New member - question

Hi there folks
I've just recently bought my E9. I literally found my E9 by mistake. I was going to see a car for a restoration project with my friend Tony following me in his E9. I took a wrong turn down a dead end street and guy who happen to be walking his dog ask Tony to pull over to tell him his girl friend had a similar for sale. Sure enough I bought the car. It was a lucky wrong turn. I've been carrying out maintenance works on the car as it hadn't been driven for several years. I have replaced the spark plugs with platium plugs which have made a difference. The leads look like should be replaced
I was hoping that some one could help me out with regards to some high performance leads. The leads I have on my car look like they are 7mm and thread through a tube from each spark plug to the distributor. I have been told from the auto stores that they can only get the high performance leads in much larger sizes. I was courious as to what type of high performance leads folks are using. I'd appreciate any advice
I'll add a picture as soon as I can work out how to do this.
Thanks
Orge

leads

Hi,

Welcome to the group. I recently bought a set of leads from Walloth and Nesche in Germany:- http://www.wallothnesch.com/e/index.htm
Postage was very quick and quite cheap.

Think they were the OE part, or maybe a more modern equivalent.

It is possible to remove the tube that holds the leads, slice it along the back and put it all back together so it still looks exactly the same.

Good luck!

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the advice mate. Good idea with modifying the tube.
Will check out Walloth and Nesche first.
Appreciate the help

Cheers Orge

Platinum plugs

A word of caution: platinum plugs have a terrible reputation in cars like ours. Maybe they work well in more modern, higher output ignition systems, but if you have any ignition problems, the first thing you should look at are the plugs.

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the tip. I was told by my mechanic that as long as I had electronic ignition, then these plugs would make a difference.

Cheers Orge

Hi Guys,

Im running bosch super 4 plugs and they seem ok. Anyone else using them? Im on pertronix and an uprated coil which might help though.

Rohan

FWIW: Platinum Spark Plugs

Bosch introduced their platinum spark plugs with a flurry of advertising that suggested they were just like the new and improved Coca Cola formula. Just as consumers railed against the new coke, owners of pre-1980's conventional point-operated BMW's found fault with the plugs. I wondered if the expectations of using the more expensive or at least expensive sounding devices weren't too high.

I personally found no difference when I used them, but then again, I was prone to constantly tinkering with my cars. I have also used CD ignitions and aftermarket coils so that maybe any of the platinum's deficiencies went unnoticed. I returned to using other spark plugs not only because of the easy of modification, but also because it has become difficult to locate nonresistor platinum plugs.

I have heard good things from users of the newer iridium spark plugs, but have no experience with them. I recently opened up a package of platinum "+4" Bosch 4479 plugs that were supposed to go into another car. I ran them in my Csi for 2 weeks and found no difference from the W8DC's that they replaced or the BP6ET's that they replaced. Insulators looked very clean and there is no obvious evidence of increased or decreased performance. Unfortunately, these plugs have obvious limitations in that they do not lend themselves (easily) to changing the gaps. (As an aside, I have used BP5ES's with a noticeable improvement in lower speed operation with increased gap. However, the same plugs are not conducive to high speed operation (at least in my E9) because of the heat range (pinging/preignition/detonation).)

Maybe if the patient were less healthy, the +4 plugs would make a difference. In any event, my conclusion is that these plugs are not particularly helpful nor are they harmful other than to the wallet.

Is a smaller gap better for less pinging at higher revs then?

Park plug gap size.

30csl said:

Is a smaller gap better for less pinging at higher revs then?

Click to expand...

I am not an expert, but have made enough mistakes to have an opinion on the subject (no matter how unscientific).:wink:

Gap and pinging, in the context you mention are not related. One of numerous considerations when selecting a sparkplug is its heat range. In short, some plugs are designed to operate at different temperatures so that the insulators burn clean and do not accumulate or at least minimize combustion byproducts. If you use a plug that is too "cold" the plug may be prone to fouling. If the plug is too hot, it may lead to preignition or detonation. One of the symptoms of preignition is "pinging." Of course you can also induce preignition by over advanced ignition timing, low octane fuel, a very lean fuel mixture and even a hot running engine.

