stock spark plug gap is either 0.030" or 0.032" which is considered pretty big in the world of tuned turbocharged engines but is becoming very common now that manufacturers have to look everywhere for fuel economy, emissions, etc. If you drop them down a hair to 0.025" or so, you'll notice they'll easily make it past the "third oil change" recommendation and if you're on a Stage 1 or Stage 2 tune, you'll want about 0.022".
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      12-28-2019, 01:28 AM   #7
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I saw sum Bosch spark plugs that says 15k miles which is pretty dramatic.
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      12-28-2019, 01:49 PM   #8
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Just swapped out the Bosch after roughly 15k due to acceleration hiccups, even 1 misfire warning.

Went with 1-step colder NGKs and feels great again.
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      01-08-2020, 07:39 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by metomwhou View Post
Dealership got me today with that...Thought I was only having oil service and received a 750Euro bill for spark plug service... My biggest issue is that they I was not made aware of this before hand, the Germans just seem to do whatever they want and damn the customer.
$750 Eur?!? Lol. WTF. You can get 2 4-packs for like $170 CDN ($117 EUR) on Amazon. And they're easy to change yourself. Dealership is a total rip off!
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      01-10-2020, 02:03 PM   #10
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6hr labor change to replace sparkplugs! It's at the dealer now. Geez.
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      01-10-2020, 02:37 PM   #11
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I changed my stock plugs to .018 NGK's at 17k due to some hesitation and uneven idles on startup per Cary's advice. Car is running much better now. You really can tell the difference. Stage 2.

Last edited by c4ss; 01-15-2020 at 12:21 PM.. Reason: Posted incorrect gap (.022 should have been .018)
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      01-10-2020, 07:02 PM   #12
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How long does this job take to diy?
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      01-14-2020, 02:05 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by c4ss View Post
I changed my stock plugs to .022 NGK's at 17k due to some hesitation and uneven idles on startup per Cary's advice. Car is running much better now. You really can tell the difference. Stage 2.
BM3 Stage 1 here, and I have some rough idle at times. Perhaps I should change the stock plugs at some point (only have 2k miles on them).
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      01-15-2020, 12:20 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fackamato View Post
BM3 Stage 1 here, and I have some rough idle at times. Perhaps I should change the stock plugs at some point (only have 2k miles on them).
I'd been running higher boost maps since ~7k or so, so it might not be an apples to apples comparison, but my last 2 thousand miles since changing the plugs has been night and day. I recommend contacting your tuner for their rec. If it's OTS, go NGK 97506 at a .018 gap if you have plans for Stage 2.
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      01-15-2020, 12:27 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by c4ss View Post
I'd been running higher boost maps since ~7k or so, so it might not be an apples to apples comparison, but my last 2 thousand miles since changing the plugs has been night and day. I recommend contacting your tuner for their rec. If it's OTS, go NGK 97506 at a .018 gap if you have plans for Stage 2.
It's an OTS stg1 91 octane map. Not looking to go to another map, would you still recommend the other plugs?

I didn't think BM3 recommended different plugs for stage 1 maps, but I may be wrong.
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      01-15-2020, 12:28 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fackamato View Post
It's an OTS stg1 91 octane map. Not looking to go to another map, would you still recommend the other plugs?

I didn't think BM3 recommended different plugs for stage 1 maps, but I may be wrong.
Stick with OEM plugs if its a stage 1 or GTS style map.
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      01-15-2020, 12:29 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by White340 View Post
How long does this job take to diy?
Did this myself 2 weeks ago. Took about 2 hours if you don't include the time I wasted trying to find my extension and then giving up and buying a new set at Harbor Freight.
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      01-16-2020, 11:32 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FirstF80InSpace View Post
$750 Eur?!? Lol. WTF. You can get 2 4-packs for like $170 CDN ($117 EUR) on Amazon. And they're easy to change yourself. Dealership is a total rip off!
Yeah, i know. I was floored when I got the bill. Like I said, they did the work without even checking with me. Normally the german's are not very sensitive to customer care related issues but I've since been told that I should go back and talk to the chief and ask for some recompensation or to have them install the plugs I already have and was planning to install myself now that the car is tuned...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferg View Post
6hr labor change to replace sparkplugs! It's at the dealer now. Geez.
Can't remember what the hourly rate was...I'll check and report back. I do remember that the charge for the new plugs was like 160Euros...
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      01-16-2020, 04:51 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferg View Post
6hr labor change to replace sparkplugs! It's at the dealer now. Geez.
Please tell me nobody is paying 6 hours of labor for spark plugs on the S55. Book time is about 4 hours, anyone who's done the job more than once will get it done in under 3 hours easily.
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