Instructions and notes here! (archive)

Step 1 Remove the top cover on the enine. It comes free by prying up the 4 bolt covers on the black area in the center. Use a 10mm socket to remove the nuts, and remove the cover.

Step 2 Remove the ignition coil/plug covers. These are the black plastic plates with BMW on them. There are 2 covers on either side of the BMW logo that pry up the same as the top cover ones. Once off, remove the 2 10mm bolts, and the cover lifts off.

Step 3 You will now be looking at the 4 coil packs above each spark plug. Remove the 2 10mm bolts on each corner of the coil packs. Now pull up on the silver clip that locks the plug into the coil pack. Holding the clip in the up position, pull the plug out of the coil. The coil and plug socket will then lift out.

Step 4. Remove the plugs. They come out with a standard 5/8 spark plug socket.

Reverse the procedure and repeat on the other side of the block.

I have 2 major notes and one minor one for this relatively simple procedure.
Note 1: The torque spec for the plugs is 23Nm this is approx 16.5ft/lbs. Using a torque wrench I tightened them down and was suprised how much tighter they are spec'd to than I would have tightened them if I just used a ratchet. Use a torque wrench

Note 2: The studs that the coils mount to are set into the aluminum valve covers. Ensure that you do not overtorque them! One of the previous BMW dealer mechanics did this to one of mine, and stripped the stud out of the valve cover. Rather than fixing it, he just pushed it back into the hole. I found it when I was removing the coil pack. Now I am having to put a helicoil in. A major pain in the butt!

Note 3: One of the frequent problems with both the M60 and M62 engines is the valve cover gaskets leak. One of the teltale signs of this problem is oil in the wells for the freeze plugs as well as the spark plug wells. If you see oil in there, it is likely you will need new valve cover gaskets.

Regards
Greg
95' 740i

Inspection II is coming up on my '98 740 iL. I want to do it myself as the stealer will charge me an arm and a leg for just doing a lot of checking. The whole process looks pretty straightforward, but I need some help on spark plug changing. Can someone please give me a step-by-step procedure for changing the plugs. Thanks.

Mike

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