Ignition Coil Failure

[PKE90]

Started her up this morning. Rough engine with vibrations evident in the cabin. Engine malfunction light on. Drove to dealer at 55-60mph on highway with no trouble. Dealer put me in a loaner asap (kudos to BMW of Darien) and diagnosed an ignition coil failure. 8.5k miles. A little miffed...what have others experienced?

[aznkuja328]

i have a similar situation but not with the ignition coil, dealer said vacuum pump problem... i hear a very frequent loud buzzing noise coming near the brake reservoir.

anyone can help?

[DJLM2805]

I have 2011 E90 with 14567 miles and other then scheduled maintance I have had no parts failures or issues with the vehicle.

[doc19]

Originally Posted by PKE90

Started her up this morning. Rough engine with vibrations evident in the cabin. Engine malfunction light on. Drove to dealer at 55-60mph on highway with no trouble. Dealer put me in a loaner asap (kudos to BMW of Darien) and diagnosed an ignition coil failure. 8.5k miles. A little miffed...what have others experienced?

Yeah... I have the same thing, same exact symptoms

see thread: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=630110aa

Anyway they thought it was the idle air valve, after replacing that it didn't solve the problem, after talking to BMW NA they decided it was an ignition coil issue, which I am now getting replaced. Have been waiting for the past week for the parts to come in from Germany. I only had 3202 miles on my car at the time of the malfunction.

Glad to know I'm not the only one. Have been driving around in a 328i loaner, but man I miss my m3.

[IFX]

i think this is the first thread on an ignition coil failure I've seen on this entire forum. Guess their fairing pretty well.

[bigjae1976]

It happens, just comes with having a car that uses separate coil packs instead of a distributor.. I had a 5k mile old coil pack blow at the track in the morning. Lost a whole day.

[piloto]

Coming from the VW world, I'm accustomed to seeing coil pack failures. But still, it's more an annoyance than anything else, forcing you to have to go to the dealership, likely twice, once to drop the car off, and on another day to pick her up.

[chief]

In speaking with my SA (whom I've worked with for over 10 years) BMW has not had the repeat coil failures in the e9x that plagued the e46.

Chief

PS - I went through 3 sets of coils in my e46 M3.

[doc19]

Originally Posted by chief

In speaking with my SA (whom I've worked with for over 10 years) BMW has not had the repeat coil failures in the e9x that plagued the e46.

My SA was stumped when I brought my car in, it was only when they consulted with BMWNA that they diagnosed the ignition coils. The blamed it initially on the idle air circuit, which I know was an issue on earlier year e9x m3s.

[MMAJNKE]

great read I wonder if anyone else has had this failure recently.

[gsmooth33]

I did at 29,000 miles. Replaced three

[BzsBimmer]

I wonder what specific DME error codes were spit out that led them to diagnose the idle air circuit vs the ignition coil/s?

It might help others on this forum as to not spend money on items that won't help fix the issue.

[heart_doctor]

Originally Posted by IFX

i think this is the first thread on an ignition coil failure I've seen on this entire forum. Guess their fairing pretty well.

Not according to my dealer. I just had the same problem. Driving home. Dreaded "engine malfunction" error. Boom. Ignition coil. Apparently it's a big problem across all BMW lines. So much so that they changed suppliers. They have actually recommended replacing all the coils when one has failed. That's $$$ $75 to $95 per coil.

[heart_doctor]

Originally Posted by chief

In speaking with my SA (whom I've worked with for over 10 years) BMW has not had the repeat coil failures in the e9x that plagued the e46.

Chief

PS - I went through 3 sets of coils in my e46 M3.

Not according to my SA. They have seen it a lot.

[BimmerRules!]

Originally Posted by heart_doctor

Not according to my dealer. I just had the same problem. Driving home. Dreaded "engine malfunction" error. Boom. Ignition coil. Apparently it's a big problem across all BMW lines. So much so that they changed suppliers. They have actually recommended replacing all the coils when one has failed. That's $$$ $75 to $95 per coil.

Hi folks,

I know that this is a three year old thread but since I am facing a similar issue, I didn't want to create a new thread and instead use this.

Quick background: Mine is a 2011 E90 I purchased recently from a fellow member; car has 43k miles on it and I am the second owner. Weekend car. Car is perfect but going by the suggested old school maintenance, I had my friend (an ex-master tech) replace at his shop the spark plugs using NGK. This was two weekends back. After replacing the sparks, he checked the codes and found an error code on coil # 3. After swapping it with other coils and rechecking the codes, he confirmed that it was indeed a faulty coil and we replaced it with an OEM coil. All was clear, and car seemed fine for last two weeks.

During the last few rides this week, I noticed a distinct but extremely brief loss of power when changing between 2, 3 and 4, and I assumed that I was doing a sloppy job when disengaging the clutch. Plus, I wasn’t sure if this was due to the battery which is still original. Last evening on the highway, I got the engine malfunction message and the 'service engine' light. Car now has rough idle and thanks to guidance my buddies here - BOOF and Derbo -, I took the car immediately to Autozone to read the codes. (yeah, I am going buy a tool soon.)

