plug change questions

Thanks to the Wiki and SolidJake, I replaced my plugs late last night. The directions were very straight forward and in all replacement was as described. I did run into some self-induced snags and have the following questions:

>>Anyone want to guess if these are the original plugs for my M56 engine? The other side of the plug says "BOSCH". My car has 101,xxx miles. I've put on 30k of those.

>>Will I do irrpairable damage drving it today after guessing on the torque setting since the wrench I borrowed started at 25lbs? (I intend to remove and re-torque at 18.4 lbs with ant-sieze)

>>Started last night with no codes or issues. SES light and rough idle this morning with a P1348 code. Restart and no light and smooth run/ idle. ???

Side note; feeling so successful last night, I dug into the wifey's GL450 (MBZ) to simply change the engine air filter. I can't believe how much stuff I had to remove to get to the them! It made me thankful to this site and my E46 to work on.

congrats - what is SolidJake??

Thank you. Solidjake is a person who posted a thread / video that ended up on the Wiki. He also posts many other threads that are helpful.

OH OK THX I thought it might be a website - altho i did think it was a user name

Looks like the original plug.
As long as you have them reasonably tight, you won't hurt anything.

Originally Posted by RCorney

Thanks to the Wiki and SolidJake, I replaced my plugs late last night. The directions were very straight forward and in all replacement was as described. I did run into some self-induced snags and have the following questions:

>>Anyone want to guess if these are the original plugs for my M56 engine? The other side of the plug says "BOSCH". My car has 101,xxx miles. I've put on 30k of those.

>>Will I do irrpairable damage drving it today after guessing on the torque setting since the wrench I borrowed started at 25lbs? (I intend to remove and re-torque at 18.4 lbs with ant-sieze)

>>Started last night with no codes or issues. SES light and rough idle this morning with a P1348 code. Restart and no light and smooth run/ idle. ???

Side note; feeling so successful last night, I dug into the wifey's GL450 (MBZ) to simply change the engine air filter. I can't believe how much stuff I had to remove to get to the them! It made me thankful to this site and my E46 to work on.

Read THIS thread before proceeding:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...r+hands&page=2

FB: Thank you. I believe I followed this thread's instructions on hand tightening to botom out, then about a half-turn (albeit using a 1/2" ~12" long torque wrench). Changing spark plugs on my old Nissan pick up way back when, I recall using the mentality of just crushing the washer... no anti-sieze and no torque wrench.

"...before proceeding" : I'm thinking I didn't over-tighten nor "under-tighten" so... leave it be? (It's been almost 25 years since I replace my car's spark plugs so my feel for the proper torqueing is defintely rusty.

I should have mentioned that I unscrewed the wrench past it's lowest setting and did allow it to click but from my memory of last night I recall it only being about a 1/2 turn on each with 1/2 grunt if that (from the thread link on FB's post above).

Originally Posted by RCorney

FB: Thank you. I believe I followed this thread's instructions on hand tightening to botom out, then about a half-turn (albeit using a 1/2" ~12" long torque wrench). Changing spark plugs on my old Nissan pick up way back when, I recall using the mentality of just crushing the washer... no anti-sieze and no torque wrench.

"...before proceeding" : I'm thinking I didn't over-tighten nor "under-tighten" so... leave it be? (It's been almost 25 years since I replace my car's spark plugs so my feel for the proper torqueing is defintely rusty.

Originally Posted by RCorney

I should have mentioned that I unscrewed the wrench past it's lowest setting and did allow it to click but from my memory of last night I recall it only being about a 1/2 turn on each with 1/2 grunt if that (from the thread link on FB's post above).

If it`s already "after the fact", then I wouldn`t sweat it, you`re probably OK. My own personal belief is that I would never install a steel plug in an aluminum head without a tiny dab of copper-based anti-sieze. Old habits die hard, nah` mean ?

Got the same P1348 code today around noon. No rough idle... would this be tell tale of a bad coil-pack on this cylinder? I guess it's easy enough to sway them to rule it out right?

Are you absolutely certain you got all the coil packs 100% connected. What I mean is, are they pressed down fully, seems like it would be minor. Don't worry about torque value it is fine.

100% absolutely sure? I can't say that, but I wasn't in a hurry and since this was my first time replacing plugs on an engine without "wires" I can say I was thorough.
Light is still on after three cycles of engine starts. No tough idle or drive issues. Reader shows no stored codes; just this one.

Originally Posted by RCorney

100% absolutely sure? I can't say that, but I wasn't in a hurry and since this was my first time replacing plugs on an engine without "wires" I can say I was thorough.
Light is still on after three cycles of engine starts. No tough idle or drive issues. Reader shows no stored codes; just this one.

Use a touch of dielectric grease where the coil connector goes over the plug. This will ensure that the connector seats, and prevents the rubber from sticking and preventing a solid connection. Has always worked for me. You may also have slightly damaged the assembly, changing the resistance slightly. This might trigger the light. Not enough damage, or resistance change to prevent proper running, but enough to trigger light. Just a thought.

@sjbimmer: thank you! I did just as you suggested.

Light has since gone off with the number of engine cycles I've done. I guess I'll wait and see if the same code throws again. Still no rough idles.

I'm guessing that it misfired on start up and could be this coil is showing signs that it's about to fail.

Originally Posted by SJBimmer

You may also have slightly damaged the assembly, changing the resistance slightly. This might trigger the light. Not enough damage, or resistance change to prevent proper running, but enough to trigger light. Just a thought.

good thought. Is replacing the "damaged" coil a fix for this? Or do you think swapping cool packs will route out the problem?

Originally Posted by RCorney

good thought. Is replacing the "damaged" coil a fix for this? Or do you think swapping cool packs will route out the problem?

As coils are not cheap, I would try switching the questionable coil to another spark plug and see if the misfire follows it.

Originally Posted by RCorney

good thought. Is replacing the "damaged" coil a fix for this? Or do you think swapping cool packs will route out the problem?

Since the light is now out, I think you just had a marginal connection problem. As Gryphon suggested above, if the light comes on again, scan the car to see which coil is bad, and then switch coils with another. Scan again. If the initially bad coil shows good, and the initially good coil shows bad, you have found your problem, and need to swap out the bad coil. You can find all of the parts you need at the link below. oembimmerparts is a site sponsor, and has free shipping on orders over $45. You can also call Max for advice at the number listed on the website. Good luck, and don't worry! It seems you have fixed your initial problem. BTW, I suggest the Bosch coil. Slightly more expensive, but worth it in my opinion. Not having to open it all up again is worth a few bucks.

http://www.oembimmerparts.com/BMW_E4...rts_s/1911.htm