Coil On plug retrofit

[M42boy]

I am working on replacing the stock ignition coils with a COP (Coil On Plug) set up using coils from a VW/Audi 1.8t. I will take some pictures at the time I install them and post some part numbers.

I wouldn't reccomend it.  Audi 1.8 liter coil packs were prone to high failure rates.  I came from the Audi world, so I know a little about these things.

[dino245]

In totaly agree with you remarks M42boy, I spent 8 years working on VAG products and have seen many coils fail. I have many extra coils that I will have for just such a problem. I will always keep and extra coil handy. so you may ask why use them, because they are free to me from a local source.

[bmwman91]

So, any progress here yet?

[D. Clay]

The May/June GRM issues on the M42 and supercharging make me think there could be a gain here that makes plug wires and expensive Magnecor plug wire upgrades unnecessary. Anybody know if this mod ahs been done yet?

[zerofreez]

I'll take this one on

How does plug and play sound with bmw coils?

[zerofreez]

I took a close look at a 95 m3 coil pack and the connector looks identical to the one used on our cars, I also noticed the m3 uses the same plug as our motors.

The only thing left to find out is if they fit.  Anyone have access to used/dead m3 coil on plug coil packs?  I have a feeling the boots might be a bit too short, but we could always look around for longer ones.

[zerofreez]

So how many people would be interested in buying a coil on plug ignition kit?  

Also what do you think would be a fair price?

:cool:

[D. Clay]

I bought four coils a year ago. They came with extensions that you discarded for M42's. The coil part then bolted on the fender apron. A lot of places sell the same coil for M42's and S50's, 92-97 six cylinders, and maybe a few other models. The M42 lacks a mount for the coils on the valve cover. The other element is the wiring to the coils in their new location. The coil connectors are the same but would need an extension of the harness. Maybe some drilling and tapping of the valve cover would be required to secure the coil mounting bracket(s). Also a new cover as the original would be history.I feel the main factor in the price would be the quality and appearance of the finished product especially the cover plate and finished look of the valve cover. $50 for a utilitarian piece of "homemade sin" up to $200 for a piece that looked sharp and added to the appearance of the motor. But then I'm really full of it!

[zerofreez]

The connectors dont need to be lengthened, I checked today.

[bmwman91]

BLEH!

Someone get me drawings of some decent coils, like the ones zerofreez is gonna try.  I wanna make a bracket, I wanna make a bracket.

[D. Clay]

They are already on the M42. I checked FAP99.com and the same coils are used on the 88-91 M42 and the 91-95 325i 6 cylinder. Add the spark plug extension to the M42 coil (sold for $5 separately) and you've got it. The Bremi brand coils come with the extension which you discard for the M42 and stick the plug wire on. BMW sells the coils without the extnsion for the M42 with a different part number. Bremi's are $36.50 from FAP99 and $46 from BMA. BMW's are about $50 from BavAuto and their hi-performance coils are $200 for a set of 4.
I looked at my wires today also and they do come from the firewall so are already long enough. I have access to a lathe, boring mill, etc and there's a scrap yard of materials laying around. Unfortunately this is about number 8 on my list after replacing my leaking rack with one from an E36 or Z3, M3 sway bar links, my daughter's Explorer and daughter number 2's Honda.

[zerofreez]

The stock coils (same as the ones on e36 m3's) would work, but they are too large to fit in the space between the valve cover "humps"   The kit that I am coming up with will fit between the humps.

If you want to use stock coils, or stock like coils go ahead but they will have to start at the top most part of the valve cover.  You will also have a very hard time finding a boot that is that long, or making your own custom wires.

I will have pics for a bracket by tuesday or wednesday next week.  

[enildeR]

Why not just buy four msd blaster coils (or something similar) and a set of coil ignitors? You could wire them up fairly easily seeing as there are seperate wires going to each coil. Buy some plug/plug wire insulation from, like, DEI, and it's all bettAR.


Just on idea. I'd rather see a pack of coils on the battery tray than a bundle of mass on top of the head.

[zerofreez]

I would rather have it be plug and play and oem quality and free up the space in my engine bay.  Every other bmw engine has coil on plug so why not us.  I dont see an advantage to using a blaster coil setup, the oem parts are very good, and when combined with eliminating the plug wires I would find it hard to believe there would be any measureable difference in performance.

I look at it this way.  

I have 163k miles on my car with the stock wires and coils.  For less then the cost of new coils and  a wire set I can get coil on plug ignition without chopping up my wiring harness.  Not to mention that ive never seen anybody with a m42 with coil on plug before.

[bmwman91]

Brand-wise, is Bremi pretty reputable?  I cannot remember the brand used on many E36's & some E30's, but they had a short lifetime.  Is the $10 difference between Bremi's and Bosch's worth it?