Autozone's tool indicated two error codes P138B and P0357. BOOF checked those for me and disclosed that it is ignition coili # 7 and also oxygen sensor.

Would love to hear some feedback/guidance from other members on the following:

1. If you chanaged your coil, may I know the year of your car and the approximate mileage you changed it please? I know that a good % of you are still on the original coils but still curious to get details from those who changed.

2. If you changed, did you change all 8 or only 1 at a time?

3. OEM or any other manufacturer you would recommend? I cringed on paying $135 at the dealer, and found that OEMs cost about $91 online. Prefer OEMs but if I have to replace all 7, better to get your opinions.

4. Could the second coil's (# 7) failure be due to my tech friend not doing the job properly two weeks back when he changed the spark plugs?

I ask because it's been < 150 miles with the new sparks and one new coil (#3); surprised to see that # 7 possibly went bad so soon even though it appears that many earlier model M3s with higher mileage are yet to change even one. Hence these queries to see if it could be a human error or my bad luck with the coils.

Thanks!

[Scrippy]

I've never heard of coil pack issues plaguing BMW's. My 335 was on originals up till 220,00. I'm on my originals in my M3 with 160,000. Are you guys changing your plugs and batteries when you should? I do plugs every 50,000 and battery every 4 years. No issues with either BMW knock on wood.

[BimmerRules!]

Originally Posted by Scrippy

I've never heard of coil pack issues plaguing BMW's. My 335 was on originals up till 220,00. I'm on my originals in my M3 with 160,000. Are you guys changing your plugs and batteries when you should? I do plugs every 50,000 and battery every 4 years. No issues with either BMW knock on wood.

Thanks!

Mine has 43k miles (2011 make) and since it is still on the originals, I first thought of doing the sparks and then the battery.

The coil error messages started after the spark plugs swap.

FYI that I had purchased the NGKs from FCP Euro using the OE 12120032273 #. Their order also confirms that they are the same G Power LKR8AP spark plugs installed in the factory and sold as replacement parts by BMW.

[R3dliner]

These cars are known to have coil failures after a spark plug change. 1/3 cars I did the change on had 1 coil malfunction. Typical misfire in cyl x. Swapped coils around and the misfire jumped to the other cyl.

[Scrippy]

Originally Posted by BimmerRules!

Thanks!

Mine has 43k miles (2011 make) and since it is still on the originals, I first thought of doing the sparks and then the battery.

The coil error messages started after the spark plugs swap.

FYI that I had purchased the NGKs from FCP Euro using the OE 12120032273 #. Their order also confirms that they are the same G Power LKR8AP spark plugs installed in the factory and sold as replacement parts by BMW.

-Did you gap the plugs properly?
-Did you vacuumed out the plug area before unscrewing?
-How did the coil pack look coloring wise, (black or starting to grey)?

[BimmerRules!]

Originally Posted by R3dliner

These cars are known to have coil failures after a spark plug change. 1/3 cars I did the change on had 1 coil malfunction. Typical misfire in cyl x. Swapped coils around and the misfire jumped to the other cyl.

Thanks for the feedback!

Glad that I am not alone.

follow-up question: did you change only that coil or all 8 when that occurred? The master-tech buddy of mine said that he and dealer often see the failures start hitting other coils and hence recommend replacing all of them. (He is a good friend and I trust him btw.)

I honestly don't mind swapping all 8 but the OEMs are $90 a piece online and given the beauty of these cars, I hesitate to buy other brands that are available anywhere from $40 to $80 per coil (from FCP and ECS, both reputable sites).

Thanks again,

[R3dliner]

Originally Posted by BimmerRules!

Thanks for the feedback!

Glad that I am not alone.

follow-up question: did you change only that coil or all 8 when that occurred? The master-tech buddy of mine said that he and dealer often see the failures start hitting other coils and hence recommend replacing all of them. (He is a good friend and I trust him btw.)

I honestly don't mind swapping all 8 but the OEMs are $90 a piece online and given the beauty of these cars, I hesitate to buy other brands that are available anywhere from $40 to $80 per coil (from FCP and ECS, both reputable sites).

Thanks again,

Only that coil for now. Happened recently on buddies car, so won't know if others might be effected.
On my car I've been running 14k miles since a plug change at 30k with no issues.

[BimmerRules!]

Originally Posted by Scrippy

-Did you gap the plugs properly?
-Did you vacuumed out the plug area before unscrewing?
-How did the coil pack look coloring wise, (black or starting to grey)?

Great questions, thanks!

1. My master did not gap the plugs but both he and FCP Euro informed that we need not as its been pre-gapped for the 2011 M3. I am all for checking it again but not sure if one needs any special equipment. Do you know?

Or, if OEM plugs will be sure to be pre-gapped, I can buy those instead and replace all the sparks again. That could save the trouble of the coils going bad.

2. I don't think he vacummed the plug area, but will request him to do it this time when he changes the other coil.

3. Turning greyish if I remember right but I didn't look @ it close. Will check tonight and keep you posted.

Please let me know your thoughts on point 1 as I am about to place the order thru FCP Euro (delivery by Wed, and I can drop the car off with my master tech buddy on Thur so that he does the work patiently on Friday.)

Thanks a lot!!