Just like spark plug selection, the subject of gap size is full of opinions. Sparkplug gap tends to be a compromise between what works best to fully ignite fuel mixture versus what works well over a reasonable time. It is a commonly held notion that a spark jumping over a larger gap can be employed to fire the a leaner mixture. This can be significant both for reduced emissions and improved fuel economy. It may also help smooth out slight mixture differences between cylinders or with imperfect fuel injection or carburation.

Just a guess, but gap probably wouldn't add to pinging unless it was either too small or too great to ignite the mixture in the given cylinder, leading to misfire. In turn, this might cause you to push the throttle further, thus stressing the firing cylinders much harder and causing those firing cylinders to ping.

Re: FWIW: Platinum Spark Plugs

Percy said:

I personally found no difference when I used them, but then again, I was prone to constantly tinkering with my cars. I have also used CD ignitions and aftermarket coils so that maybe any of the platinum's deficiencies went unnoticed. I returned to using other spark plugs not only because of the easy of modification, but also because it has become difficult to locate nonresistor platinum plugs. I have heard good things from users of the newer iridium spark plugs, but have no experience with them. I recently opened up a package of platinum "+4" Bosch 4479 plugs that were supposed to go into another car. I ran them in my Csi for 2 weeks and found no difference from the W8DC's that they replaced or the BP6ET's that they replaced. Insulators looked very clean and there is no obvious evidence of increased or decreased performance. Unfortunately, these plugs have obvious limitations in that they do not lend themselves (easily) to changing the gaps. (As an aside, I have used BP5ES's with a noticeable improvement in lower speed operation with increased gap. However, the same plugs are not conducive to high speed operation (at least in my E9) because of the heat range (pinging/preignition/detonation).) Maybe if the patient were less healthy, the +4 plugs would make a difference. In any event, my conclusion is that these plugs are not particularly helpful nor are they harmful other than to the wallet.

Click to expand...

so if you have found them to be not particularly helpful (also my experience, with old '02's, E9's, newer E24's and E28's, a turbo E23, and a box-stock "modern" iX) you'd agree they are not worth the extra money?

f.w.i.w. I like the old Nippondensu "U-groove" plugs for street cars, and DID notice improvement particularly with higher-mileage-but-not-too-bad BMWs. Larger gap (MUCH larger than the books say to use) helps a LOT. these have rolled threads (good) copper core (very good) and the ceramic is very durable also! Here's where to buy for under 3 bucks a pop

http://www.sparkplugs.com/more_info.asp?AAIA=&pid=9227

As to bosch plug wires, any local auto parts store has the 09011 set, if you cannot find them feel free to pm me I can supply for a lot less than the W&N price of 75 euros (plus no VAT!)

Let me put in a "plug" for NGK BP series sparkplugs.

Decades ago, when I started fooling around with funny little European cars, sparkplugs were black magic. You'd foul a set after a few thousand miles, Bosch had some mistique because they were imported, platinum had to be better because it sounded exotic, yadda yadda. Now I just use NGK BP's and don't worry about it - these things are cheap, last forever, don't foul, etc. Among the Italian car community, NGK BP6ES is the default plug for anything from a Fiat 500 to a V12 Ferrari.

That sparkplugs.com site that DP mentions is a good resource. For carbureted CS coupes, it lists my old friend, the NGK BP6ES as the correct plug for 2800's. It lists a different NGK plug, the BPR5ES for 3.0's. The "R" in the 3.0 plug p/n stands for resistor. The number in the p/n ("5", "6", etc) indicates the heat range. The price these BP series plugs is $2-something apiece. Dunno why 200 cc's would make a difference in both resistor and heat range required for the 2.8 and 3.0 engines, but that's what the gurus at sparkplugs.com advise.