DIY: How to replace the spark plugs on your V8
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From: MPLS, USA
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From: Mississauga, Ontario
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Originally Posted by DRANGED' post='990907' date='Aug 27 2009, 08:45 PM
+1 Thank you very much for the write up!! 
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From: Baltimore
Great DYI writeup, thank you. For others with older 545i's, mine is a 12/03, do not spend any time looking for the coil hold down clips, there are none. Just remove the connector and pull the coil tube out.
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Originally Posted by cokeefe' post='988022' date='Aug 25 2009, 07:03 PM
This is a medium-difficulty project, probably about a 3 on a scale of 10, where 1 is putting air in your tires and 10 is doing an engine rebuild using only a set of Harbor Freight adjustable wrenches and a box of toothpicks, with ?assistance? from my two year old son.
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Excellent write-up man....I was just about to ask my mechanic to change mine out for me, but decided to search the forum....good stuff 
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first off, a correction.....you need a 3/16 12 pt socket to remove the hold-downs.
i found it hard to pull the coils off, but i used a screwdriver as leverage, combined with pulling on them, and it made the coils come off a lot easier.
my plugs had 77k miles on them, and probably could have gone for a lot longer. the old plug tips were worn down slightly.
the original plugs were bosch, and i replaced them with the ngk 4294. they look similar.
i found it hard to pull the coils off, but i used a screwdriver as leverage, combined with pulling on them, and it made the coils come off a lot easier.
my plugs had 77k miles on them, and probably could have gone for a lot longer. the old plug tips were worn down slightly.
the original plugs were bosch, and i replaced them with the ngk 4294. they look similar.
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From: Norcal
Originally Posted by turboawd' post='1017334' date='Sep 25 2009, 08:03 PM
first off, a correction.....you need a 3/16 12 pt socket to remove the hold-downs.
i found it hard to pull the coils off, but i used a screwdriver as leverage, combined with pulling on them, and it made the coils come off a lot easier.
Once I twisted the coils in place a little, I didn't need leverage, but my car has 30K fewer miles...it makes sense that the coils will need more persuasion the longer they've sat in there. And...nice granite workbench.
Thanks for sharing... Did you notice a significant change in performance afterwards?
