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      10-15-2020, 11:27 AM   #1
M FUELED
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Lag in car. Recommended spark plug change by Dealership

So I took my N55 M2 to the dealership on some minor issues also including that I felt a lag on the car. Felt slower and sluggish than normal. I have an Eventuri CAI which has given me a CEL since I’ve installed it about a year ago and figured it might be normal since it’s aftermarket. After the install of the CAI I thought I felt the car a bit sluggish but didn’t pay much attention to it thinking it was just in my head. Now the dealer is saying that the technician mentioned that they did feel a lag and they recommend changing out the spark plugs, $475. They didn’t specify and I didn’t ask(forgot to) if it was The total for parts and labor. He said if the spark plugs didn’t fix the lag issue, that they would move on to replacing the coils. My maintenance warranty ran out in April 2020 so I’m SOL and would have to pay out of this out of pocket.

Could it be that it does need spark plugs? Could it be that there is a leak on the CAI? Or could it be that my charge pipe has cracked and has an air leak?

If I could save the money by avoiding spark plugs and possible coils change that would be great.

By the way car is at approximately 26k miles.
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      10-15-2020, 12:31 PM   #2
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What are the benefits of this intake again?

I mean besides giving a CEL, making the car feel sluggish and costing a bucket of money?

On a more serious note, the spark plugs are probably due for a change anyway so you should still consider doing this.
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      10-15-2020, 12:58 PM   #3
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You know, obd2 diagnostics exist for a reason. It's quite simple to log our cars to check if there are misfires. Pisses me off that dealerships are still recommending parts changes without doing tests first.
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      10-15-2020, 02:31 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M FUELED View Post
So I took my N55 M2 to the dealership on some minor issues also including that I felt a lag on the car. Felt slower and sluggish than normal. I have an Eventuri CAI which has given me a CEL since I’ve installed it about a year ago and figured it might be normal since it’s aftermarket. After the install of the CAI I thought I felt the car a bit sluggish but didn’t pay much attention to it thinking it was just in my head. Now the dealer is saying that the technician mentioned that they did feel a lag and they recommend changing out the spark plugs, $475. They didn’t specify and I didn’t ask(forgot to) if it was The total for parts and labor. He said if the spark plugs didn’t fix the lag issue, that they would move on to replacing the coils. My maintenance warranty ran out in April 2020 so I’m SOL and would have to pay out of this out of pocket.

Could it be that it does need spark plugs? Could it be that there is a leak on the CAI? Or could it be that my charge pipe has cracked and has an air leak?

If I could save the money by avoiding spark plugs and possible coils change that would be great.

By the way car is at approximately 26k miles.
When you're out of pocket on costs, never trust the dealer to do an investigation. Dealerships aren't designed to be cost efficient. Go to a reputable independent shop that specializes in BMWs, or get yourself an OBD2 scanner. See if there are codes that can provide you with insight before you start throwing parts at the problem.
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      10-15-2020, 03:02 PM   #5
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I literally just came from the dealer, and here's what he told me.

The spark plug change is at 35K, and costs $550 (with labor), but he did it for me now (at 15K) so it would be free (my plan is up in December).

He mentioned nothing about spark plugs being NEEDED at 35K miles, just that it was preventative, most say 60K miles.

I'd say your problem isn't plugs.

But if it is, I'd say that you can probably get them changed by any decent mechanic for a hell of a lot less than $475 or $550. The plugs themselves are what, $150? $475 and $550 is highway robbery...
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      10-15-2020, 03:27 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VisualEcho View Post
I literally just came from the dealer, and here's what he told me.

The spark plug change is at 35K, and costs $550 (with labor), but he did it for me now (at 15K) so it would be free (my plan is up in December).

He mentioned nothing about spark plugs being NEEDED at 35K miles, just that it was preventative, most say 60K miles.

I'd say your problem isn't plugs.

But if it is, I'd say that you can probably get them changed by any decent mechanic for a hell of a lot less than $475 or $550. The plugs themselves are what, $150? $475 and $550 is highway robbery...
Especially being a inline6, the plugs are easy to get to. I think the back one is a little difficult, but there is an access hatch and you can use a swivel socket to make it easier. It's one of the reasons I liked the M2. Because my previous car has a transverse v6, and the tune made it blow coil packs/plugs every couple years, and was a pain to replace those rear plugs/coils.
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      10-15-2020, 03:40 PM   #7
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Eventuri claims some HP/TQ gains on their dyno but honestly I did it more for the look under the hood. But if the lag is being caused by the CAI then I will most definitely just get rid of it.

I will be running a diagnostic myself, not sure why I haven’t done one lately. This dealership is pretty small with about maybe 10 cars in stock and 3 loaners which is why they denied me one lol.

This is exactly what I was thinking(dealer not being cost efficient). The service guy seemed real pushy on getting the spark plugs ordered already even though I was telling him I would let him know in about a week if I would be going through with it.

I’ll first try to check the connections on the CAI to make sure they’re fully sealed and test it from there and also run a diagnostic test. If the issue persists I’ll take it to indie shop to See what they recommend and perhaps have them do the spark plugs, chargepipe I’m getting in mail today and catless downpipe I got the other day.

