OBD-II Code · Ignition
P0362
Ignition Coil L 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)
$250–$12,000
Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.
Cylinder 12 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 12
- Check engine light
- Reduced power
Likely causes
- Failed COP (most heat-soaked position)Most common
- Aged boots
Read the full diagnostic procedureP0362 is the cylinder 12 ignition coil primary/secondary circuit fault — V12 engines only (BMW N73/N74, Mercedes M275/M279, Ferrari V12, Lamborghini…
P0362 is the cylinder 12 ignition coil primary/secondary circuit fault — V12 engines only (BMW N73/N74, Mercedes M275/M279, Ferrari V12, Lamborghini Aventador, Aston Martin V12, Jaguar V12, Audi W12).
Cylinder 12 location
on BMW N74 V12 it's the very rear cylinder of bank 2 (firewall side), on Mercedes M275/M279 V12 it's bank 2 rear, on Ferrari F140 V12 it's bank 2 rearmost (toward the gearbox in the mid-engine 812 / front-engine F12), on Lamborghini Aventador L539 V12 it's bank 2 rear. This is the most thermally abused cylinder on any production V12 — rear of the rear bank, packed under engine covers, sitting on top of exhaust collectors. Cheapest-first diagnostic: swap the cylinder 12 coil with a known-good same-part-number coil from a front-bank position, clear codes, drive cycle. Code follows = coil replacement ($80-$400 OE). Code stays = trigger wire ECM-to-coil under 0.5 ohms, B+ feed 12.0-12.6V static / 13.5-14.5V running, ground drop under 0.1V, scope the trigger pulse. On any V12, P0362 specifically on cylinder 12 with the rest of the engine running clean usually still indicates a full-set replacement is appropriate above 60K miles — the rest of bank 2 is days behind. Do NOT use aftermarket coils on these engines under any circumstances; cascading misfires and ECM coil-driver damage from impedance mismatch are documented failure modes.
Vehicle-specific patterns2009-2019 BMW 760Li / Rolls-Royce Ghost-Phantom N74 6.0L TT V12 cylinder 12 P0362 from Bosch coil failure — full-set replacement is the only correct…
- 2009-2019BMW 760Li / Rolls-Royce Ghost-Phantom N74 6.0L TT V12 cylinder 12 P0362 from Bosch coil failure — full-set replacement is the only correct answer on a high-mileage N74; access requires removing engine covers and partial intake.
- 2006-2013Mercedes S600/CL600/SL600/Maybach M275 5.5L V12 BiTurbo cylinder 12 P0362 — heat-soaked rear-rear position, coil-on-plug boots also crack from heat; full-set + boots is the high-mileage repair.
- 2012-2021Lamborghini Aventador L539 cylinder 12 P0362 — rearmost cylinder against the gearbox, rear engine bay access ($1,500-$3,000 labor).
- 2002-2010Aston Martin V12 (DB9/Vanquish/DBS) 5.9L cylinder 12 P0362 from aged coils — Aston V12 is essentially two Ford Duratec V6s siamesed, and the rear-bank rear position is where heat-soak accumulates.
- 2002-2010BMW 760i N73 6.0L NA V12 cylinder 12 P0362 — predecessor to N74, same batch-failure coil pattern.
- 2017-2024Ferrari 812 Superfast F140 V12 cylinder 12 P0362 — Ferrari authorized service, Magneti Marelli OE coils, full powertrain inspection at failure point.
Estimated repair$250 (single coil on M275) to $12,000+ (Aventador or Ferrari V12 full coil set with rear engine access and OE parts).
Look up another code
P0362 — frequently asked
What does a P0362 code mean?
Cylinder 12 coil fault — V12 engines only.
What causes a P0362 code?
Common causes: Failed COP (most heat-soaked position); Aged boots.
What are the symptoms of a P0362 code?
Typical symptoms: Misfire cyl 12; Check engine light; Reduced power.
Is it safe to drive with a P0362 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: $250-$12,000.
How do I diagnose a P0362 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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