[lauren5757]

Hi, I have an ignition coil that has died. Car is running rough. I had the codes pulled today and #5 has failed. Last year the same thing happened with #3 - luckily I was able to weasel the work and parts out of the dealer for free.

Not gonna happen this time though. I had planned on doing it myself but just having an independent shop do it instead (a reputable one).

Is it standard to replace all of the coils at the same time as maintenance? I'm having them replace all the spark plugs already so does it behoove me to just have all the coils replaced too?

Thanks!

[Chriztofor]

Originally Posted by lauren5757

Hi, I have an ignition coil that has died. Car is running rough. I had the codes pulled today and #5 has failed. Last year the same thing happened with #3 - luckily I was able to weasel the work and parts out of the dealer for free.

Not gonna happen this time though. I had planned on doing it myself but just having an independent shop do it instead (a reputable one).

Is it standard to replace all of the coils at the same time as maintenance? I'm having them replace all the spark plugs already so does it behoove me to just have all the coils replaced too?

Thanks!

I would just replace the coil that is bad.

[douwe22]

Originally Posted by lauren5757

Hi, I have an ignition coil that has died. Car is running rough. I had the codes pulled today and #5 has failed. Last year the same thing happened with #3 - luckily I was able to weasel the work and parts out of the dealer for free.

Not gonna happen this time though. I had planned on doing it myself but just having an independent shop do it instead (a reputable one).

Is it standard to replace all of the coils at the same time as maintenance? I'm having them replace all the spark plugs already so does it behoove me to just have all the coils replaced too?

Thanks!

i would just change all of them while your at it, keep the good old ones for spares, you can use the old ones down the road, specially if your car has engine / ecu mods./ there should be diy coil replacement on this forum, its really not that hard to change.

[csupernova]

Originally Posted by Chriztofor

I would just replace the coil that is bad.

agree. It is easy enough to replace if the others go bad. No point wasting money replacing the good ones.

[Efthreeoh]

So the question is pay the 1hour labor cost 6 times to remove the engine cover, or just once and pay for the parts cost. Once under the cover 6 coils go in almost as fast as one.

[P2]

Originally Posted by csupernova

agree. It is easy enough to replace if the others go bad. No point wasting money replacing the good ones.

Unfortunately, every time one goes you are stranded. I had my indy replace the first and based on the history of them going bad, I ordered 5 more and DIYed them for less than the first one. Now I keep an extra with me just in case. I would say it's not a waste.

[hurricane56]

Originally Posted by P2

Unfortunately, every time one goes you are stranded. I had my indy replace the first and based on the history of them going bad, I ordered 5 more and DIYed them for less than the first one. Now I keep an extra with me just in case. I would say it's not a waste.

It is also very common for one coil to go bad immediately after replacing another one. Coils aren't hard to change, if you can do an oil change you're more than capable of following the DIY to swap out the coils.

[Chriztofor]

Originally Posted by P2

Unfortunately, every time one goes you are stranded. I had my indy replace the first and based on the history of them going bad, I ordered 5 more and DIYed them for less than the first one. Now I keep an extra with me just in case. I would say it's not a waste.

I never had problmes with coils. If one goes bad i don't think it will leave you stranded. It will ride rough until you are able to get it home and diy. As a sidenote, never had to change a single coil on my e46 and it had 197,000 miles on it!

[P2]

Originally Posted by Chriztofor

I never had problmes with coils. If one goes bad i don't think it will leave you stranded. It will ride rough until you are able to get it home and diy. As a sidenote, never had to change a single coil on my e46 and it had 197,000 miles on it!

The vibration is pretty intense, accompanied by the idiot light and the smell of sulfur. I decided to have mine towed to repair it was so bad. I've has a car miss before, but this was x to the power 10. For a 120 bucks DIY I could not risk another, which seemed likely per the posts here and other boards.

[lauren5757]

I decided to just have all the coils replaced at the same time - the extra cost in parts was only about $125 or so and since I'm not doing it myself - the labor to change the plugs doesn't change if I have the coils done too.

Thanks for all the replies! I will keep the good "old" ones - I didn't even think about that.

[ska///235i]

well, if you're having a shop to do it...replace all since they're in there
if another coil fails then you have to pay again

but if you DIY, its pretty easy so replace when needed
for spark plugs...repalce all

took me 30-40 minutes to replace spark plugs and 1 bad coil

[e90pilot]

Just a little FYI: if you have a coil that goes completely dead (ie no spark at all), DON'T DRIVE YOUR CAR. You will be pouring raw gas into your cat which can destroy it. Those are $1000 each.

[ska///235i]

shit..i drove 8 miles home when one of my coils was bad
am i gonna have trouble later?

[e90pilot]

Maybe, but if you have no CEL for cat efficiency, you're good. Sometimes a coil will go weak in which case the car drives and idles fine. Only under load is where you'll get a misfire. If it misfires while it idles, park it and get it towed. Some cars are intelligent and will shut down the fuel injector to avoid damage to the cat. Not sure if the e90 does. Even if it does, the vibration from the messed up firing pattern can do some damage to the internals.

[douwe22]

Originally Posted by lauren5757

I decided to just have all the coils replaced at the same time - the extra cost in parts was only about $125 or so and since I'm not doing it myself - the labor to change the plugs doesn't change if I have the coils done too.

Thanks for all the replies! I will keep the good "old" ones - I didn't even think about that.

hope your car is running nicely again, for the extra $125 to get them all done is a prety decent deal. enjoy your car again

[Tom (Atl)]

Where is the coil replacement diy? I can't find it in search. Any help or instructions or advice appreciated!

[csupernova]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174217

it's for spark plug but they also mentioned the ignition coil removal. extremely simple procedure.

[TheTal0n]

If you can change your own oil, you can change your own coils, I infact was just switching my coils around. you only need to remove 8 screw nuts...lol.