Best distributor cap and rotor?

E28 technical advice asked and given! Troubleshooting, modifications and more.
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mosportgreen66
Posts: 1091
Joined: Jul 26, 2006 4:26 PM

Best distributor cap and rotor?

Post by mosportgreen66 »

Hi Gang,

What is your suggestion for best replacement distributor cap and rotor for '82 633csi with 5 speed?

Thanks,
Dan
Zeta
Posts: 153
Joined: Sep 07, 2017 12:33 PM
Location: Salt Lake City

Re: Best distributor cap and rotor?

Post by Zeta »

Assuming it’s the same for E24s, the OEM brands were Bosch and Bremi. I went with Bremi when I replaced mine a few years ago and it’s been good.
a2058
Posts: 38
Joined: Jun 02, 2022 12:12 PM
Location: New York, USA

Re: Best distributor cap and rotor?

Post by a2058 »

I would also recommend the Bremi brand. I had Bosch set before and it would build up carbon on the electrodes to the point that car will just crank and not start. I had to routinely get in there and sand off the carbon deposits. With Bremi, I never had that problem.
mosportgreen66
Posts: 1091
Joined: Jul 26, 2006 4:26 PM

Re: Best distributor cap and rotor?

Post by mosportgreen66 »

Thank you! I just purchased a Bremi cap and rotor for the car
camplo
Posts: 125
Joined: Dec 02, 2016 6:38 PM
Location: Bay Area

Re: Best distributor cap and rotor?

Post by camplo »

My car just started misfiring and has loss of power. I pulled my cap/rotor off just to check. Do you think this would be the cause?

https://imgur.com/a/GF2XACH
Zeta
Posts: 153
Joined: Sep 07, 2017 12:33 PM
Location: Salt Lake City

Re: Best distributor cap and rotor?

Post by Zeta »

That looks pretty bad! It certainly needs to be replaced, but I don’t know if there are other underlying problems that would cause it to get that bad.
Mike W.
Posts: 26872
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: California Whine Country

Re: Best distributor cap and rotor?

Post by Mike W. »

Oh man that's nasty. The rotor is rough, but the cap is far worse. Wear and tear, well, ok, not pretty, but comes with time. But all those deposits on the inside of the cap are likely conductive, meaning spark will want to find it's way down there. Yeah, replace them, see what happens and then report back.
tn535i
Posts: 5585
Joined: Jul 14, 2006 1:30 PM
Location: Middle Tennessee

Re: Best distributor cap and rotor?

Post by tn535i »

I'm late to recommend but I would say emphatically Bremi. I've never had a problem and recently put another set on my 535 dd.

On the other hand I've had no less than 2 Bosch rotors fail where the screws either loosened or the heads broke off causing all sorts of problems including once where the rotor got loose enough it destroyed the cap and the backshield on the M6. I think Bosch began sourcing somewhere where the screws were inferior metallurgy. Perhaps they fixed it but I don't trust them anymore.
camplo
Posts: 125
Joined: Dec 02, 2016 6:38 PM
Location: Bay Area

Re: Best distributor cap and rotor?

Post by camplo »

Mike W. wrote: May 08, 2023 12:30 AM Oh man that's nasty. The rotor is rough, but the cap is far worse. Wear and tear, well, ok, not pretty, but comes with time. But all those deposits on the inside of the cap are likely conductive, meaning spark will want to find it's way down there. Yeah, replace them, see what happens and then report back.
It took a while to wait for parts and then was out of town. Finally had a free moment to install the new cap/rotor. The car ran exactly the same :cry: . I went and pulled the #6 plug since it was the easiest accessible and turned out it was wet. Pulled #5 just to check and that one was fine. I put it back prepared to order new wires/plugs. Turns out after I went to check that same #6 wire, I did not fully seat it to the wire. I realized this when plugging in the other one and heard a click. I'm the dummy.
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