More problems with Bosch spark plugs

[slacktide_bitog]

A guy over on the Hyundai Kona forums took out his engine by using Bosch plugs. Bosch said he did not torque the plugs correctly as they said the crush gasket was not crushed enough. It appeared to be crushed 80% of the way. The plugs were the right #. But that gave Bosch a way out. The new engine cost the owner $9,500 out of his pocket. If I remember right it dropped the porcelain and then everything dropped from there, all the shot peening in a hot mess of sparkplug guts. My plug of choice for the last 25 years has always been NGK and or HKS Racing Plugs (made by NGK for HKS) or Denso. Even though I have used Bosch many times in German cars. And then, on any turbo car I will only keep plugs for 30,000 miles.

That's funny, since Hyundai has used Champion knockoffs in their cars before

 

[el Nuke]

...motor craft for Ford's, ac Delco for gm, denso for Hyundai/Kia etc.

you left off E3 spark plugs, who gets to use those??

and before you say "no body!", I would like to go on record as saying the B&S engine in my push mower runs just fine with its E3 spark plug!

 

[Chris142]

With my experience with cars I advise you the following when it comes to spark plugs. Always always always use the spark plugs that are OEM for the vehicles engine. Examples: motor craft for Ford's, ac Delco for gm, denso for Hyundai/Kia etc. The OEM plugs were spec for the engine. Also do not gap iridium plugs. Also install spark plugs dry no anti seize.

I agree 100% but I'm just the installer. I put in what they give me

 

[Auto tech]

you left off E3 spark plugs, who gets to use those??

and before you say "no body!", I would like to go on record as saying the B&S engine in my push mower runs just fine with its E3 spark plug!

Great. Your push mower also doesn't have multiple modules and computers communicating in code to each other for stoichiometric mixture efficiency either. Modern vehicles are so complex any little variation can throw the whole system off. By the way I was not meaning to be rude.

 

[Egg_Head]

Older BMW's & MB's can be persnicky about which plug you use. A quick look at FCP Euro shows that you parts person got the correct Bosch plug best I can tell from the p/n and your image posted. However, interesting datapoint that the Bosch plug is $7.39/ea., the NGK is $10.99/ea and the price of the BMW OE is $23.29/ea.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/BMW-parts/X5/Spark-Plug/?keywords=spark plugs&partial=true&year=2008&m=1596&e=2024&t=5&b=11&d=728&v=

 

[Lockasiam]

you left off E3 spark plugs, who gets to use those??

i used them in my van and they perform alot better than the ones that were in there for 214k miles. i would've went with the champions but the e3's were a 6 pack on closeout which is exactly what i needed. at this point they're 30k miles used and it still runs fine

 

[Lockasiam]

Great. Your push mower also doesn't have multiple modules and computers communicating in code to each other for stoichiometric mixture efficiency either. Modern vehicles are so complex any little variation can throw the whole system off. By the way I was not meaning to be rude.

if i have a champion i pulled out of something else that's what I'd use, but if not then it gets an autolite

 

[Number_35]

@Chris142, where were the Bosch plugs made?

 

[Chris142]

@Chris142, where were the Bosch plugs made?

Says Germany on the box

 

[Urshurak776]

Never used Bosch. When I did the piston soak in my sons Kia Rio (Denso is OEM) I needed to swap his plugs. I had forgotten to buy them! Took out his Denso plugs and then went to Autozone and grabbed some Autolite iridiums. On sale, I think it was about $20 or so for the 4 pack (had a mail in rebate if I recall.) Gap was correct out of box and they worked just fine. Granted, he has only been running them about 7 months now.

 

[barryh]

I have not used a Bosch spark plug since the 1970s, when they were OEM on my boxer twin BMW motorcycle.

I would only trust NGK or Denso plugs.

Strangely enough many owners of 70's BMW Boxers today still think Bosch is the best plug for their bikes although the non resistor type is hard to find now so probably any they do find are old stock. I've used Denso for most of the 18 years I've had my 79 BMW.

 

[Chris142]

2 defects on the right

 

[02SE]

I brought up the fact that the plugs I removed were ngk . After the issue I told them to get me the exact ngk# I pulled out. I'm going to replace all 8 with ngk on Monday .

Hopefully they will soon understand how cheaping out on parts cost more in the end.

Hopefully you stressed buying them from a legitimate brick & mortar seller, not the likely counterfeit junk off of Ebay.

 

[Chris142]

Hopefully you stressed buying them from a legitimate brick & mortar seller, not the likely counterfeit junk off of Ebay.

We use worldpac for the most part.

 

[vwmaniaman]

Daughters 02bSentra would hesitate leaving a stop. Had Bosch Platinums. Pulled those and replace with Autolite coppers and hesitation was gone. They looked fine.

 

[Lockasiam]

I thought Bosch plugs were supposed to be good

 

[VWRand]

If it's a publicly traded company, you can bet your bottom dollar this is their approach to parts manufacturing.

Bosch is privately owned

 

[Lockasiam]

Bosch is privately owned

Can you purchase Bosch stocks?

 

[VWRand]

Can you purchase Bosch stocks?

That would be a no

 

[TiGeo]

Bosch in my Atlas's 3.6 VR6 a while back, no drama. NGK was what came out/in from factory.