x5 - how often need to change spark plugs if at all?

[m5james]

Originally Posted by X5SilverBeast

The X has the N62 4.4. I was worried about getting it because of the valvetronic. Not sure how good the N62 is compared to the m62. Hopefully she treats us as good as the 540 has. We are leaning towards B&B. The cost is high as hell but since I got the B&B on the 540 and love the sound I think it would be good for the X.

Yeah I've been doing a ton of reseach on the LS swap. For the price, I can squeeze a hell of a lot of HP with the LS motor over the m62. The power options on the LS supercede the options on the M62. BMW made freakin great motors, but an LS swap is way cheaper with more HP than tryin to rebuild the M62. There has been quite a few guys on bimmerforums that have done it and are fabricating swap kits. I contacted VAC motorsports a few months ago, got quoted $25k for a 600hp street motor. Can do an LS motor for half that. I don't know if I'm going to have the courage to do myself or have a performance shop to help out. Will wait for the m62 to quit before I really dig into the project

The M62 has multiple displacements and variants of either with or without VANOS, so they also suffer from the same VANOS issues. BMW M62 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I intentionally bought my 98 7 because it doesn't have VANOS, then the added benefit of a larger intake manifold, MAF, associated tubing, etc...all for future FI use.

I had the B&B on my E39 M5, so I can honestly say that the Magnaflow on my 7 sounds just as good. Mufflers are very simple devices, so paying for a name is almost useless unless it's something sophisticated, chambered, actuator valves, etc like something exotic you'd see on a Ferrari. The Magnaflow and B&B are pretty much just a muffler body, two pipes of perforated tubing wrapped in steelwool and fiberglass...no rocket science and justification for 10x the pricing there.

I've read those same threads, which is why in hindsight, I wish I would have done an LSx swap instead. Motor rebuild alone cost me $13k and I only got a mild bump in HP over stock. The BIGGEST hurdle I've got to cross with FI'ing the M62 is the ECU...doing a complete swap to an LSx, aftermarket ECU and turbo kits in the end would have been far cheaper. Too late now though...unless you wanna buy a 30k mileaged M62

[X5SilverBeast]

Originally Posted by FSETH

No problem. To each his own.

Among other things, Mike Miller is BMWCCA's lead technical editor. He has years and years of experience with BMW's and the old school maintenance schedule he provides to CCA members is a mix of what BMW used to recommend in the old days (before free maintenance) and what he feels is best baed on his personal experience with BMW's. His recommendations are based on long term ownership of the car. I was using him as a reference because he is known to be more aggressive than BMW about maintenance intervals these days and you are doing plugs twice as often as even he recommends. No big deal though.

I gotch bro. I honestly had no clue who mike miller was. Now that you have shed some light on who he is, I'll look into. I don't mean to sound arrogant or cocky, just wanted to give info on my personal experiences with maint. Coming from american muscle cars and chevy trucks, I've only been with the bmw brand for a little over 3.5 yrs. I know they are completely different and some of my methods work for chevy's and may not work on bmw's. But I look at it as trial and error as well as a learning lesson. My philosophy has always been, if you're not making mistakes, you're not learning.

[X5SilverBeast]

Originally Posted by m5james

The M62 has multiple displacements and variants of either with or without VANOS, so they also suffer from the same VANOS issues. BMW M62 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I intentionally bought my 98 7 because it doesn't have VANOS, then the added benefit of a larger intake manifold, MAF, associated tubing, etc...all for future FI use.

I had the B&B on my E39 M5, so I can honestly say that the Magnaflow on my 7 sounds just as good. Mufflers are very simple devices, so paying for a name is almost useless unless it's something sophisticated, chambered, actuator valves, etc like something exotic you'd see on a Ferrari. The Magnaflow and B&B are pretty much just a muffler body, two pipes of perforated tubing wrapped in steelwool and fiberglass...no rocket science and justification for 10x the pricing there.




I've read those same threads, which is why in hindsight, I wish I would have done an LSx swap instead. Motor rebuild alone cost me $13k and I only got a mild bump in HP over stock. The BIGGEST hurdle I've got to cross with FI'ing the M62 is the ECU...doing a complete swap to an LSx, aftermarket ECU and turbo kits in the end would have been far cheaper. Too late now though...unless you wanna buy a 30k mileaged M62

Yeah we bought our 98 540 before I even knew what the differences were between the prevanos and vanos. After becoming a member on BFC and really digging into DIY, I am really happy that we bought the 98. That's good to know that the magnaflow and B&B sound similar. I may rethink my choice being that the B&B cost $1300

[m5james]

Well the problem is that you can't use the Magnaflows on the X, so I still suggest either going with a simple x-pipe (no visual exterior changes) or just changing mufflers (the eBay ones come with tips similar to the 4.6) to something like what e53x54.4 has. Depends on how loud your like your X, but I'd only do one or the other.

