I just received a check engine light on my 1999 323i (e46). I went to Autozone to have them read the code, and got "cylinder 3 misfire." Due to this, I plan on replacing the #3 cylinder coil, as well as all 6 spark plugs. I will probably also replace the boot for #3 cylinder. Has anybody run across this issue in the past? Any advice? I plan to do the work myself, as I am mechanically inclined, and not interested in paying a dealership a terrific sum of money for a job I can do.
How many miles on the car? If you want, you can swap the #3 coil pack to a different cylinder and see if the misfire follows the coil. Otherwise you can do what you jsut mentioned.
This was mentioned to me as well by a trusted mechanic (unfortunately in a different state). The car has 171,800 miles on it.
At that age, replacing all the plug boots and plugs is not a bad idea in general. While in there you can swap the coil to a different hole and see if the misfir persists. You will not have wasted any money, because you should do the plugs and boots anyway. If the misfire is gone, no biggie. If the misfire moves with the coil, it is the coil. If the misfire stays, you have other issues.
I just got done talking my my step dad (ASE Mechanic) and he is ordering the plugs and plug boots for me. He cost is significantly cheaper than the dealer. He recommended not replacing the coil and just doing the plugs and boots. I think I may swap the coils like you recommended and see if it throws a code again. And yes, I am replacing all 6 plugs and boots.
Your dad's suggestion is valid coming from a mechanic. He would never want a customer to come back with the same problem. For DIY, though, take the cheap way out and see what happens. You can always order the coil too. Make sure he orders the proper recommended plugs (you can go to realoem.com for the part listing) not that generic Bosch platinum junk. IIRC they are NGK BPR7EQUP, but I may be wrong depending on the year. They will still cost him almost $10 each if he gets them from Napa or WorldPac (or whatever they use for a parts distributor there.)
Yeah, he is ordering the NGKs. They are costing him $6 each at his shop cost (vs. $22 that I would get from a dealer), and the boots are $9 each at his cost (vs. $20 each at the dealership). He always makes sure to get the OEM replacement parts. Either that, or he uses AC Delco, and after his 35 years of turning wrenches, he trusts Delco.
Well, this morning I replaced all 6 spark plugs, and all 6 tubes for the spark plugs and swapped the coil from cylinder #3(original misfire) to cylinder #2. When I began driving the car around, I noticed a misfire. When I got the new engine code read, it said "Cylinder #2 misfire." This lead me to replace the coil. I haven't driven it since, but I hope that solved the problem. Well, I am off to go fix my motorcycle, I am pretty sure the new coil will remedy the issue since the miss followed the coil. Thanks for the help moosehead.
No prob. I always prefer taking the time to verify the cause of the problem vs loading up the parts gun and firing. It takes a little more time, but sometimes you load the parts gun and get a very expensive miss.
I agree with you on that. I normally do that, I think I may have just jumped the gun a little bit. As it turns out, the car is now running pretty smooth. No more misses, YAY!!!! Anyway, thanks again for the help.
