Hi Perf Ignition coils installed (SEE PICS)

Originally Posted by BMW05

NO, I didnt upgrade the wire harness its REALLY expensive. But you still get significant gains with just the coils. Atleast I felt I did. My car has a CAI+Power Programmer that remapped all my ECU settings for an instantly faster car. All this combined with a hotter, faster burning spark has made for a nice upgrade.

A hotter coil will give a higher volatge spark. It will not improve the burn or burn rate in the combustion chamber. If your originals were occasionally mis-firing, that is not firing every time, then you will feel an improvement, but you would also feel an improvement if you put in a new OEM coil.

The only way the hotter coils help is in the upper rpm range, to assure you are getting a strong spark each and every cycle.

[QUOTE=BMW05;2920515]Oh yea . . . I went with a set of Bosch Platinum 4. Pretty much the most powerful spark under $6.99 per piece. QUOTE]

Just how is it that you have come to know that it's "....the most powerful spark under 6.99 per pc."

Originally Posted by BMW05

Yea, my fone takes kick ass pictures. So im always camera ready!

except when its dark out... then it sucks...

[QUOTE=Philboski;2924294]The only really bad thing I have heard about the Bosch +4s for this application is that the prongs are not as robust as they could be, and might break. But that is *might* break, not will break. QUOTE]

A racer in our local chapter broke the pins off his +4s which jammed under a valve in his E46 M3 burning the valve.

He had to take the head off for repairs.

Of course a prong can break off of any plug type but that has never been a problem with OEM plugs.

Originally Posted by PhoenixRacer

On my Trans Am at a dyno day we did the comparison. It was about 3hp at the rear wheels loss with +4's. The winner? Cheap $1.69 NGK tr55's.

You guys DO realize stock NGK's are 4 prong also for Bimmers right?

Originally Posted by Mack

You guys DO realize stock NGK's are 4 prong also for Bimmers right?

The originals were a single prong.

Originally Posted by franka

The originals were a single prong.

Depends on year and model.
See my post #14. Those were originals for a 2001 330i, with BMW markings on.

Originally Posted by franka

A hotter coil will give a higher volatge spark. It will not improve the burn or burn rate in the combustion chamber. If your originals were occasionally mis-firing, that is not firing every time, then you will feel an improvement, but you would also feel an improvement if you put in a new OEM coil.

The only way the hotter coils help is in the upper rpm range, to assure you are getting a strong spark each and every cycle.

So, are these super high performance ignition coils worth the money?

And, can you really hear the difference when installed?

Thanks!
Jason

The amount of mis-information in this thread is somewhere between:



and,



OK. Carry on...

mw

Originally Posted by MatWiz

The amount of mis-information in this thread is somewhere n:
and,

:bang

mw

Please enlighten us.

Originally Posted by Jason5driver

So, are these super high performance ignition coils worth the money?

And, can you really hear the difference when installed?

Thanks!
Jason

So "Franka"...
What is your take on this???

I thought I would ask the expert....

Thanks!
Jason

Originally Posted by Boile

Depends on year and model.

+1

I replaced my plugs last year, and the originals were 4-prong.

Originally Posted by Jason5driver

So "Franka"...
What is your take on this???

I thought I would ask the expert....

Thanks!
Jason

I already commented.

Originally Posted by Vipsa

As for the performance coils, unless you go with an upgraded ignition system (such as MSD) no matter what kind of coils you install they will not provide "better" spark. They will only transfer the spark that they receive. Some might last longer due to their better design but will not provide more performance. The "improvement" you noted is mostly due to the condition of the coils and a little placebo effect. Even if you did upgrade the whole ignition system, unless you boost it there will be very minimal improvement in performance. Our cars are pretty well designed from the factory to get the most out of them, so kudos for doing all the work but unless those coils were cheaper than the OEM ones, there's absolutely no point in getting them.

Ok HP coils alone without changing the rest of the ign system can provide a 'better' spark. The difference between normal coils and hp coils is the output voltage, i have several turbo cars and all of them have hp coils without any other mods to the ign system, and with these coils i can open my plug gap even under high boost levels and not get spark blow out.

i guess the problem here would be what is a "better" spark, getting a higher voltage output from your coil isn't going to improve anything unless that extra voltage put to use, for example running a higher compression ratio, or opening the spark gap.

On my dd 528 im thinking of getting hp coils and running a slightly larger than stock gap on the plugs. this will create a larger kernel, which im hoping will slightly improve my gas mileage, and also reduce my emissions.

i wonder how these bav auto coils are when compared to the plasma direct coils...

I have heard before that those coils actually dont increase hp at all. What you feel is slight better response because your plugs/coils where really toast already, You would have felt the same change with some stock coils.

Originally Posted by franka

The originals were a single prong.

I pulled stock NGK 4 prong plugs out of mine when I replaced them at around 80k miles. I'm 99.9% sure they were there from the factory. I any case 4 prong NGK's are BMW recommended replacement for the 2002 525i. I'd still like to see if there are any real-world gains to be had from these upgraded ignition coils. Given their excessive price they damn well should provide some type of improvement.

Actually these are currently on sale at bavauto for $404.95 which is only about $75 more than a set of stock coils so not too bad really and they also come with the new rubber boots which are $6.95 ea when purchased separately and don't come with stock coil replacements. I may pickup a new set of plugs since I'm due soon and do this. At 130k my coils probably need to be swapped anyways.

Coils are pretty much like light bulbs....they either *work*, or they *don`t* work....as far as new coils "improving power", I don`t believe it for a nanosecond....

C'mon Bob. Drink the cool-aid. Drink it!!!!

Originally Posted by Mack

C'mon Bob. Drink the cool-aid. Drink it!!!!

I`m Old School, mang....I *snort* the Kool-Aid.... :-)

It's called taking your car to Stage 0

Which just means tuning it up and making sure everything is working properly. Gains mad power on cars in a poor state of tune

Joe

Originally Posted by Fast Bob

Coils are pretty much like light bulbs....they either *work*, or they *don`t* work....as far as new coils "improving power", I don`t believe it for a nanosecond....

An ignition coil is nothing more than a step up converter. It takes in battery voltage which flows through a primary winding. When the coil's ground is taken away, the rapid collapse of the magnetic field creates a huge voltage spike. This voltage spike then "jumps" to the secondary winding (called mutual induction). The secondary winding is made up of a much tighter winding than the primary. This increases voltage even further, to tens of thousands of volts. This incredible amount of voltage is what allows the electricity to actually jump the gap in the spark plug and ignite the fuel.

Now the ratio of primary to secondary windings is called the turns ratio. In the oldschool days of distributors and only 1 ignition coil, you could install a coil with a much higher turns ratio, and increase the voltage significantly. That is exactly what the coils the OP has installed are. Now, this would lead to greater heat output and shorten the life of the coil, but that is another story. Higher ignition voltage is needed on highly modified engines, especially those with very high compression ratios.

Will higher voltage increase power of a stock motor? I doubt it. But if anyone believes that ignition coils with a higher turns ratio CANNOT increase power, they'd be sadly mistaken.

every 500-1000 whp bmw i've seen runs stock coils. i wonder why installing them on an otherwise stock vehicle= big waste of money.

Damn you guys are replacing your plugs at 60k miles? I'm just over 60k, but was planning to wait till 70k.

Now I'm all paranoid that THIS is what's hurting my fuel economy. Well, that and the low tire pressure. And the cold weather. And the corn in my gas tank. And my slowly deteriorating Vanos seals. And . . .