I got my Recall Notice in the mail yesterday (applicable to certain 2002, 2003, 2004 model cars) for replacement of the ignition coils. Seems they frequently fail, causing rough idle and check-engine light to come on. Car will then fail emissions test. I took my 2003 530i in this morning, and they had 6 ignition coils (one per cylinder) replaced in 35 minutes. I was out of there before I finished my cup of coffee. No charge for anything of course. The Service Writer said he had seen several failures of these coils and the OEM coils were being replaced with Bosch coils which are supposedly much better.

Bosch is used in all BMW's, the plugs/coils are bosch, or atleast they used to do that

Bosch is used in all BMW's, the plugs/coils are bosch, or atleast they used to do that

Not true. They were using another manufacturer's ignition coils in some models (the Service Manager told me the name, but I was not familiar with it) and they are the ones that are failing...so they are going back to Bosch.

Service Bullition 12 13 05

E46 with M54/M56 from 09/02 up to 12/04
E39 with M54 from 09/02 up to 07/03
E53 (X5) with M54 from 09/02 up to 12/04
E65/E66 with N62/N73 from 09/01 up to 12/04
E85 (Z4) with M54 from 09/02 up to 12/04
E83 (X3) with M54 from 09/03 up to 12/04

Internal insulation failure of BREMI ignition coils may cause reduced ignition firing power, or ignition coils failure. The customer may complain of erratic engine performance and the "Service Engine Soon" light illumination.

If you want to check the coils yourself, once a coil is pulled out the Bremi coils are all black, the bosch replacement coils are black with a tan/grey colored sleave on the,

Not true. They were using another manufacturer's ignition coils in some models (the Service Manager told me the name, but I was not familiar with it) and they are the ones that are failing...so they are going back to Bosch.
oh, i think they started doing that in like the new models, they should of just stayed with Bosch IMO.