Thanks for the help guys.
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      10-15-2020, 03:42 PM   #8
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I saw a video earlier today on how to change them. It does look fairly easy with the exception on the one closest to the firewall. Hopefully the indie shop won’t charge much if not I’ll try to tackle the spark plug change myself.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony1s View Post
Especially being a inline6, the plugs are easy to get to. I think the back one is a little difficult, but there is an access hatch and you can use a swivel socket to make it easier. It's one of the reasons I liked the M2. Because my previous car has a transverse v6, and the tune made it blow coil packs/plugs every couple years, and was a pain to replace those rear plugs/coils.
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      10-15-2020, 04:49 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M FUELED View Post
Eventuri claims some HP/TQ gains on their dyno but honestly I did it more for the look under the hood. But if the lag is being caused by the CAI then I will most definitely just get rid of it.

I will be running a diagnostic myself, not sure why I haven’t done one lately. This dealership is pretty small with about maybe 10 cars in stock and 3 loaners which is why they denied me one lol.

This is exactly what I was thinking(dealer not being cost efficient). The service guy seemed real pushy on getting the spark plugs ordered already even though I was telling him I would let him know in about a week if I would be going through with it.

I’ll first try to check the connections on the CAI to make sure they’re fully sealed and test it from there and also run a diagnostic test. If the issue persists I’ll take it to indie shop to See what they recommend and perhaps have them do the spark plugs, chargepipe I’m getting in mail today and catless downpipe I got the other day.

Thanks for the help guys.
the "diagnostic" you need to do is go back to stock CAI and see if that changes things. That's the easiest thing to do
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      10-15-2020, 11:28 PM   #10
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True. But I think I may have found the problem possibly and hopefully. Driving back home from the dealership, I had it on sport+ and would occasionally floor it with no problem other than the lag I’ve already mentioned. Nothing new. That was about a 40 minute drive. I stopped at parents before heading home for about an hour. On my way home, which is about a 20 minute drive, again on sport+ I did a hard acceleration from 3rd to 4th gear(DCT) and heard a loud AF pop which scared the heck out of me because I thought the worst. I tried accelerating to see how the car would react and only the RPM’s would move quickly as if I had it on neutral. The MPH would slowly move, matched by my cars acceleration, a freakin Prius could’ve swooshed by me. I drove about 1 more minute to get to my house. The car sounds a lot louder than usual. Accelerates at speed of about 10% (Don’t quote, me just threw out a random number) of what it should. And check engine light is on. Based on what I just read on a couple of posts on the forum, it sounds like the chargepipe gave out.

I just find it a bit weird that it happened on the first day ever that I take it into a dealership, when I’ve driven that car slow like a grandma and to its full potential with the only “performance” part being the CAI.

Dealership did change out the fuel tank ventilator. I don’t know if this has anything to do with the incident that happened earlier.


Quote:
Originally Posted by nioh_lbbm2 View Post
the "diagnostic" you need to do is go back to stock CAI and see if that changes things. That's the easiest thing to do

Last edited by M FUELED; 10-16-2020 at 02:22 AM.. Reason: Grammatical errors
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      10-16-2020, 12:36 AM   #11
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If you need good diagnostics get yourself an MHD enet adapter for $69 (yes it is expensive but here's why it is worth it) then you can do the following:

1) Use it with any length ethernet cable you desire and that allows you to get an enet cable that works with ISTA (bmw's factory diagnostics software and much better than any garbage obd2 scanner), and you also can use it with esys for coding. Both of these softwares are free.

2) You can use the MHD adapter with MHD's logging software aka the monitor module allowing you extremely fast data logging of critical parts of your car.

3) The MHD adapter works with other apps like: XHP transmission flashing, thor (drive train flashing), bimmer code, bimmer link, MHD's tuning software.

So essentially one adapter fitting all your needs instead of having to buy: an enet cable, blue tooth adapter for the apps, and a k+dcan cable for mhd flashing.
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      10-16-2020, 02:23 AM   #12
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Thank you, I’ll definitely consider this

Quote:
Originally Posted by F87source View Post
If you need good diagnostics get yourself an MHD enet adapter for $69 (yes it is expensive but here's why it is worth it) then you can do the following:

1) Use it with any length ethernet cable you desire and that allows you to get an enet cable that works with ISTA (bmw's factory diagnostics software and much better than any garbage obd2 scanner), and you also can use it with esys for coding. Both of these softwares are free.

2) You can use the MHD adapter with MHD's logging software aka the monitor module allowing you extremely fast data logging of critical parts of your car.

3) The MHD adapter works with other apps like: XHP transmission flashing, thor (drive train flashing), bimmer code, bimmer link, MHD's tuning software.

So essentially one adapter fitting all your needs instead of having to buy: an enet cable, blue tooth adapter for the apps, and a k+dcan cable for mhd flashing.
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      10-16-2020, 02:44 AM   #13
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Thank you, I’ll definitely consider this
No problem, that way you won't be at the mercy of a dealership telling you to swap everything.
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