i usually give them a change every 45k but at every 10k i take them out and run a extra fine grit sand paper in the gap to get what ever deposits are on there and i use a little electrical grease on the end that gets the coil/plugwire

 

PPG, I purchased mine as said from AA back in December after I got the car, with a slew of other parts needed to be changed.
Next time I will certainly buy the cheaper NGK platinum ones.

Anyway, what I listed was a quick pick from AutoZone of alternatives to the supposedly "better" Pulstars. As far as the three mentioned, I don't make any claims that all 3 kinds perform the same. I have neither an inclin, nor the money to perform experiments on which plug is better...
My car idles smooth with the Bosch Plat +4, so there's no way I would spend $ 25 for A Pulstar plug..

 

As long as the plugs are properly gaped, there really is no difference among different plugs. As Bob Martin said, typically better plugs provide longer life. That's about it. Even with multi prong plugs, there will only be 1 prong that actually works at each firing.

With that said, I heard cases where Bosch multiprong plugs failure in BMW applications. NGK seems to be better for multiprong plugs. I can't comment on E3 and stuff. Just the factory NGK 2 prong will do fine.

 

i ran a set of BOSCH platinum +2's in my 93 325i VANOS, and had nothing but problems. the car would barely idle, and ran like hell. switched to ngk copper cores, and she ran like a raped ape. i'll be changing whatever plugs the previous owner had in my 99 a4 1.8t this week, prolly swapping with ngk's...i'll keep everyone posted

 

I run (as said before) in my C4 Bosch +4. Two days ago I re-fueled. On my last tank I got 25.1 MPG - 440 miles mostly @ 66 MPH on cruise (40 miles @ 90-95 MPH; I was running late Sunday morning because of my stupid "atomic" clock, which changed back to normal time due to DST preset dates).

Yesterday I had to make a longer, 296 miles round trip @ 70 MPH and I refueled when returning - 24.8 MPG.
I don't know about the Bosch-BMW relationship, but my crappy C4 feels happy with the Platinum +4, despite a valve cover leak...

Next time I'll use the NGK Platinum (those cheaper ones), just for ***** and giggles to see if it makes a difference (which I doubt would do)

 

Chefro, what I know about bosch multi prong plugs is that the prong thickness is thinner than the NGK ones.

Here is the Bosch FGR7DQE+


And here is the NGK BKR6EQUP


As you can see the prong on the NGK is definitely thicker. Anyways, what I meant to say is that Bosch, in some cases after prolonged use had their prongs break off in many BMW application. And the reason that I know about it is because I used to own an E39 wagon. I do have to admit though... I HEARD about these cases, and never experienced it myself.

Anyways I have the NGK BKR6EQUP plugs in my car. And no it is not for performance reason. The only reason was the longevity of the multi-prong plugs compared to the single prong of the same material.

 

I neither was trying to antagonize anybody, nor to have a "spark plug war" .
Was just trying to share MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with the Bosch Platinum +4 spark plugs used in an AUDI A6. That's all.
I didn't direct my post to you (I know you mentioned first about Bosch-BMW combo), but was more of a come-backer for the previous poster and his... BMW experience.

(By the way, I run NGK's in my Elantra - the other OE option being Champions... I used Bosch +2 in Elantra and was running much poorer than with OE plugs. So probably there's something about the +2 ones that doesn't sit well with some cars...)

 

Personally, I think you need a good ignition set up (coils, wires) to run the +2. +3, and +4's. If you look at the gap(s), you can see it'll take quite a bit of energy to get it to spark correctly all the time. Weak setups would prolly tend to misfire more.. kinda like having too wide a gap in the boosted 1.8.

 

Chefro, I wasn't trying to start a heated conversation or anything... I was just sharing my experience. Sorry if I came off the wrong way.

 

Dont mind Chefro.. he's been working so much he doesnt get a chance to do his real passion, cooking, anymore...