Spark plug wires & Spark plugs

#1

Would anyone like to comment on what you think the best spark plug & wire combo is?

Thanks,

#2

Stock bosch w8lcr dont foul up as fast as other plugs imo. I havent tried iridium plugs but all the platinum ones are junk.

#3

IMO Bosch stuff is pretty high quality so I’d go with OEM plug wires or call up BimmerWorld and get the wires they sell.

NGK says that for racing applications you should go with a plug one step colder then the OEM recommendation. Bosch doesn’t make one step colder but if you cross reference W8LCR with the NGK equiv, you can then get an NGK 1 step colder.

Note that NGK and Bosch hot/cold conventions are opposite. One of them is 7 is colder then 8. The other is 7 is hotter then 8. Nothing is easy.

#4

I dropped by to let James Posig of JMT Track Cars give my car the once over last weekend on the way to VIR. The first thing he said was that I threw my $$ away on the Bimmerworld wires. He said he always ran OEM wire sets in all the race cars he built/ran with no drawbacks.

I can’t find Bosch W8LRs here in Green Acres…guess I’ll have to mail order.

#5

rrroadster wrote:

[quote] The first thing he said was that I threw my $$ away on the Bimmerworld wires. He said he always ran OEM wire sets in all the race cars he built/ran with no drawbacks.
[/quote]
BW’s price on aftermarket plug wires seems like a decent deal. This Posig guy doesn’t like BW plug wires why?

#6

I used whatever the cheapest plug wires set was from Pelican Parts. They are working great, but were expensive since they also include that sensor that goes on one of the plug wires. I use whatever the OEM spark plug is and don’t look back. When replacing them don’t install all 6 and then realize you forgot to unscrew the cap on the end.

#7

Bosch also make a full platinum plug, the WR8LP which suits the E30 325i and 325e engines perfectly. I run& recommend them in every M20B25 I’ve touched.

I had original BMW wires for a while, but the replacement cost from BMW in Australia, or even some of the OEM suppliers was stratospheric (that damned sensor cable!), so I got myself a set of the BW wires, which are a Kingsborne unit. Priced reasonably, and they come with a brand new wire carrier, and can come in a variety of colours.

#8

The “right” plug for the engine would be Bosch W8LCR. But those are NLA and have been replaced by W8LCR+, which is my opinion just don’t work as well. A good substitute for the W8LCR plugs are NGK Z6R5A plugs. But perhaps a better plug for a race engine would be Autolite AR53, which are a racing plug. The AR53’s and Z6R5A plugs are available from Advance auto parts, though they may have to order the Autolite plugs.

#9

Advance can get Autolite racing plugs. I recommend the AR53, and ONLY stock wires…there are no better available AND they are solid core where most aftermarket are not. Chuck

#10

Sounds like it is time for someone to buy a bunch of different company plugs and run a dyno test day swapping them out for some results. I nominate Chuck. You can sell the results to offset the cost of dyno time, haha.

#11

I run the BimmerWorld Wires. and IIRC they were cheaper than any OEM set I could find and you can get them in cool colors;)

#12

sounds like time for ranger to try out plug/wire combos :slight_smile:

#13

I have the IE plug wires on 2 of my e30s. I’m not really sure who makes them. I always order my plugs because the autoparts stores want to force you to buy the expensive junk. I think w8lcr are still available. The ones from the dealer that out of my turbo car right now are the correct ones. I ordered the set for my se30 from bavarian autosport and their website says they are w8lcr.