Purchased used a few months back. During the course of troubleshooting a misfire (waiting for spark plugs now) I pulled my ignition coils and one of these kids is not like the other. Then this morning I snagged 4 from a pick-your-part yard. Mine: 2013 Roadster S Pick: 2012 Cooper S The top row are the ones I picked from the yard (2012 S) The bottom row (with the mismatched 1) is from my vehicle (2013 S) Other than the top are Bosche the others are Delphi, anyone know the differences? Can I use the Bosch? belay, believe I figured it out. One of them are performance coils the other standard.
I see your problem, it’s plane as day, the coil packs go in those holes not on top of the motor! The Bosh should be fine.
The plugs and coils can both cause a misfire. I recently had a misfire and it was due to plugs which need to be changed every 60k in an R56 S. If the coils haven't been replaced they'll likely need to be changed. I'd advise against buying used coils for a Prince engine, they don't really last all that long to begin with. Maybe 60-75k? I don't know the recommended interval but when one goes the rest will follow shortly after. Anything OE spec rated should be fine. I have a 12 S and my coils look like that bottom row not those lighter gray ones on top.
Ha! Dude I so laughed out loud. So the spark plugs I ordered weren’t scheduled to be in until Monday. Said feck it, spent the cash at the dealership (ugh) but I prefer to stay in the solution... spark plugs were fine it was the coils. Threw those Bosch coils in and now I can’t even tell the engine is running. Fires, from a dead stop, with zero hesitation. All in all $330 spent (Plugs, picked parts, gas) and I have a spare set of spark plugs, a few spare coils, and a manifold I’m gonna clean up to use as a walnut blaster attachment.
Thank Qik. I’ll keep this in mind since I just put used ones on. I’ve been driving her for 3 months and noticed the engine (car) shake as time went by. Seems when they go it’s a slow burn until they quit.
Interesting I have not really noticed a time/mileage limit or consecutive failures we often replace one bad with a single new and the others last years. I'm not dismissing what you see I wonder if cars in hotter or more humid climates have higher failures than here in central Oregon or some people just waiting too long to change plugs and that stresses the coils. My advice has normally been to just replace the failed coil but maybe my advice should take into account local climate and tune-up history.
I noticed mine had a slight stutter or stumble under hard acceleration but no CEL. Pulled the plugs and noticed plug 4 had a worn electrode. Swapped out the plugs and the issue was gone. When the coils go you'll get a CEL and the engine will run rough and the car will sound like a WRX.
2009 JCW r55. I have a little stumble at idle on & off. No cel but when checking live data on the scan tool for misfires, they show up in various cylinders on and off. Replaced plugs without change with the recommended NGKs. Old plugs looked normal for age. When putting the old coils back in I found they wouldn’t seated all the way down would try to ride back up a little, and had trouble ensuring they were fully seated. Aren’t they supposed to grab onto the top of the spark plug at least a little? I’m used to this type of part firmly clicking into place on most cars but these don’t. Going to replace the coils since they’re about a dozen years old anyway. addendum - they seem somewhat better seated after running it a bit and checking again the next day.
If I remember correctly on my R53 they didn’t click into place. If they are seated on the top of the valve cover it should be good. Did you check the contacts on your coil?
The ones on Skooby clicked in. If your car is running well I'm not sure I would replace all the coils, but if you did it sure couldn't hurt. Lee the R55 uses a coil on plug arrangement. No separate wires to plugs or central coil pack for all cylinders.
Contacts on top of coil are ok and all measure between 0.6 and 0.8 ohm across the primaries. Ordered the updated 12138616153 coils from ECS. Can’t hurt.
Put the new coils in. They fully seat onto the plugs with the first push, and stay there securely. Much better than the old ones, and idle is nice and smooth.