N54 (E92) Spark Plugs/Coils bad every 6-7k miles

[speedbee13]

Hello all, first forum post so I hope I do this right. Got my car in April this year(2010 BMW 335i e92), and it currently has 70k miles.

Mods:
VRSF Dual Cone Intake
Upgraded Chargepipe
VRSF 7.5" Intercooler
BMS Oil Cooler Valve

Maintenance:
Valve Cover Gasket 65k miles
Oil change when I got the car(62k), 65k miles, and 70k miles
Plugs: 63k miles, second set of plugs in between 65 and 67k(replaced 1 by 1 as they went out), 70k miles(NGK 97968
Coils: 63k miles, second set of coils in between 65 and 67k(replaced 1 by 1 as they went out)
Injectors: Replaced with new(I assume) Index 12 sometime before I bought the car(Leak tested yesterday)

Tune: MHD Stage 1+ 93oct

I replaced plugs and coils so often because of misfires during driving and during cold starts. Right now no issues but it's only been 500 miles or so since plugs were replaced, and only other thing I've noticed is oil temp has dropped to around 190-200* while driving normal since I put the new oil cooler valve in, but that's the point of it. Any idea why my plugs/coils keep fouling out?

 

[corbanistan]

I just looked it up real quick, so having yellow on the ceramic(I assume burnt ceramic) means I likely have arcing?

Yes definitely start with dielectric grease. Pull your plugs and while you're at it double check gap, and apply the grease. Then torque them back to spec. These engines can be very particular.

 

[speedbee13]

Yes definitely start with dielectric grease. Pull your plugs and while you're at it double check gap, and apply the grease. Then torque them back to spec. These engines can be very particular.

Will do. Thanks for all your help!

 

[speedbee13]

Yes definitely start with dielectric grease. Pull your plugs and while you're at it double check gap, and apply the grease. Then torque them back to spec. These engines can be very particular.

Just looked at my old plugs and they don't look really burnt which I thought they were. The two plugs on the right which are blacker, the ceramic and the tip where the gap is spins freely separate from the metal. Any ideas?

 

[corbanistan]

Just looked at my old plugs and they don't look really burnt which I thought they were. The two plugs on the right which are blacker, the ceramic and the tip where the gap is spins freely separate from the metal. Any ideas?

No part of the plug besides the washer should be loose, that's interesting. Do you have a photo of it?

 

[speedbee13]

No part of the plug besides the washer should be loose, that's interesting. Do you have a photo of it?

I thought the photo uploaded, my bad. The two plugs on the right the ceramic part spins, they also have a noticeably blacker spot on the ceramic

 

[corbanistan]

I thought the photo uploaded, my bad. The two plugs on the right the ceramic part spins, they also have a noticeably blacker spot on the ceramicView attachment 63129

That's not supposed to happen. What tune are you running? Any oil around the spark plug wells?

 

[speedbee13]

That's not supposed to happen. What tune are you running? Any oil around the spark plug wells?

I didn't realize they spun until i went to check for arcing on the old ones. It is possible there is a slight amount of oil around the wells as I haven't tried to rub them, but there isn't any that I've noticed. I currently run MHD's stage 1+ 93oct. Boost setpoint for it is 16psi and my gap is .022

 

[corbanistan]

I didn't realize they spun until i went to check for arcing on the old ones. It is possible there is a slight amount of oil around the wells as I haven't tried to rub them, but there isn't any that I've noticed. I currently run MHD's stage 1+ 93oct. Boost setpoint for it is 16psi and my gap is .022

Hopefully someone else can also chime in on this, but those 2 plugs don't seem good if the porcelain spins like that. Never seen that before. I'd get new plugs, use dielectric grease, torque to spec. Make sure everything else is clean. Run that until it happens again or hopefully never does

 

[corbanistan]

On another note, detonation can cause the porcelain to come loose.

 

[speedbee13]

Hopefully someone else can also chime in on this, but those 2 plugs don't seem good if the porcelain spins like that. Never seen that before. I'd get new plugs, use dielectric grease, torque to spec. Make sure everything else is clean. Run that until it happens again or hopefully never does

Yeah i didn't even know the ceramic could spin like that. It also spins
the white piece that has the tip for spark. I have brand new ngk plugs already and i will put grease on this weekend.

On another note, detonation can cause the porcelain to come loose.

Interesting, do you think misfires could also cause it to some loose(I'm not sure if misfires are detonation, im kinda dumb)

 

[corbanistan]

I'm sure if it's bad enough, it could damage multiple things in the engine. Detonation is bad news

 

[speedbee13]

I'm sure if it's bad enough, it could damage multiple things in the engine. Detonation is bad news

Yeah I'll see how the current plugs look on Saturday when I put the grease on

 

[SLOWESTN54]

nothing looked mad when monitoring all temps, boost, knock degrees, and timing

I dont have the log license and can't buy it right now

Logging is including with your MHD monitoring license.

Check if your valve cover gasket isn't leaking into the Cylinders, Also check your Coil grounds on your valve cover, Make sure the stud is tight as well.

 

[speedbee13]

Logging is including with your MHD monitoring license.

Check if your valve cover gasket isn't leaking into the Cylinders, Also check your Coil grounds on your valve cover, Make sure the stud is tight as well.

I don't have the monitoring license. I monitor everything in a separate free app for now. My valve cover has 2 broken bolts(alluminum pos bolts) but isn't leaking from what I can see. Want to replace them but I feel like I could possibly break another if I remove them and put new ones in(broken bolts got stuck half in there), so I am waiting until I can buy all 28 bolts. I'm fairly new to working on N54(plus I'm dumb lol), so I need to look up the coil grounds.

 

[SLOWESTN54]

I don't have the monitoring license. I monitor everything in a separate free app for now. My valve cover has 2 broken bolts(alluminum pos bolts) but isn't leaking from what I can see. Want to replace them but I feel like I could possibly break another if I remove them and put new ones in(broken bolts got stuck half in there), so I am waiting until I can buy all 28 bolts. I'm fairly new to working on N54(plus I'm dumb lol), so I need to look up the coil grounds.

If you look at your valve cover cover, and follow the wiring for the coils, there will be 3 wires (1 wire per 2 coils). These wires go to a stud that also acts ass a valve cover bolt.

 

[speedbee13]

Thank you for the picture, I checked to make sure they were tight.