aftermarket ignition coils...anyone tried these, worth buying?

[E53BX]

The core windings inside these coils have been modified to increase firepower and promote a faster, more efficient burn. This gives your BMW increased torque in the lower range of RPM and more horsepower in the upper range. Exact improvements depend on the current condition of your BMW's engine, but you'll definitely feel the difference. They'll also improve your fuel economy. Plus they come with new spark plug boots, making them an even better value. Installation is a simple, do-it-yourself procedure that takes about 30 minutes. Instructions included.BMW Spark Plug and Ignition Coil Replacement. .


Part Number Description Price Qty. 5004 8 Bavarian Autosport High-Performance Ignition Coil Set - Set of 8
$ 479.95



waste of money for almost 500?

[JCL]

Misleading advertising, IMO. You will feel an improvement if your current coils are not functioning up to spec. And in that case, you would feel the same improvement if you use replacement OE coils instead of these ones. Also, if you do need new coils, you likely have some engine codes telling you so.

As to whether to use these ones instead of OE ones, if you do need coils, then it is a price vs benefit discussion. How much cheaper than OE are these ones? Is that savings worth the risk to you? If so, Bav Auto seems a reasonable supplier to try them out from.

Edit: I looked up the part number to see how much they are. They seem pretty expensive. Bosch OEM coils are $33 each on line. 8 would be $264. Surprising. So the value question is whether it is worth paying $200+ extra for aftermarket. Unless the racing red caps are worth something, I'd skip them.

[finagle69]

Unless I'm mistaken, an ignition coil is nothing more than a transformer, correct? Just two coils wrapped around an iron core. There's not much you can do to "improve" a transformer.

The only thing you can do is change the turns ratio to provide a higher-than-OEM secondary voltage, like 22KV instead of 20KV. This could potentially wear out the spark plugs quicker, but I suppose it would give you a fuller burn if you were running a little rich.

[JCL]

If you had misfires, high performance coils could potentially help with a more complete burn. That would improve hp and fuel economy.

But you would know, because you would have misfire codes.

If it isn't misfiring, not sure how you would tell the difference with a different coil.

[Weasel]

JCL, where did you find the OEM coils for $33 online? The ones for my truck are over $80...! Also, the ones pictured in post 1 are for the N62 engine anyways, not the M62. They have the M62 coils set at $600 on bavauto.....

(I'm taking some personal interest on this as I'm running pretty low on spare coils for my X and my mother's 5 at work)

[JCL]

I used the N62 price to match the ones shown in the first post.

$33 on Pelican Parts, OEM (Bosch) but not OE.

$52.75 for the earlier part for your 4.6 at the same supplier, OEM (Bremi)

[Weasel]

Ah, I had forgot about pelican parts... That is about the same as my price through dealer with employee discount and all. So about $400 for a full set of OE for me, or $600 for bavauto "performance" coils. With how tight the operating parameters are on these things I think I'll likely just stay with OE. The adaptations would likely compensate for any spark difference somehow anyways.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by Weasel

Ah, I had forgot about pelican parts... That is about the same as my price through dealer with employee discount and all. So about $400 for a full set of OE for me, or $600 for bavauto "performance" coils. With how tight the operating parameters are on these things I think I'll likely just stay with OE. The adaptations would likely compensate for any spark difference somehow anyways.

I got my Z4 Bosch coils at Rockauto.com for about $33. Since the OE coils gave me problems after only 30K, I figure the Bosch can't be much worse.

[MRV99]

I can only speak about my pre-luxury car days. One of the first mods I would do to any one of my previous cars (Mustang, Jeeps, Xterra ect) was replace the ignition system. Yes this was in the 90's and they were mostly USA cars but I always found HP by increasing my stock coils (16k volt to 60k volt) and changing to larger wires, slightly larger gaps and usually a MSD(multi-spark discharge) and had the dyno paper to prove it consistently along with racing almost identical cars and the proof was there. Yes the hotter/larger/multiple sparks did a better job of burning the fuel. Yes this hot ignition did go through plugs much faster but that is what happens when you want more horsepower. Everything wears out faster.

First I don't know the spec's of the stock coils and how much larger the replacement ones are 5k oem vs 10k aftermarket or 4koem vs 4500 aftermarket. I am not so sure that the newer generation ECU's will actually gain much from this. I am not sure if the computers will modify the spark curve or will not even notice the increased spark and you will get gains. I have seen these before and sense that these are more beneficial to older cars.

[JCL]

I have also seen improvements from using a better coil and ignition wires. However, these improvements were on cars with one coil, eight plug leads, eight low-tech spark plugs, a distributor cap and rotor, a vacuum advance, points, and a condensor. I don't see much in common between that technology and a DME-controlled crankshaft sensor triggered ignition system with coils mounted directly on plugs. Just my $.02.