MK7 GTI Ignition Coil Guide: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Replacement & Best Options

Ignition Coils are an important part of your engine, which converts the low voltage of the battery in your GTI, to the much higher voltage needed to create a spark in your engine.  The ignition coils on your MK7 GTI sit on top of the engine, and you have 1 coil per cylinder (4 total). 

Purchase - Ignition Coil for MK7/MK7.5 GTI

Purchase - Spark Plugs MK7 GTI

Purchase - Spark Plugs MK7.5 GTI

Symptoms of Failing Ignition Coils on your MK7 GTI

• Engine Misfires
• Check Engine Light (Flashing Generally Indicates Misfire)
• Rough Idle
• Hesitation Under Acceleration
• Fault Codes - P0300, P0301, P0302, P0303, P0304 “Cyl 1,2,3,4, or Random Misfires”

How To Diagnose a Bad MK7 GTI Coil – How to Video

• Scan the faults to determine which cylinder is misfiring (if any) - Scan Tool Required 
• Swap Ignition coils from a Non Misfiring cylinder into a Misfiring cylinder
• See if the misfire moves from one cylinder to the other.

To perform this diagnosis, you will need at least a basic code reader to allow you to see if you have misfire codes specific to a cylinder.  A VW/Audi specific scan tool like OBDeleven will allow you to monitor misfire details by each individual cylinder, thereby allowing you to more accurately diagnose the vehicle, but this isn’t required.

How to Remove, Replace or Swap MK7 GTI Ignition Coils – How to Video on Plugs & Coils

Tools Required – 10mm Socket, Ratchet, 10mm Wrench (could be substitiuted for thin pliers), Ignition Coil Puller

• Remove Engine Cover
• Remove Ignition Ground Eyelet next to each coil (Remove 10mm nut: Thin 10mm wrench required to hold ignition coil mounting screw from spinning)
• Unclip all ignition Coil Connectors and push back off of coils
• Pull Up Ignition Coil to Remove (Ignition Coil Tool recommended)
• Swap or Replace Ignition Coils.

Which Ignition Coils NOT to purchase

Aftermarket unbranded ignition coils online from Ebay/ Amazon, as well as local parts store coils are known to fail shortly after installation.  In the case of local parts store, you also tend to pay a higher price for a lower quality part. 

Even worse if your misfires persist after using aftermarket ignition coils and you bring your vehicle to a specialty shop, they are going to want you to install known good quality ignition coils in your car before going deeper into diagnosis. 

European Ecommerce vendors are generally only going to offer the trusted ignition coil manufacturers who make ignition coils for VW/Audi.  These are generally brands like Bosch, Eldor and Beru.  These manufacturers or the Genuine VW ignition coils should be your go to if you don’t want to replace your ignition coils again in a few months.

Purchase - Genuine VW Ignition Coil

Purchase - Beru Ignition Coil

This Information Applies to 

2015 GTI Ignition Coils

2016 GTI Ignition Coils

2017 GTI Ignition Coils

2018 GTI Ignition Coils

2019 GTI Ignition Coils

2020 GTI Ignition Coils

2021 GTI Ignition Coils