All this makes me kind of happy I was cheap and got the I6. 30 Min with 0 BMW experience and all 6 plugs changed with NO effort. I did change them at 61k. Cheap and easy maintenance with the I6.

This ^

What is the difference?

You can get the BMW NGK plugs from Discount Auto or Autozone....they're pretty much identical. I wouldnt use POS Bosch plugs if you paid me.

Thanks Weasel. I knew how to do the other one, having pulled plugs many times on the race car, etc. w/the nut that holds the plastic cover. This being different and it being late at night (I didn't post until the next afternoon when I was slacking off at work), I wanted to be sure.

The coils are just held on by friction too in the N62 motor, so no more nuts to drop into the nether regions of the vehicle. Nice!

The thermostat change should be fun too...<sigh> Looks like a hand scratcher.

I don't know if we will ever get a clear answer to this. I talked to an NGK rep a while back and he couldn't confirm that they were the same exact plugs as OE. He could only tell me what their website said, which was that the NGK Laser Platinum #BKR6EQUP plugs are Original Equipment Manufacturer, and/or Original Equipment Service Part.

I guess if you change your plugs every 40-60k or so, you can use the BKR6EQUP from trusted retailers with confidence they will work fine.

He was able to tell me the NGK Iridiums, that many here use, only last half as long as BMW OE plugs.

Late report back due to family issue I had to attend to.

Put in a new thermostat (had a code for that) and then dropped in 8 shiny new plugs. Drove nearly 1000 miles since putting them in and no check engine light!

Excellent.

Thanks for the help all.

OK gang - what's the consensus on 3.0L plugs?
 

I need to put a set of plugs in my 251,000 mile X5 3.0L. It was some
100,000 miles ago that I last replaced plugs and I can't remember which ones I used. Seems like it was the 4 ground NGK BKR6EQUP ones.
Sparkplugs.com has 'em at $8.48 each. I seem to recall that Autozone has them for about $7

Input please!

BTW, the latest repair on my chariot was the replacement of the fuel pump and relay for $666.41 today. The fuel pump alone was $405!

Well, I am going to pull a 180 and go against everything I have said in this thread as well as many other spark plug threads. I pulled the orignial plugs on my 02 4.4i with 122,000 miles this weekend. I figured they would be Bosch, but they were NGK BKR6EQUP with the BMW logo. I went down to Autozone with an old plug, looked at their NGK BKR6EQUP and the numbers were in the same place and matched exactly. The housing was the same shape as well, so I figured I would give them a shot seeing as they were $6.99 each (55.92 total for 8).

The old plugs came out very easily, which was surpring seeing as they had been in for 9 years and 122,000 miles and they were in much better shape than I anticipated. They didn't really look that bad. To be honest, even changing these out for the first time at 122,000 miles, I have not noticed any "restored power" from the new plugs.

Ditto!
 

My Indy BMW shop here in Naples quoted me $264 for plugs on my 3.0L 6.
I have always done my plugs myself and had to laugh as they told me they always used BMW OEM plugs with a $18/each cost plus labor. Those NGK's are the exact same as OEM.

As far as antiseize goes - I wouldn't recommend it. I do use antiseize on my Kawasake Jetski with Super Charger and 275 HP inline 4 cylinder 1.5L motor. We run in saltwater and a very corrosive atmosphere. The heads are aluminum and it is easy to strip a plug trying to get it out. Auto land is a much different environment.

Off to Autozone manana to get some $7 buckers.......