Plugs and wires 318i

[jsgold]

I have a couple of questions. Since my son's 96 318i (1.9 4 cyl) is so different from anything I have dealt with I would appreciate some advice on plugs and wires. This car has 110K miles on it and runs OK except I notice a small miss at idle. The car has been taken care of by previous owners but records are incomplete. Do not know when plugs were repalced last and I would assume wires are original. Are BMW wires good for this long or longer? Normally I would replace wires every 50K or so on GM cars but at over 200 bucks we are wanting to be sure since these cars are engineered somewhat different. Would appreciate any recomendations on plugs, ie Bosch, NGK, etc and regular vs platinum types. I see alot liste for this car, want what is right for it.

[87esir]

As for the plug wires. They are probably fine. The one area of concern with them are the boots that are down in the hole in the valve cover. The heat can cause them to crack and then jump spark and of course cause the engine to miss. One way to see if that is the problem and to avoid wasting money on wires is to wrap the plug boots good in black tape. If your miss goes away your boots are bad and you need to buy wires.

As for the plugs, the oem replacements in my books are believe it or not autolite which I like about as much as brussel sprouts. I personally like the ngk brand myself.

[jsgold]

Thanks for your reply. The wires look OK, but am pretty sure they are original. Just was unsure if they are enginered better than other typical cars. Normally I like to replace wires on my Blazer or any other american car every 50K miles or so. The plugs look tired, will see what Advance stocks for them, will buy EOM plugs, either NGK or Bosch.

[87esir]

well if your plug wires develop those hair line cracks you probably won't be able to see them. If it still seems to have a little miss once in a while after you change the plugs you might throw some fuel injector cleaner in it and if it is still doing it you might try taping those wires just to check.

good luck