Getting new coils - cost etc....

[Dathaeus]

So I had to get a new coils previously because of the aforementioned shimmy and loss of power in the engine, that fixed it.

Most people said I should replace all 6, not just the one.

So I got another guy to get in the other 5, and also replace the air filter, and he quoted me $720 parts and labor.

Isn't that a little high for an indy, even tho he said he will use Bosch parts? I heard this is a pretty simple job.

The previous guy charged me $

And where is the best place to get the coils if I were to do this myself... ECS?

[Galapolis]

I would get these: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-direct-ignition-coil-eldor-12138657273

Bosch will not work.

Takes about 10 minutes to replace the coils. You literally just take them out and push the new ones in. No screws other than the beauty cover.

[Dathaeus]

So just for me to judge these robbers, what is a fair price to say replace all 6 to make it easy, in labor?

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[Galapolis]

So just for me to judge these robbers, what is a fair price to say replace all 6 to make it easy, in labor?

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Anyone competent can get it done in under 30min. My old Indy would have charged $40 for 30min of work.

[Dathaeus]

Aren't you also supposed to get new plugs with coils? Or optional

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[Galapolis]

Aren't you also supposed to get new plugs with coils? Or optional

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You don't have to but if you haven't replaced either and one needs attention, the other is probably due too.

[Vas]

Eldor coils and ngk plugs. Easy diy. Source the parts from fcpeuro

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[az3579]

$720 sounds like a total ripoff.

If your shop accepts customer supplied parts, I would order the parts yourself and supply them. They might be quoting you Genuine BMW ones, which are excessively expensive at more than $60 a piece. The one Galapolis posted is a good one to buy, and that comes out to less than $190 for the set vs over $360-400+ for a Genuine BMW set and is probably of a better quality (depending on what brand BMW is using nowadays).

Honestly, it's pretty easy to do this yourself. If you've never done it before, then you can probably knock it out in less than an hour and a half taking time to read a DIY as you go, but for a seasoned veteran, it would probably take about 30 minutes.

It is generally good practice to replace spark plugs at the same time as part of a "tune up". If they haven't been done yet then get those replaced as well. Expect to pay about $60-70 after taxes for a set of the NGK BKR6EQUP plugs. These will add about 15-20 minutes for a novice and probably about 5-10 for someone proficient (taking their time) to the total labor time for DIY.

[Dathaeus]

$720 sounds like a total ripoff.

If your shop accepts customer supplied parts, I would order the parts yourself and supply them. They might be quoting you Genuine BMW ones, which are excessively expensive at more than $60 a piece. The one Galapolis posted is a good one to buy, and that comes out to less than $190 for the set vs over $360-400+ for a Genuine BMW set and is probably of a better quality (depending on what brand BMW is using nowadays).

Honestly, it's pretty easy to do this yourself. If you've never done it before, then you can probably knock it out in less than an hour and a half taking time to read a DIY as you go, but for a seasoned veteran, it would probably take about 30 minutes.

It is generally good practice to replace spark plugs at the same time as part of a "tune up". If they haven't been done yet then get those replaced as well. Expect to pay about $60-70 after taxes for a set of the NGK BKR6EQUP plugs. These will add about 15-20 minutes for a novice and probably about 5-10 for someone proficient (taking their time) to the total labor time for DIY.


Found a guy who will charge total labor of $160 for both the 5 coils and the rear shock replacement, thats not that bad right... totally worth the payment if that will save me tons of time and angst because with a 2003 there can always be something that goes wrong and I just dont have the time or can afford not to have a car in the morning to go to work.

[az3579]

That sounds more like it... If anything, cheaper than I would expect.

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[Dathaeus]

That sounds more like it... If anything, cheaper than I would expect.

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Ya me too actually...my neighbor better be right... then again unless he is a douche, card to screw up this job, should be a good intro to him... if it works out, awesome.

[Dathaeus]

The higher priced mech that I used before, called me again and seems like he really wants to help (or he is desperate for work but I am not sure if that is the case, he's pretty successful and pretty busy usually and has worked on e46 for a long time) and he quoted me $250 labor only for installing the 5 coils, and just cleaning the plugs he actually put in just over a year ago during a full tuneup, said I should replace them but he will just clean it and be done with it if I am hurting for cash now.

AND he said included in that labor he will clean the throttle body, which he said should be done anyways while doing this.

It seems like he is basically having some "minimum charge amount" to come out and do work so instead of charging like less than $100 for what the other cheaper guy wants to do, he wants to charge higher and add more service to the price... Just quick background, last time he was a little stand-offish, my neighbor told me he was going through some real tough patches in hie life, but now he is better, so maybe this is the real him... even said call him back anytime with questions (kinda sucks he is bad at texting, not really into talking on the phone and taking side notes somewhere) so he seems to be really nice and accommodating... hence the higher cost, hmmmmmmmm....

