Spark Plug Replacement

E46 BMW 3-series Spark Plug Replacement

Time required: 45 minutes including taking pictures and detailing your engine bay

Materials/tools required

10mm socket, spark plug socket, 6" socket extension, anti-seize compound, 6 spark plugs, T30 Torx driver, torque wrench.
Spark plugs - NGK BKR6EQUP. I believe these are OEM on the M52 and M54 engines (all non-M E46s).

Step 1: Remove cabin microfilter cover. This is done by twisting these three 'knobs' 90 degrees - it then lifts right out.

Step 2: Remove cabin microfilter (it lifts right out) and release wiring harness from microfilter enclosure. This is done by carefully pulling toward you from the bottom then lifting it up.

Step 3: Unscrew the four T30 screws holding the microfilter enclosure in place. The enclosure then pulls right out. Place it aside (not on the engine like shown.

Step 4: This step isn't necessary, but I like to check the condition of the engine at any opportunity. It'll also give me a chance to clean under there. A clean engine is a happy engine. Remove the first (top) plastic engine cover. To do this, use a flat-bladed screwdriver to pull out the two covers... then unscrew the bolts with your 10mm socket. Then lift it right off.

Step 5: Remove the left plastic engine cover. To do this, you'll have to remove the oil cap. You can then pry out the covers and remove the nuts (not bolts this time) with your 10mm socket. Lift the cover right off and place aside, then put your oil cap back on - after all, you wouldn't want to drop anything down there.

Step 6: Prepare your spark plug socket and your 6" extension. Spark plug sockets typically have a rubber washer in them to help "grab" the sparkplug. I read a handy tip that helped out here - wrap electrical tape around the socket and extension to keep them from coming apart when pulling the spark plug out.

Step 7: Here are the coils. In the how-to I had previously linked in the wiki, you had to unbolt the coils. On my car, it's much easier - Pull the edge of the cover up in the direction of the arrow. It rotates up 90 degrees and the wiring plug automatically pops out of it.

The coil then pulls right off and up (don't be afraid to pull hard, it has to "pop" off of the sparkplug:
I changed the spark plugs one at a time, replacing each plugs coil before proceeding to the next one.

Step 8: Place your extension and spark plug socket down into the hole that the coil came out of. Twist it until you can press it down on the spark plug (you'll feel it secure itself). Attach your socket wrench and loosen it - after a turn or so, you'll be able to disconnect your wrench and twist the rest of it out by hand.

Step 9: Put anti-seize compound on the threads of the new plug. I placed some down the threads as seen here, then used a lint-free microfiber towel to coat the threads all around.

Step 10: Place the new spark plug inside your sparkplug socket and place it down in the hole. Twist by hand, then attach a torque wrench and torque down to 30nm. As you can see, I had no problems using my full size torque wrench even on the back socket. Firmly press the coil back onto the plug, then re-attach the wiring harness. To re-attach it, the top coil lever must be completely up in the vertical position. Then, when you snap it back down to the horizontal position, the wiring harness attaches itself firmly.

Step 11: Start car, verify it runs :).

OIL & FILTER CHANGE

DESCRIPTION
For those of us who do our own maintenance, here is the process for changing your engine oil and filter.

PARTS NEEDED
1 - BMW Oil Filter Insert Kit
(CHAPMAN BMW $12.84 part #11 42 7 512 300)
7 - Quart AMSOil 10W-40 High Performance Engine Oil (AMSOIL $5.70 part #AMO-QT)

TOOLS NEEDED
17mm & 36mm Sockets
Socket Wrench
Torque Wrench
Vehicle Lift or Ramps
Funnel (optional)
Towels (optional)

INSTALLATION
I chose to use AMSOil's High Performance Oil, but you can use any high quality synthetic (Mobil 1/Castrol Syntec).

1. First, make sure the car's engine has been run recently to warm the oil. Then, get the car on ramps or a lift and turn the engine off.

