Best spark plugs to use?

Champion plugs

NGK BKR 6 EQUP is the only plug for M54!

Thanks for the Info Guys. I get most of my automotive parts from autozone and they had the normal plugs and these were $2 more so i upped the plugs. to these plugs. I like the NGK plugs but were unavailable for my car, and i'm pick with where i get my parts, autozone is the only place i never had a problem with parts, i do not suggest getting anything from NAPA, i have had nothing but bad luck with parts i receibed from them. From belts to bulbs to engine revuild kits that took out the whole enigne, enugh rambling on, i will keep the plugs and postn how well there working in the car this weekend.

i have a 2000 528i with 103k. the previous owner didnt do much work to the car so i gotta do it. ngk iridiums good? or is the bosch iridium fusions better? please help.

The best ones are whatever your owners manual states. There is not super spark plug. It's all marketing.

Originally Posted by mic0ne23

i have a 2000 528i with 103k. the previous owner didnt do much work to the car so i gotta do it. ngk iridiums good? or is the bosch iridium fusions better? please help.

What he said in post #26. Nothing else.

mw

Your car has either bosch plugs or ngk plugs. If you pull out bosch plugs replace them with OEM bosch plugs, if you have NGK replace with OEM NGK plugs. replace with exact part numbers

Hey Seadoo ryder you should bring your seadoo's down here (Aruba) so we could wave of with some nice girls strapped on
CHAMPION Iridium plugs the best....

Originally Posted by Ryan M

The best ones are whatever your owners manual states. There is not super spark plug. It's all marketing.

+1. Listen to Ryan.

Originally Posted by 540 M-Sport

+1. Listen to Ryan.

I have a hunch that he replaced his plugs already.

mw

Oh God, here I go stoking this thread.... shoot me now.
I have compared the specs on the NGK 6418 iridium single electrode with OEM NGK 3199 (BKR6EQUP) 4 electrode plugs. Identical except obvious 1 vs 4 and copper vs iridium. Most acknowledge iridium is better: lasts longer, one electrode better than 2 or 4, blah, blah. Also, iridium plugs were not available in '98-02 when the BMW engineers chose plugs for the E39. So, I think these 6418s are a good choice. I almost don't want you thoughts this time. :-)

Originally Posted by Ryan M

The best ones are whatever your owners manual states. There is not super spark plug. It's all marketing.

yes, this.

We have a few different options available including Bosch, NGK and OEM:

http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E39-525...aign=postreply

Wouldn't you have to index the 1 pronger for our cars, keeping in mind they are build for a more performance oriented customer?

Jared,
You don't even sell a one electrode option. Is Doru right in that there is some "indexing" adjustment needed or some other incompatibility? I think the NGK single electrode iridiums look good and I have had very good luck with these in my mid-80s 911.
CL

I've installed Champion iridiums about two years ago and back in May i started getting misfires, rough cold starts, and a loud ticking noise. After doing research I decided to take a look at the plugs. Took the coil packs out and 2 of them were loose to a level where I literally was able to pull them out with my hands and another ones pronge broke off prolly fell in the combustion chamber!! Now, can this be an install error? Most definitely. I installed them. So i decided to go with the NGK's that originally came with the car. The noise is gone, no more misfires, rough cold starts etc. so yeah i'm going to have to go with factory recommended plugs...

This is another Spark Plug thread going on over bimmerforums. Don't you love it when there is a new sprak plug thread and there are 1000 replies?
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1305790

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Excerpt:

Originally Posted by 5mall5nail5

I found that the BKR6E from NGK works well and is recommended on the M52TU as well. I should have assumed this time ha. I have used this plug for years on my cars from M50 to M60. Great plug - save yourself the money and get them at Advanced Auto Parts. Advanced part number is "6962", and are $1.99 each. Single electrode plugs are best because they wear consistently and you can gap them. I really recommend this plug - I run the BKR7E and 8ES in my turbo car. $13 for 6 very good plugs. The BKR7E are used on everything from Volvo S40 soccer mom cars to toyota supras making 800 rwhp. Very good plugs. The 6 vs 7 is the "temperature".

1000+

5mall5nail5 is absolutely correct.

For years, I don't undertand the fuss about 4-prong crap, which can break causing motor damage (that is another story). The 4-prong crap was probably marketing tactic (Oh...you don't need to tune the car for 100K miles kind of thing).

NGK BKR6E (single-prong), @ $1.99/each, works beautifully. Just be sure to choose either copper or platinum.

