Nology Hotwires on a 1997 E36 318is

[DaleKP]

G'Day,
I have just finished fitting some Nology Hotwire ignition leads to my 1997 E36 318is and thought I would share a couple of tips for anyone looking to do the same. Firstly, I will answer the inevitable question "What the hell are Nology Hotwires?".

Rather than trying to explain and buggering it up, this is the good words direct from the suppliers site:

"Nology HotWires are the most technologically advanced ignition wires available. HotWires create the most powerful spark possible. HotWires are engineered with a special built-in capacitor, exclusive only to HotWires. This revolutionary design allows energy from the ignition coil to accumulate in the capacitor until the voltage at the spark plug electrodes reaches the ionization point.

At that split second point the entire power of the stored spark is discharged at once, creating a spark 300 times more powerful. The result is faster, more complete combustion, and most importantly, MORE HORSEPOWER that's 100%. Smog Legal."

I was supplied by Pelican Parts in the US and these guys are GOOD - very very very swift delivery to me here in Australia, Their customer service is fantastic, prices are good - I really cannot speak highly enough about these guys. Anyway, leads arrived in a box this morning.

Straight into the garage, and take off leads 1 - 4. I also found it easier to remove the leads if I unbolted the ignition coil pack from its mounts on the side of the suspension tower as well.

The first thing I saw was that the Nology leads were not going to fit in the same run as the standard leads - they were way too thick, so after removing the plug leads, I removed the ignition lead box / container from on top of rocker cover. It is held in with 4 clips on the side and lifts out very easily. Heres a couple of pictures of what I removed to better illustrate what I am talking about:





Anyway, after removing the covers, putting the leads onto the plugs was as easy as you'd expect. There is a catch though. The Nology leads come with a ground wire that has to be bolted to an earth. On the car, the only possible earth I could reach were the two 10mm bolts sitting in the centre of the rocker cover. Now when you remove these bolts, you'll see that they have a shank on them that securely holds in place a rubber washer. I would suggest that the rubber washer is to prevent oil leaks, so slipping the lugs onto that bolt and putting them between the rocker cover and the rubber washer just wasn't an option. As the straps came with solid lugs, the solution was to cut the end of the lug off and turn it into an open fork. I could then slip the straps onto the bolt between the head and the metal washer like this



After that it was a matter of tucking everything away. This is what the finished product looks like in my 318is







I want to keep the original parts "just in case" but if I can get another ignition lead carrier second hand, I may modify it by cutting large chunks away so I can still keep the "BMW" rocker cover in place.

Does it make the car faster? Who knows. I rely on the blurb I am supplied and will see if I am getting more mpg over the next few tankfulls. I would like to say it FEELS more responsive but I reckon I would get shouted down by some much more technically minded people telling me that my "Butt Dyno" isn't a reliable test

I'd like to think it works as advertised. It certainly doesn't cause any RFI of any kind on anything close by or in the car itself.

If you want to know more, take a look at http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/cata...ology_main.htm

[DaleKP]

OK one and all - for those that like the sound of the Hotwires but don't want to lose the cover..... I have successfully modded a cover to fit (after first ensuring Pelican Parts could supply me with a brand new one which should be in my hands very early this week for the paltry sum of USD $12.75)

Now I have done this step-by-step with pictures, but I must apologise for the quality of these pictures. They were taken with my iPhone 3GS, so not even a decent MegaPixel camera, but they are clear enough to be able to see what I have done and how I did it. So, on with the show.

First off, this is what we have as standard. Clearly the bulk of the Hotwires just will NOT fit at the back end of that cover.



The solution to start with then is to apply a hacksaw to the back end and remove the guide like so :-



You are still left with a lot of internal channels and guides. All you really need inside is the two posts that the top cover fastens on to. I used a hacksaw blade to get in and remove the guides and channels such as this one (I imagine there are a far more elegant solutions than flexible hacksaw blade.... but as this was in the nature of an experiment....)



Once you have removed the internal guides, channels and other uneccessary obstructions, and used some sandpaper to smooth down the cut areas, this is what you are left with:



The fun's not over yet though.... not only do you have to accommodate the thicker Hotwires, but there are those earthing straps as well...... The rear straps will happily go onto the rocker cover nut at the rear of the rocker cover as the now cut cover doesn't quite cover it, so they will fit with no further mod to the cover there.... HOWEVER, the front straps go onto the nut which sits directly under the front post of the cover. When you cut the channel away that is adjacent to the front post, you are left with a hole in the side of the cover anyway..... you need to enlarge that hole as follows:



Now disconnect the front earthing straps and feed them through the cover:



This will allow the earthing straps to fit onto that nut and enter from the side. The cover insert will now sit quite comfortably in the rocker cover. You can see the rear straps going at the back of the cover, the front ones entering through the side in the channel that has been cut:



Now to place the Hotwires into the cover insert. Yes, I KNOW it is a VERY blurred picture - clearly I was shaking with the excitement of actually having achieved it!! But you get the idea:



And the final piece... the top cover then locks back onto the modified cover insert with no problems at all, and you have your tidy engine back. You can JUST see the Hotwires peeking out the back of the engine.....just



There we go. Any questions, please please feel free to contact me, I am more than happy to share any and all experience of this and other mods I have done (....like fitting chrome trim rings to the gauges.... not as straightforward as you may think.....) that may be beneficial to others