2. The oil filter housing is located at the very front top of the engine (Photo A).

3. Using a 36mm socket, loosen the oil filter housing cover (Photo B).

4. Slowly remove the cover. The filter is attached to the cover and will come out with it (Photo C).

5. Slide off the used filter element and discard. Remove the O-ring from the cover and discard. (Photo D).

6. The BMW Oil Filter Insert Kit should come with a new filter element, o-ring, and drain plug gasket (Photo E).

7. Lubricate the new O-ring with new, clean engine oil (Photo F).

8. Install new filter element and O-ring and return cover to engine (Photo G).

9. Tighten oil filter cover to 18ft/lbs torque. DO NOT over-tighten (Photo H).

10. Get under the car and locate the oil pan drain plug (Photo I).

11. Place a catch pan under the plug, then using a 17mm socket, remove the plug. BE CAREFUL - The oil can be hot and scald skin.

12. When the oil has completely drained from the engine (flow has slowed to an occasional drip), replace the drain plug using the new gasket from the kit and tighten to 18 ft/lbs of torque. DO NOT over-tighten. If you're not careful, you can strip the oil pan and/or break off the drain plug. No fun!

13. Open the oil fill cap and add 6.5 quarts of synthetic engine oil. Use a funnel if you have one (Photo J).

14. Lower the car, look for oil leaks. If none, start the engine. If the oil pressure lampdoes not go off in about 3 seconds, *immediately* turn off the engine and check your oil level (add more oil if necessary).

15. Let the engine run for a minute or so, then check the oil level. Shut off the engine. Pull out the dipstick. Wipe it off with a clean towel and reinsert the dipstick into the tube. Pull out again and look to see if the oil level is between the two notches in the dipstick (Photo K). If necessary, add a little more oil and check again, try not to overfill.

16. Check oil filter and drain plug for leaks one more time and, if none, you are good to go!

RESETTING OIL SERVICE INDICATOR:
If your OBC needs to be reset after completing your oil change, there are two ways. NOTE: If you miss a step, just turn the key back off and try again:

A. Model Year 1999 to Mid-2000: You should have the older round 20-pin DLC connector under your hood behind the battery terminal, you need to use a small length of wire to connect (short) pins 7 and 19 for 3-5 seconds with the ignition key in position 1 (Accessory).

B. After Mid-2000: You should not have the 20-pin DLC connector. You only need to hold the left odometer reset button while turning the key to position 1 (Accessory). Keep holding the button for 5 or so seconds until any of the following shows in the display: OIL SERVICE or INSPECTION with RESET or RE. Release the button and press it again for another 5 or so seconds until RESET or RE flash. While the display flashes, press the button one more time briefly. If done correctly, END SIA should show up for a few seconds. All done.

Changing Your Valve Cover Gasket and Spark Plugs

Difficulty
Changing your spark plugs is very easy and I'd say anyone can do that. The valve cover gasket is a little bit more daunting but is also a fairly easy one to do yourself. Give yourself a couple of hours and takle it. If you're doing this the first time budget about 3 hours for this job. Take your time and make sure not to drop anything in the engine bay (I seem to always do this so learn from my mistakes because things are very hard to find once their down there.)

Tools Needed

• Metric Socket Set With Sparkplug Socket

• Microtorque Wrench (Capable of going from 5-25 ft-lbs is a good)

• Flathead Screwdriver

• T30 TORX Socket
  

Parts Needed
OEM Valve Cover Gasket (BMW P# 11-12-0-030-496) $27
High Temperature RTV Sealant

Optional Parts Needed

(These are optional because you don't have to get any of these but I reccomend them since you're already doing the job.)
6x OEM BMW NGK Spark Plugs (BMW P# 12-12-9-071-003) $15
Anti-sieze lubricant for Spark Plugs
15x OEM Rubber Bolt Gaskets (BMW P# 11-12-1-437-395) $1
(If you think you might break a bolt or a stud, you might want to order one or two extra studs/nuts)
Valve Cover Cap Nut (Includes washer and rubber gasket) (BMW P# 11-12-1-738-607) $2
Valve Cover Stud (BMW P# 11-12-1-718-856) $0.50

Valve Cover Gasket Instructions

Remove the cabin air filter box and engine cover

1. Open the hood and remove the three spring twist screws and lift the cover up for the cabin air filter.

2. Remove the cabin air filter and its cover.

3. Using the T30 TORX socket remove the 4 screws that hold entire assembly to the back of the engine bay. Carefully remove the cover that holds the hose and cable to the cabin air filter box. Remove the air filter box.

