spark plugs replaced

[old skool]

I jumped in and replaced the spark plugs last night. This is the second in my attack of the Inspection 2. I recently replaced the oil.

I have a couple Q's about spark plugs....

The car had original factory Bosch Supers from what I could gather...They looked decent. It wasn't very hard to replace them even though my ratchet extension sucked.

I replaced them with Bosch platinums. Just to clarify do these need to be gapped? I couldn't see any way to gap them and I was told by a BMW service shop that I didn't have to gap them. I paid about $3 each on these. Do you think I got the right ones and paid a reasonable price? How about the gapping? Did I do the right thing?

I put in Valvoline full synthetic 5w30 and live in Ohio.....think I chose the right oil?
Does anyone have an opinion about brand and weight of oil?

[///M_Nicht]

The Bosch Platinums are pre-gapped, and should be specific for your car. They asked what your car is when you bought them, right?

I grew up in Ohio...
My old roomate worked for Valvoline, and he used 5-30 in his car....but for my older car he put in heavier weights to prevent leaks and help knocks.
If you're above 60k miles, I'd say go heavier with oil-weight....but get a second opinion.

[old skool]

I bought the spark plugs from a BMW service shop. So they should be fine...he said they were pregapped...wasn't sure.

Car runs fine.

Car has 78K miles....thought about heavier weight oil but too late....I guess I will just do that next time besides it will start to get cold before too long...

[Daved]

Platinums can't be gapped, you should get the right spark plug with the correct gap for your car. The gap is written in the box, look for it. If they're german, they should be in milimeters.

Most people around the boards think platinums are crap, I havedn't used them myself so I don't have any personal comments about them.

I replaced my spark plugs last week, I went with Bosch FR7LTC (made in Germany), they have 3 prongs and they're 1mm gapped which is pretty big for a M50 (they use 0.8mm). I've read that in NA cars the bigger the gap, the better the performance but sometimes they may not work well, I haven't had any problems although.

[old skool]

the supers and the platinums look almost identical in design....they both have 2 prongs....I don't really see the difference...they were the same price for me either way so I went with the platinums....

I am not talking about the +4 plugs....

[TKC]

I see a lot on here that the bosch plats are not good in our cars for one reason or another but I haven't tried it...
everyone seems to prefer the NGKs...which is what I ended up getting... $2.99 a piece.

[Daved]

2.99 a piece? Damn it. It's 15 dollars each NGK (made in Japan) spark plug here

[old skool]

bosch is standard issue BMW part.....my car came with bosch stamped also with the BMW logo....

[tminus3]

So what is the consensus on the best plugs for E36/M50? NGK or Bosch? I have used the Platinums with success on other cars, but I'm not sure about the Bimmer.

I don't mind spending up to $10-$15 per plug...as long as I am getting the best one possible for my car.

-Abhi

[old skool]

I don't know that it matters. Bosch is oem and yet NGK is also recommended by BMW....I think either way you should be fine....

[TKC]

2.99 a piece? Damn it. It's 15 dollars each NGK (made in Japan) spark plug here

Oh, don't get me wrong, the stealership wanted $12 a piece for the plugs, so laughed hystericaly on my way out as I drove down the block to Kragens and got them for $2.99 a piece.

[Daved]

Oh, don't get me wrong, the stealership wanted $12 a piece for the plugs, so laughed hystericaly on my way out as I drove down the block to Kragens and got them for $2.99 a piece.

Still... I wasn't talking about dealers, just the cheapest random shop I could find. IIRC the dealer wanted 20 dollars for each spark plug. I could got some NGK for 4.5 dollars each but they were made in Brazil and they didn't fit my car.

[TKC]

damn! I should start shopping for you guys and make a little $.

[7mods]

ok...we're here reading all this stuff about spark plugs...
but whats' the best spark plug that we can use?

are those bosch +4 thingy (the one with 4 prongs) any good? im thinking of getting plasma coils, would it give me a better spark if i do not change the spark plugs?

so much to learn about our cars....

[TKC]

are those bosch +4 thingy (the one with 4 prongs) any good?