[Napoli1926]

I'm just highly confused on which plugs and coils to use I have a 2006 330i production date 5/05..... According to realoem ILZFR6D11 plugs and Bosch 12137594936 coil.....now I'm seeing people use the coil 12137594937 and ngk plugs plzfr6a11s...can u mix and match these??? What's the difference should I just get the 2 older or if I'm going to swap all out get 6 and 6 of the newer?

[Three_thirty_I]

What will happen if you do use the older with the newer in terms of coils versus spark plugs and vice versa?

[linlaoboo]

Hey curious, how much does your dealer charge for doing this job?

[linlaoboo]

no replies? well got a quote from my dealer for $375 including tax.

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by linlaoboo

no replies? well got a quote from my dealer for $375 including tax.

To replace plugs?! I am not sure what it should generally be over there, but when I convert to my currency this is very expensive - parts cost a bit, but labour should not be too heavy since this is actually really easy and should not take more than 30 minutes to do, even as a DIY...

[GoRomeo]

Originally Posted by linlaoboo

no replies? well got a quote from my dealer for $375 including tax.

I was there for my oil change and out of curiosity I asked and they quoted me 475.00.... I was like thanks but no thanks!! I did it myself and only spent about $65.00 for the plugs.

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by GoRomeo

I was there for my oil change and out of curiosity I asked and they quoted me 475.00.... I was like thanks but no thanks!! I did it myself and only spent about $65.00 for the plugs.

I wonder what they are smoking, must be pretty good?!

Well let's see:

A few seconds to open the bonnet

A few minutes with basic tools to remove the particle filter tray

A few seconds to carefully unclip and lift (no tools needed) the engine off

A few minutes to unlug and remove (no tools needed) the coil packs

A few minutes if you battle with coils 5 and 6 to remove the strut-brace

A few minutes to remove the old plugs and replace with the new ones

Putting back together is just as easy, and one small tip with the engine cover that I learnt - the rubber bungs are easier to comply when refitting if you add just a small amount of soap (dish washing liquid for that matter) to the insides.

[GoRomeo]

You are totally right. First time doing it and took me about an hour.

thanks for the tip. I am planning to change my coils sometime soon and will be removing that plastic cover again...

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by GoRomeo

You are totally right. First time doing it and took me about an hour.

thanks for the tip. I am planning to change my coils sometime soon and will be removing that plastic cover again...

I made the mistake of letting my OCD convince me to loosen and reposition the decorative torx screws on the engine cover since they were just slightly off centre in the holes - getting them to take again was quite tricky, there's were little thread on them as in short and then the clips that they screw into don't really want too much fiddling. Learnt this the hard way, but eventually got them back on securely...

Will also be replacing my coils at some point.

[tigermack]

Thanks for the writeup!

[Napoli1926]

I don't know why everyone is saying use the new plugs they r better....fact of the matter is if you do the research the iridium Ngk is a better plug than the platinum Ngk that bmw is now using....the iridium gets a larger spark and requires less voltage to do so therefore prolonging life of plug as well....I got this info directly from NGK....the iridium is also more expensive not by much but def more....if your car is pre 4/06 330i production then stick to the older coils and iridium style older plugs....the diff versions of n52 engines were made with small difference that are very minute but the Bentley manual explains it all....

[Napoli1926]

Pre 4/06 production 330i

Ngk ILzfr6d11- spark plug
Bosch 12137594936- coil

Cross referenced with

Bentley manual
GetBmwparts
Ecs tuning
Real oem
Ngk

[Napoli1926]

Originally Posted by AlanAZ

I just replaced my plugs this weekend, 66K mls, dead easy to do. It now idles smoother from a cold start. I went with the revised NGK plug that produces a more powerful spark, which might be reason enough to change them early, but I've also read that as the plug becomes weaker towards the end of it's life, it stresses the coil more, and may lead to it failing sooner. I don't know if that's true, but given the cost of coils, seems like cheap insurance.