4. Using a flat head screwdriver, pry up the four plastic covers holding on the engine cover.

5. Using a 10mm socket, remove the bolts/nuts and the engine cover.

Remove the plug wires from the coil and remove the coils

6. Using your fingers, pull up on the clip on top of the cols and pull back on the coil wire. They will pop right out. Look at the pictures to get a good idea of what is going on.

7. Using a 8mm socket, carefully remove the grouding wire (located two cylinders back from the front of the car). Be careful to not lose this nut that you take off.

7. ii. Pull up on the coils and they will eventually pop out. They are only held in by a rubber gasket over the spark plugs, so it will take a little force to get them out.

Note: If you want to just do your spark plugs, skip down to the spark plug section below!

Remove the vent tube and wires from the valve cover and remove it

8. Squeze the bumped part of the vent tube at the front of the engine and remove it. It will take a little bit of effort to get off, but be careful, since it's only plastic.

9. Using a screwdriver, push down on the clip holding the coil wires to the side of the valve cover. Once you have popped all the cips off, move it out of the way.

10. On the passenger side there are a lot of wires attached to the valve cover. Disconnect them from their clips and move them out of the way. Make sure you get them all or otherwise they will get in the way when you are trying to remove the valve cover

11. Now go around the engine and remove the 10mm valve cover bolts. They consist of a nut, a washer, and a rubber seal. Make sure that you are very careful to not drop them into the egine bay because they are quite difficult to get back out if you do. (Note: there are 15 of these to remove so make sure you get them all. There are 4 in the center by the spark plugs and 11 around the outside of the cover. One is pretty well hidden in the back passenger side of the engine bay.) You will most likely need various extensions etc. to get them all out.

12. Slowly and carefully remove the valve cover from the car. Make sure that you don't have any cables attached and it should come right off.

Take off the old valve cover gasket, apply sealant and put everything back together

13. Remove the old valve cover gasket from cylinder head (make sure to replace the gaskets for the spark plugs as well even though my pictures still has the old one on there.) If yours doesn't come off in one piece carefully get all of it off. Wipe down and clean the sealing surface.

14. If you desire, clean the underside of your valve cover to remove anything that has built up.

15. Apply RTV sealant around the half moon areas and those areas that might be more susceptible to leaks. Reference the picture to the left.

16. Now you need to put the new valve cover on, you can either put it on the engine and try and fit the cover over it, but what I found easier was to put the gasket into the cover and place it on the engine. Make sure that the gasket has been properly seated before tightening everything up (Use your fingers to run along the edge!).

17. Carefully put the valve cover nuts back on making sure to tighten them to 89 inch-lbs (Note: This is inch-lbs not ft-lbs, so this is roughly 7-8 ft-lbs.) If you do break one, don't worry you can just order a replacement stud and have it fixed very easily by just backing out the stud, which was an excellent design by BMW.

18. Put everything back together in the reverse order you took it apart.

19. Make sure you wait about an hour for the RTV sealant to dry before you start up your car and take it for a test drive. But when you do make sure that nothing is leaking after your test drive. If it is take everything off and reseat your gasket again.

Spark Plug Instructions

Note: If you want to just do your spark plugs, follow the first two steps above to remove the air filter box, engine cover, and coils only!

Remove the cabin air filter box and Engine cover

1. Create a spark plug tool using a socket extension and your spark plug socket. Using electrical tape, tape the two together, so that there is no way that you can have the two disconnect when trying the remove, install the spark plugs.

2. Using this tool, remove the old spark plugs.

3. Apply some anti-sieze to the new spark plugs so that they will come out easily the next time. You can't really tell from the picture, but it's on there. You don't want too much.

4. Reinstall the spark plugs making sure to tighten them to 18 ft-lbs.

Conclusions

This is a fairly simple to complete DIY, and it will keep your engine running healthy for a long time. I reccomend changing your spark plugs betweeen 60-90k just to make sure everything is still running well. While you're doing that, you might as well change the valve cover gasket, because it's going to fail sometime in the future! Happy motoring!.