OBD-II Code · Ignition
P0361
Ignition Coil K Primary/Secondary Circuit
Severity
high
Left alone, this one tends to take other parts with it.
Can you drive it
Only if running normally
A short trip to a shop may be reasonable if the light is steady and the car runs normally. Stop safely for a flashing light, severe shaking, overheating, loss of power, or another urgent warning. The code alone cannot confirm safety.
Indicative cost (USD)
$200–$8,500
Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.
Cylinder 11 coil fault — V12 engines only.
How a shop works this
Work from evidence to part, not the other way round. A code names a circuit or a symptom; it does not name the part that failed.
Note every code that is set, not just this one.
Codes that appear together usually narrow the cause faster than any one of them read alone.
Read the freeze frame — the conditions the fault was recorded under.
Cold or warm, idle or load, road speed and engine speed. A fault that only appears cold is a different fault from one that only appears under load, even with the same code on the scanner.
Confirm the fault is current rather than history.
Clear the code and see whether it returns under those same conditions. A code that does not come back may have been logged during a repair, a flat battery, or a bad connection that has since been disturbed.
Then work the likely-causes list in the order shown.
That order is what a shop checks first for this code — wiring and connections before the component they run to, because a connector costs nothing to inspect and is a common answer.
If the code comes back after a repair, the underlying fault is still there. That is the point to bring in a scanner with live data and freeze-frame, or a shop that has one.
Common symptoms
- Misfire cyl 11
- Check engine light
- Reduced power
Likely causes
- Failed COPMost common
- Heat-soak batch failure
Read the full diagnostic procedureP0361 is the cylinder 11 ignition coil primary/secondary circuit fault — V12 engines only (BMW N73/N74 7-Series and Rolls-Royce, Mercedes M275/M279 S…
P0361 is the cylinder 11 ignition coil primary/secondary circuit fault — V12 engines only (BMW N73/N74 7-Series and Rolls-Royce, Mercedes M275/M279 S-Class and AMG, Ferrari V12s, Lamborghini Aventador V12, Aston Martin V12, Jaguar/Daimler V12, Audi W12 — though the W12 numbers cylinders by W layout, it can also throw codes 1-12).
Cylinder 11 location
on BMW N73/N74 V12 it's bank 2 (cylinders 7-12) fifth position, on Mercedes M275/M279 V12 it's bank 2 fifth position, on Ferrari V12 (F140 family in 599/F12/812) it's bank 2 toward the rear, on Lamborghini Aventador L539 V12 it's bank 2 toward the rear, on Audi W12 it depends on the W6+W6 layout convention. Cheapest-first diagnostic: swap the cylinder 11 coil with a known-good same-part-number coil from a front-bank position, clear codes, run a drive cycle. Code follows = coil replacement (V12 coils run $80-$400 each OE). Code stays at cylinder 11 = trigger wire integrity check, B+ feed verification (12.0-12.6V static, 13.5-14.5V running), ground voltage drop under 0.1V, scope the ECM trigger pulse. On any V12 platform, single-coil failure on a high-mileage car is essentially always the leading edge of a full-set failure pattern — Bosch and Eldor coils across BMW N74, Mercedes M275, and Lamborghini L539 all age in batches.
Vehicle-specific patterns2009-2019 BMW 760Li N74 6.0L twin-turbo V12 / Rolls-Royce Ghost-Phantom N74B66 cylinder 11 P0361 from Bosch coil failure — N74 service requires remov…
- 2009-2019BMW 760Li N74 6.0L twin-turbo V12 / Rolls-Royce Ghost-Phantom N74B66 cylinder 11 P0361 from Bosch coil failure — N74 service requires removing the entire engine cover assembly to access bank 2 rear, and BMW SI covers full-set replacement at any failure above 60K miles.
- 2006-2013Mercedes S600/CL600/SL600 M275 5.5L V12 BiTurbo cylinder 11 P0361 — coils sit under massive engine covers, full-set replacement plus coil-on-plug boots is standard at this failure point.
- 2012-2021Lamborghini Aventador L539 6.5L V12 cylinder 11 P0361 — full powertrain access requires removing the rear engine bay glass and cover ($1,200-$2,500 labor before parts); coils are Bosch, OE only.
- 2012-2017Ferrari F12berlinetta / 2017-2024 812 Superfast F140 V12 cylinder 11 P0361 — Ferrari authorized service only on warranty cars; coils are Magneti Marelli OE.
Estimated repair$200 (single coil on M275 done easy) to $8,500+ (Aventador full coil set with labor).
Look up another code
P0361 — frequently asked
What does a P0361 code mean?
Cylinder 11 coil fault — V12 engines only.
What causes a P0361 code?
Common causes: Failed COP; Heat-soak batch failure.
What are the symptoms of a P0361 code?
Typical symptoms: Misfire cyl 11; Check engine light; Reduced power.
Is it safe to drive with a P0361 code?
Only if running normally. A short trip to a shop may be reasonable if the light is steady and the car runs normally. Stop safely for a flashing light, severe shaking, overheating, loss of power, or another urgent warning. The code alone cannot confirm safety. Estimated repair: $200-$8,500.
How do I diagnose a P0361 code?
Work from evidence to part, not the other way round. A code names a circuit or a symptom; it does not name the part that failed. 1. Note every code that is set, not just this one. 2. Read the freeze frame — the conditions the fault was recorded under. 3. Confirm the fault is current rather than history. 4. Then work the likely-causes list in the order shown.
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