Just remove it let's say every 20K miles, regap and apply a bit of antiseize and you are good until 50-60K, then get new plugs.
----
FYI:
NGK 6962 is BKR6E (single-prong copper) and is $1.99/each
http://www.ngk.com/more_info.asp?AAIA=&pid=3488

NGK 7092 is BKR6EGP (single-prong platinum) and is $2.59/each
http://www.ngk.com/results_cross.asp?pid=7092

(Denso) Iridium!

I don't buy Champion or Goodyear products.

let's face it, your car won't do any better with just the plug "upgrade" w/o anything else. if you just need replacement, go with OEM, but DO NOT buy them at the stealers.

Originally Posted by erkinak

I've installed Champion iridiums about two years ago and back in May i started getting misfires, rough cold starts, and a loud ticking noise. After doing research I decided to take a look at the plugs. Took the coil packs out and 2 of them were loose to a level where I literally was able to pull them out with my hands and another ones pronge broke off prolly fell in the combustion chamber!! Now, can this be an install error? Most definitely. I installed them. So i decided to go with the NGK's that originally came with the car. The noise is gone, no more misfires, rough cold starts etc. so yeah i'm going to have to go with factory recommended plugs...

Isn't there a member in this forum who swears by the Champion Iridium?

mw

Originally Posted by Chris Lovell

Oh God, here I go stoking this thread.... shoot me now.
I have compared the specs on the NGK 6418 iridium single electrode with OEM NGK 3199 (BKR6EQUP) 4 electrode plugs. Identical except obvious 1 vs 4 and copper vs iridium. Most acknowledge iridium is better: lasts longer, one electrode better than 2 or 4, blah, blah. Also, iridium plugs were not available in '98-02 when the BMW engineers chose plugs for the E39. So, I think these 6418s are a good choice. I almost don't want you thoughts this time. :-)

The oem four prong NGK has a platinun center electrode. It is the Laser Platinum as shown here: http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/product...r_platinum.asp
The only difference is it has four prongs, the picture is of the traditional single prong.
A standard plug, even with four prongs would never last the 100k miles that BMW specs.

Originally Posted by MatWiz

Isn't there a member in this forum who swears by the Champion Iridium?

mw

I will kill you if he chimes in again...

When I changed plugs about 5 months ago, I put the basic platinum NGK one prong plugs in. They were like $2.15 each at Oreillys. They run just fine with no problems. They did make the car run smoother but only because the old 4 prong plugs were shot at 80k. For less then $15, I will just change them out once a year and always have new fresh plugs in. Don't get all caught up in the spark plug debate.

Originally Posted by lzrj

When I changed plugs about 5 months ago, I put the basic platinum NGK one prong plugs in. They were like $2.15 each at Oreillys. They run just fine with no problems. They did make the car run smoother but only because the old 4 prong plugs were shot at 80k. For less then $15, I will just change them out once a year and always have new fresh plugs in. Don't get all caught up in the spark plug debate.

Even with single-prong platinum as I mentioned NGK 7092 = BKR6EGP it easily lasts 60K or more. There is no need to change it once a year.
Just remove it every 2 years like the good old days and regap + antiseize and they will last as long as 4-prong.

4-prong only difference is well 4-prongs, otherwise, the plug is the same as single-prong.

My 2 cents:
- NGK 7092 = BKR6EGP
- Remove every 20K to check gaps then antiseize
- Change them every 60K.

Originally Posted by cn90

Even with single-prong platinum as I mentioned NGK 7092 = BKR6EGP it easily lasts 60K or more. There is no need to change it once a year.
Just remove it every 2 years like the good old days and regap + antiseize and they will last as long as 4-prong.

4-prong only difference is well 4-prongs, otherwise, the plug is the same as single-prong.

My 2 cents:
- NGK 7092 = BKR6EGP
- Remove every 20K to check gaps then antiseize
- Change them every 60K.

My 3 cents.. Buy the official factory approved NGK plugs for around $8 each, and leave them in for the full 60k to 100k, and save yourself all this removal, checking and reinstallation business.

Not saying your method is wrong, in fact I think you could probably simply (and safely) leave the single prong platinum or iridium plugs for 60k and they will be fine too. I just have found it invariably safest to stick with what the factory recommends, they designed the engine, and should know a thing or too about it.

But to each their own, and more power to ya if that is working for you.

Originally Posted by 540 M-Sport

I will kill you if he chimes in again...

So far so good...

But from now on, forever we can always point to that post and kill his argument.

That would be a ton of fun!

mw