Installed Denso Plugs and Magnecor Wires - Pics
 

I decided to take some pics of this install. I called a few shops today and they wanted $350 to install this for me. I said screw it and went to Sears and bought a few essential items. (Longer Ratchet, Spark Plug Socket Set, and Angled 3/4 Adapter)

I don't think I could have finished the job without the angled adapter. In fact, it made life easy and the job took less than 3 hours.

Pics can be found HERE. If you want HighRes pics, then download the zip. Click here

If you have time to spare and want to save a few bucks, then this is a DIY job for sure. However, be prepared to get in positions that the wife can't get you into. :)

Pick up some mechanics gloves to save your knuckles and get the angled adapter to save time. There is a pic of the adapter in there somewhere.

Also, remove the distributors (6 in all). I tried to do it with them on and it wasn't going as planned. I took a pic of this as well.

Hope this helps....

I'm hoping to have the headers done in a week or two.... Stage 2 will then be complete.

Thank you for that post! Gives me motivation to give it a try myself. Doesn't look too bad from those pics.

I was hoping it would inspire more people to try it.

Thanks for the pics! So what's the verdict? Notice anything while driving?
Out of curiosity, how did your stock plugs look? How many miles on original plugs?

Keep an eye on those Magnecors, Ted Baldwin said his kept falling off so he gave up on um.

I just went EVO's...LOVE UM. Mechanic commented on how nice EVO did on them.

Good post and write up.

Um what plugs did you go with and post up what your old plugs looked like. Man I was like how come people are saying it's like over 120 dollars for plugs, now I know. It's freaken 2 plugs per cylinder.


That angled 3/4 adaptor you call is well known as a Universal Joint and it's probably 3/8" Universal Joint that you used, just wanting to clear that up.

It's raining here so I couldn't go all out, but I did notice that the car felt smoother and the top end was more "peppy". I hope it's not raining in the AM so I can do more testing.

The stock plugs look used, but not bad. The car has 39K so I hope they are still in decent shape.

I went with the IK-20's. I figured they would be my best bet since I'm going for Stage II and more.

Thanks for clearing up my description of the Universal Joint. I'm not a mechanic so some things might not always come out right.

Now you tell me! Anyone else have this issue??

i have a rough idle right now...

and i'm thinking the wires are not a tight fit

i can literally pull them off and on with my hands, with not much pressure.

I'm going to have the dealer check them out.. or it might be my battery.

Its weird.. when i'm on stop light and i'm holding the brake, the car jerks slighltly as the rpms drop more than normal.

any thoughts?

I thought that these were the wires to get. I hope they don't come off while I'm doing 80 down the freeway.

From what y'all described of the plug wires, maybe it's a loose connection.

Well, it's not raining today and I got to test the car a little more. Well, actually, I got to race an STI! (Link to Kill Story) I went to pick up some food for the wife and to test the car for the first time since I got the wires / plugs installed. I must say it is pulling more smoothly than ever. The car also wants more and I now feel obligated to give it wants. I posted a thread the other day about the performance issues that I think I have or had. At any rate, I was using a GTech pro for testing 0-60. It was saying before that I was doing 0-60 in 5.4 - 5.7 seconds. Today, I was able to stay under 5 easily. I know this device is not to be trusted, but it gave me a starting point for testing the wires and plugs. I have to recommend that you get this done ASAP. Even if the GTech was wrong before and wrong now, it is still showing a .7 second difference.

Thoughts?

Honestly, I'm amazed if you get any gain above 0.1 seconds and even that would shock me. I've been thinking about the evosport performance ignition upgrade which includes their 8mm wires and denso iridium plugs, but have thought its just a waste. Evosport themselves says you probably won't feel any improvement from this. Maybe I'll do this when I get the LSD installed by them.

Anyone, have any thoughts on the evosport ignition upgrade?

I have it. Very, very, very overpriced. Buy that parts on your own

I understand its over priced. I didn't buy a benz expecting it to be cheap to mod. What I'd like to know is if you think it adds anything. Also if one has Renntech mods would anyone think this is a bad idea since your mixing different tuner's mods or no since the evo thing really isn't much of a mod?

The evosport kit is the same thing as buying the plugs and wires elsewhere, so it add nothing more than buying the plugs and wires for less than half the price.

There is nothing wrong with mixing different vendors.

Do you happen to have a pic of the wires installed on your car. I'd imagine the evo stuff to be a little more tested and trustworthy then some other brand. What do you think the chances are of one of these wires or plugs going bad wether evo or some other brand?

If you have a C55 then Plugs/Wires will probably do nothing for you. If you have a C32 then the Denso Plugs are worth some upper RPM HP. Wires will gain you nothing unless your stock wires are bad.

Magnecore is a trusted, very well known brand. I'm not sure who makes the Evosport wires. I don't see any risk in using either. They're just wires, not much to em

I don't have a pic available. I'll try to snap one this weekend

So I take it on a C55 I shouldn't bother with this mod at all?

Unless you can find some C55 owners to chime in and say they got better performance from differnet sparkplugs then I would not bother until the stock plugs are due too be replaced.

yes...

a few wires are not connecting tight...

other are okay...

i'm thinking of keeping the k16's and buying a set of OEM wires...

I rather not mess with loose connections, specially in the winter.

it is probably just the connector inside the boot on each end of the wire. i would take a pair of needle nose pliers and crimp the connector a little more to see if that solves the problem before you buy another set of wires...just a thought

Ditto. If you already have the wires it's not hard to get a better fit if they aren't snappin on tight. Simple fix.