Questions and Answers

Mercedes Benz S430 Spark Plugs Q. Hi Vincent, A couple of months ago I purchased a 2000 Mercedes Benz S430, and my 20 plus years of experience working on cars went out the window. Every little thing on this car is different, even oil filter!!! Now I know how my wife feels when she opens the hood. Anyway, I now have 70,000 miles on it and wanted to do some maintenance.

As I was changing the air filters I noticed 8 spark plug wires going to each side of the engine, for a total of 16 spark plugs. This wasn't a surprise, as I once owned a Nissan 200SX that also had two spark plugs per cylinder. However, when I went to buy the spark plugs, I was told that this car takes only 8.

Well, which one is it? Does the car take 16 spark plugs and, if so, are they all the same (on the Nissan the intake ones were different from the exhaust ones). If it takes only 8, which wire do I need to pull and does it pull like normal (standard) wires?

Thanks,
Joseph

A. There are two spark plugs for each cylinder. Each cylinder has it's own coil with two spark plug leads to plug into the two spark plugs for each particular cylinder. All the spark plugs are the same. Bosch is preferable since they are OEM.

Bosch F 8 DPER

Beru 14 FGH 8 DPUR X 2

NGK PFR 5-11