[X5SilverBeast]

Originally Posted by m5james

Well the problem is that you can't use the Magnaflows on the X, so I still suggest either going with a simple x-pipe (no visual exterior changes) or just changing mufflers (the eBay ones come with tips similar to the 4.6) to something like what e53x54.4 has. Depends on how loud your like your X, but I'd only do one or the other.

Cool. Thanks for the info. I def. look into the exhaust options. The X-pipe option does sound interesting. The wife says she really wants it to sound like a V8.

[m5james]

I would think the x-pipe would add the most noise, while the mufflers might allow more of the poppyness sound come from the exhaust...but then again that's just a guess. I'd imagine the x-pipe would be cheaper installation wise vs custom welding and hanging two mufflers. When I did my hitch installation on the X, I polished and masked the tips before painting the muffler black so they'd look better in there.

I did the dual Magnaflows on the 7 just because it looks sick having dual mufflers and big tips sticking out of the bumper vs the stock ugly turned down tips it came with. Below are pics of Ferrari Steve's and couple other Bimmerboard members exhaust after Steve and I created a PDF with instructions, templates and all.

[X5SilverBeast]

Originally Posted by m5james

I would think the x-pipe would add the most noise, while the mufflers might allow more of the poppyness sound come from the exhaust...but then again that's just a guess. I'd imagine the x-pipe would be cheaper installation wise vs custom welding and hanging two mufflers. When I did my hitch installation on the X, I polished and masked the tips before painting the muffler black so they'd look better in there.

I did the dual Magnaflows on the 7 just because it looks sick having dual mufflers and big tips sticking out of the bumper vs the stock ugly turned down tips it came with. Below are pics of Ferrari Steve's and couple other Bimmerboard members exhaust after Steve and I created a PDF with instructions, templates and all.

Very nice setup. I bet that thing turns heads!!!

[m5james]

It's enough that I can notice it, but by no means overpowering. I made the mistake at first of doing both an x-pipe and mufflers...HUGE no no. It sounded like a speed boat on the water, droned in all revs and popped on deceleration like you wouldn't believe. If the car had more displacement and/or revved faster, then I'm sure the popping would be as bad, but the drone would still be there regardless. The resonator on these cars is basically a muffler with an internal x-pipe, so replacing it with a simple unmuffled x-pipe will increase the sound and leave the mufflers there to still stop the popping noise. Most people only guage the sound of their exhaust sitting inside the car, which is masked by the insulation of the vehicle, so it sounds better to them (ask any Honda owner with a fart can), but the real test is hearing it from the outside by having someone drive your car so you can hear what everyone has to hear and that isn't obstructed by your cars sheetmetal, the engine, stereo, etc. I knew my car droned when I had both x-pipe and mufflers, but I hadn't noticed the popping until I had a friend drive it for me. I was back in the shop asap getting the stock resonator put back on.

[X5SilverBeast]

Originally Posted by m5james

It's enough that I can notice it, but by no means overpowering. I made the mistake at first of doing both an x-pipe and mufflers...HUGE no no. It sounded like a speed boat on the water, droned in all revs and popped on deceleration like you wouldn't believe. If the car had more displacement and/or revved faster, then I'm sure the popping would be as bad, but the drone would still be there regardless. The resonator on these cars is basically a muffler with an internal x-pipe, so replacing it with a simple unmuffled x-pipe will increase the sound and leave the mufflers there to still stop the popping noise. Most people only guage the sound of their exhaust sitting inside the car, which is masked by the insulation of the vehicle, so it sounds better to them (ask any Honda owner with a fart can), but the real test is hearing it from the outside by having someone drive your car so you can hear what everyone has to hear and that isn't obstructed by your cars sheetmetal, the engine, stereo, etc. I knew my car droned when I had both x-pipe and mufflers, but I hadn't noticed the popping until I had a friend drive it for me. I was back in the shop asap getting the stock resonator put back on.

I went undecided when I cut the two can muffler on the 540. I started up after cutting the mufflers and loved the sound. It was funny when I did this, because a few neighbors started their nova and charger. It was like an exhaust war in the neighborhood. lol I had the B&B welded in place and kept with that. Had a ton of compliments on the sound and one guy couldn't believe that throaty note was coming from a bmw. Will do some serious research on what to do with the X5 exhaust.

[m5james]

X-pipe, and if you really want more, then get the mufflers.