IF I really do need the plugs and throttle body cleaned, I think it's still high compared to the $160 total for the other guy installing the coils and shock... only variable is the new guy, I haven't used yet so there's that big variable.

What do you think?

[az3579]

You seem to be very concerned about a small (in the grand scheme of things) cost difference, so it sounds like you'd be more after what you'd get the most value from. Considering the cheaper guy will do the shocks in addition to the coils for less money, it sounds like going with him may offer you more value. While cleaning the throttle body is never a bad thing, it's usually not that necessary as it's not a common cause for problems on our platform, so I would find better value with someone who would replace the shocks (which are actually broken) and the coils versus someone who's only replacing the coils and cleaning a throttle body (which isn't causing an issue at this time).

If it was me, I'd rather just do the work myself because these are easy jobs to tackle, but if I wasn't in the position to do that, then I'd go with the cheaper guy only because to me, his included work provides more value to me at that moment.


The thing is, there is something to be said of someone who does quality work, and that can only be determined if you do your research. So, while the guy who charges $250 for just coils may charge a fair bit, he may do really good work and do a quality job. I don't know how any of these guys operate, but there is a thought that rings true... "You're not paying me for the half hour it takes me to do the job, you're paying me for all the experience I have that allows me to get it done in half hour." If he can do the work well and do it quickly, you could potentially have your car back faster if he did equivalent work to what the other guy does, which saves you time and potentially money (if your money is tied to time). Just another way to find value, and it's all dependent on what you value the most.

[Dathaeus]

You seem to be very concerned about a small (in the grand scheme of things) cost difference, so it sounds like you'd be more after what you'd get the most value from. Considering the cheaper guy will do the shocks in addition to the coils for less money, it sounds like going with him may offer you more value. While cleaning the throttle body is never a bad thing, it's usually not that necessary as it's not a common cause for problems on our platform, so I would find better value with someone who would replace the shocks (which are actually broken) and the coils versus someone who's only replacing the coils and cleaning a throttle body (which isn't causing an issue at this time).

If it was me, I'd rather just do the work myself because these are easy jobs to tackle, but if I wasn't in the position to do that, then I'd go with the cheaper guy only because to me, his included work provides more value to me at that moment.


The thing is, there is something to be said of someone who does quality work, and that can only be determined if you do your research. So, while the guy who charges $250 for just coils may charge a fair bit, he may do really good work and do a quality job. I don't know how any of these guys operate, but there is a thought that rings true... "You're not paying me for the half hour it takes me to do the job, you're paying me for all the experience I have that allows me to get it done in half hour." If he can do the work well and do it quickly, you could potentially have your car back faster if he did equivalent work to what the other guy does, which saves you time and potentially money (if your money is tied to time). Just another way to find value, and it's all dependent on what you value the most.

Yes true that, understood... I guess the uncertainty here comes from the fact that I have no clue how the new guy will do the job for cheaper...

I definitely agree that if a person is so good that he can do the job FASTER he should not be penalized for that so he can charge more per hour or just bill for the "average" time it takes to fix things plus some extra "adversity time".

[Dathaeus]

Seems like one more coil at least has failed, car is showing same symptoms as before, no as bad though, but now feel the shimmy and vibration and stuttering when accelerating... someone else said coils do not need to be all replaced at once somewhere else but that seems false unless this happens to just be really bad luck or coincidental.

Should I still just get 5 more of these and get them all replaced?
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-direct-ignition-coil-eldor-12138657273

I assume since that other failed one was replaced just a couple months ago, I dont need to do all 6...

And I think it'll be ok to do the spark plugs later after I take care of this and the shocks, maybe do it on the next full tuneup if thats ok.

[az3579]

Usually by the time coils fail, it's time to do all of them if they have close to 80-100k. It doesn't make sense to only replace one or two IMO. When one fails, another failure is usually soon behind it.

I treat coils as an "all or nothing" deal.

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[Dathaeus]

Usually by the time coils fail, it's time to do all of them if they have close to 80-100k. It doesn't make sense to only replace one or two IMO. When one fails, another failure is usually soon behind it.

I treat coils as an "all or nothing" deal.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using TapatalkI agree now LOL... Just wonder why few other people would say the opposite but I guess it's like anything else, even among "experts" some have different priorities on how things are done.

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[ZHPizza]

Fyi I had a zhp several years ago that would eat coils. I don't remember what the root issue was that was causing it, but I was going through them monthly. I think on the same cylinder. I know this isn't exactly helpful lol, but wanted to let you know you should make sure everything else is squared away (vacuum leaks etc) before you buy new coils and immediately burn one up again.

[Dathaeus]

Fyi I had a zhp several years ago that would eat coils. I don't remember what the root issue was that was causing it, but I was going through them monthly. I think on the same cylinder. I know this isn't exactly helpful lol, but wanted to let you know you should make sure everything else is squared away (vacuum leaks etc) before you buy new coils and immediately burn one up again.Hot dang.... Thanks... Just gets better all the time doesn't it

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