In the photos of the plugs above, bear in mind that the plugs shown aren't the same. NGK revised the plug for the N52 for 3/2007, so the difference you see is probably that revision. The old plug is NGK part ILZFR6D11, and the new is PLZFR6A11S (I can just make out the part number stamped in the collar of the new plug in the photo above.) Make sure when you buy new plugs that you're getting the updated plug, I saw both avail for purchase on-line, including at the partsgeek link below. Realoem parts page:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...17&hg=12&fg=05

I bought mine from Partsgeek for under $11 each.

http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...park_plug.html

The gap for the PLZFR6A11S is 0.43. The Bentley has the torque as: 23nm +-3 nm (18 +- 2 ft-lbs) with copper-based anti-seize, hand thread initially to prevent cross-threading.

Also, since you'll have the engine cover off, clean under the rubber gasket around the oil fill cap. It's designed to trap any oil that's spilled when filling.

Update: after the change, it would rough idle for short periods of time. I read that with a BT tool I could clear historical info in the ECU so it relearns with the new plugs, the alternative is drive it enough miles so the previous plug info is aged out, and that works. Took ~500 miles. And yes, the new plug did make a difference, it's stronger in the mid-range.

Lol actually the old plug is the one that creates the more powerful spark....if u do your homework u will see the iridium is better than the platinum

[AlanAZ]

Originally Posted by Napoli1926

Lol actually the old plug is the one that creates the more powerful spark....if u do your homework u will see the iridium is better than the platinum

Funny, I've used both plugs, the car performs better with the updated plug.

And your cross reference to Real OEM, shows that the NGK ILZFR6D11 was ended on 3/2007, and superseded by NGK PLZFR6A11S.

The plug a BMW dealer would use today is NGK PLZFR6A11S or the Bosch plug.

[Napoli1926]

Originally Posted by AlanAZ

Funny, I've used both plugs, the car performs better with the updated plug.

And your cross reference to Real OEM, shows that the NGK ILZFR6D11 was ended on 3/2007, and superseded by NGK PLZFR6A11S.

The plug a BMW dealer would use today is NGK PLZFR6A11S or the Bosch plug.

I have a 06 330i and the plugs I just replaced were actually the new plugs put in by bmw and I used the older plugs now and my car feels like it has a slight bit more power on acceleration but gas mileage is down by about 1 mpg...I'll take the power over the mpg

[oel503]

Thanks for the DIY write-up! Took me 2.5 hours. I'm not close to being considered mechanically inclined, but i had a friend that was "close" helping me, lol.

Taking out the coils took the longest for me. But once we figured out how to do it (leveraging with a screwdriver to pry it out), it went fast.

Plug #5 was the most ackward positioned.

Oh, and my rubber grommet inside my "special" plug socket kept falling out. Had to leave the rubber out while installing the plug...then put it back in when uninstalling.

No anti-sieze, no resetting codes.

[Three_thirty_I]

Yep, that number 5 is tricky, and most people find it easier to just remove the strut brace. Screwdriver works well for removing the coil packs, but I found that I had no trouble just using my index finger while wiggling it gently as I lifted out.

Some use anti-seize, but mostly not, and it is often recommended not to use it anyway. Plus the specified torque of about 28 N.m is for dry and not wet tightening. But usually tightening 90 degrees beyond finger tight is the recommended torque and I found corresponds to 28 N.m...

[El Cheapo Loco]

Just installed LFR6AIX-11 from advance auto and works perfectly. $7.50 each, stacked some coupons ended up around $5 each. They work just the same as OE for a fraction of the price.

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by elcheapoloco

Just installed LFR6AIX-11 from advance auto and works perfectly. $7.50 each, stacked some coupons ended up around $5 each. They work just the same as OE for a fraction of the price.

The only difference between the Bosch and NGK plugs and the OEM plugs is the BMW logo that is stamped on...

[buffalony]

So what is the correct plug for an e90 330i. i have read about 4 different part numbers to use.

[GoRomeo]

These:

NGK (1208) ILZFR6D11

[tigermack]

Cool. Just got me some spark plugs on Amazon.