I allowed myself to be robbed by the dealership

[majordad]

I couldn't find any secondary spark plugs locally so I purchased them (2) from the dealership. Cost me $25 for two narrow little plugs.

[Silver Surfer/AKAButters]

Ouch!

[tjsven]

Sometimes you just have to pay the big price...

[Clive Liddell]

Yes, they are expensive!

 

But the Bosch FR6DDC that the dealer sells me last up to 40000km before they "wear" to more than 1mm gap, so if one averages the price out they are not too bad!

 

Never had one go bad on me either... YMMV

[E30TECH]

Sometimes you just have to pay the big price...

 

That is why some people don't support their dealers.

[Paul Mihalka]

If the price paid was the regular MSRP of the plugs, which I think it was, the problem is not the dealer. The margin between BMW MSRP and BMW dealer cost is small by industry standards.

[Davis]

Not that dealer part costs aren't sometimes overwhelming, the Bosch MSRP of the plugs is 12.25ea so in this case it isn't the OEM nature of the part driving up the cost. If you'd found them at Advance you'd probably only save about $5 on the pair.

[leikam]

On the other hand, it was BMW's decision to design heads that use expensive plugs. Maybe they had "no choice" given the other constraints, but BMW's decisions do drive some of the maintenance cost here.

[Davis]

It was BMW's decision to specify expensive plugs. What in their design prevents you from using $2 Autolite or Champion plugs in place of the $12 Bosch plugs?

[majordad]

if there is a substitute for the secondary plug then I wish someone would post it. I am using an off brand for the primary plug costing $1.77 each. I would gladly use something else for the secondary plug if it's available.

[Davis]

I don't have an 1150 so haven't tried any of these, but the Bosch YR6LDE crosses to

 

Autolite 4164

Champion RA8HC

Denso IXU22

NGK DCPR7E