Should I be concerned?

3

35ROK

Member
Location
Socal
Car
2013 BMW 335is
Just changed out my spark plugs at 80k. Took the old ones out and noticed some oil on the threads. Should I be concerned? Here are some pictures.
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Yes. Mine was doing the same and it was an oil consumption issue (known to occur on the VQ35) - it was around the same mileage (65 or 70k)
two of mine were much worse (still "wet")
check valve cover seals etc. you may need to replace.
 
Thanks for the heads up! Although i'm curious whether I should do anything about it at this point since i haven't noticed any oil consumption between oil changes. Guess I should research how big of a job it is first.
 
If the valve cover seals the problem, you will see oil pooled in the spark plug hole. Your plugs body looks clean. I doubt there any leaky seals.
 
la_fx35 said:
If the valve cover seals the problem, you will see oil pooled in the spark plug hole. Your plugs body looks clean. I doubt there any leaky seals.
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You're right! There was no oil on the body at all! Good to know! I had a honda prelude that had oil on the body...ruined my spark plug socket by making it all oily and slippery!
 
Mine looked like that as well. Unless you see oil in the cylinder it's probably normal. If they still looked new you would have no reason to change them. :wink:

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Yeah, mine looked like that too. I think it's just oil vapor or something. I think every car I've owned has plugs that look like that when I change, some worse than others, but none had valve cover leaks. If you pull your intake manifold, there will probably be a little oil in there from blow by.
 
I assume it's just the tolerances in the threads leaving enough room for stuff to work it's way up there, but not past the metal washer.
 
Sorry, I looked at this on my mobile.

If they are "wet" on the bottom and not just burned looking, thats when yoiu need to worry.

if I were you I would just change them!
 
Here's a great link for you.
From your pictures, I'd say they look normal.

Just change them out and make sure you gap them to 1.1mm and torque them down to spec. That should be 24.5Nm
 
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