2004 M45 Spark Plug Replacement Procedure Advice?

[wallyworld]

Hello All.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Is this a procedure that should be tackled without the dealer as the plugs are readily available?

As well, is there a suggested lifespan for the stock plugs in miles or other?

Thank you.

[shak77]

check out the manual fore info. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/M/2004_M45/

The plugs are easy to access, i would also change the valve cover gaskets while you are at it, when they leak, its PITA, nasty and smelly.

[MaxBolus]

You will need to remove the MAF sensor and some of the intake ducting to reach the plugs on the driver's side, no big deal. It's an easy DIY.

How many miles are on your current set? I changed them first at around 80K, I think, and some of them looked kinda cooked- the electrode was burned back just a bit. But the last time I did this at around 163K, they looked very clean.

One of the tubes had some oil in the bottom, likely due to issue mentioned by shak77 above, but I did not want to take on changing the seals. The bottom of the coil pack was wet, but the plug body was dry so I didn't worry too much about it.

[wallyworld]

check out the manual fore info. <A class=vglnk title="Link added by VigLink" href="http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/M/2004_M45/" rel=nofollow vglnk_1335921093580="1">http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/M/2004_M45/</A>

The plugs are easy to access, i would also change the valve cover gaskets while you are at it, when they leak, its PITA, nasty and smelly.

Thank you for the info and tip. I will look into a set of gaskets.

The link is an excellent resource for DIY info.

I appreciate your advice and efforts.

[wallyworld]

You will need to remove the MAF sensor and some of the intake ducting to reach the plugs on the driver's side, no big deal. It's an easy DIY.

How many miles are on your current set? I changed them first at around 80K, I think, and some of them looked kinda cooked- the electrode was burned back just a bit. But the last time I did this at around 163K, they looked very clean.

One of the tubes had some oil in the bottom, likely due to issue mentioned by shak77 above, but I did not want to take on changing the seals. The bottom of the coil pack was wet, but the plug body was dry so I didn't worry too much about it.

Thank you as well for the great info.

My M is a cream-puff with 52K miles. The dealer claims the plugs need replacing. It doesn't seem like this is necessarily the case. Do you think around 60K miles or so? Wow. 163K ! Something to look forward to...

I hope I do not need to go the gasket route, but it would not hurt to have a set on-hand.

Did you replace your plugs with the OEM standard NGK (PLFR5A-11), hot (PLFR4A-11) or cold (PLFR6A-11) plugs?

Quite a few members have posted here that they used other NGK plugs instead of the OEM Laser Double Platinum series. What's your take ?

Thanks again.