QuestionDear Dan,
I have a serious problem with my 1989 BMW 535i SE (UK Spec).
I bought the car about 6 weeks ago. It started 1st time after having 'sat' for about a month. I drove about 1/2 a mile to get some gas, filled up, got back in, turned the key and 'nothing'. No cranking of the starter motor, no 'click' from the solenoid. At first I thought it might be an immobiliser issue, but after a phone call to the seller - he advised me there was no immobiliser. The garage gave me a jump-start from a battery pack, but still nothing - no crank, no click.
Eventually got the car started thanks to some helpful people giving me a 'push'. Drove home.
Car started/ran fine for 2 weeks after that. Then one day whilst out shopping - nothing. No 'click' no Crank. Got a push and tried a 2nd gear 'bump', car kinda started, but wouldn't 'catch' - sounded like it was running on only 1 cyclinder. Rolled to a stop, tried the key again and 'brumm' - no problems.
Drove home (no problems whilst driving), switched off. Tried to start again and again nothing. Took out the starter motor (not easy) and cleaned/greased all the interior 'gubbins'. Brushes look fine - no wear. Took the tiem to exchange the solenoid with that of my 1985 E30 320i (which is almost identical) - car started first time.
Started fine for over a week, then yesterday went shopping again, started/stopped the car successfully 4 or 5 times during the course of 1 hour. Then suddenly - nothing - again no 'click' from the solenoid and no 'crank' from the starter. Tried bump starting it again and again it tried to start but sounded like it was running crap and wouldnt 'catch'. Tried bump starting again, this time turning the key at the same time - starter was turning over, but it wouldnt start. Rolled to a stop, tried the key again and 'brumm' started no problem.
Drove home, turned off. Started, stopped, started, stopped - several times in a row - no problem. - But I fear driving the car - especially alone - as I might get stranded with no-one to help me push this 2 tonne beast - HELP!
AnswerRob,
I am not sure how much help I can be with this being a UK car. I assume being a 535 this is still a M30 motor which should not have an immobiliser. Basically all I can suggest is check the battery and alternator, it is possible if the car was a sitter trying to start on a low charge really hurts the brushes on the starter, they arc for too long trying to juice up. Then, for the love of crap, if you went to all that work getting the starter out replace it and the solenoid with a waranteed reman, not a autozone reman. Use a quality part that is likely to work when you use it. Beyond that it should crank even with a bad unloader (DME) relay but not fire. Maybe a cheaper and easier C.Y.A. part that will need to be replaced eventually anyway would be the electronic portion of the ignition switch. I am sure you know where that is but if not let me know and I'll describe where it is. And if you have the starter off again check the solenoid feed wire as far up the harness as you can, or figure out where it goes to and use an ohmeter to check resistance through the wire, it may be corroded in some spot and giving you resistance. Wiggle the wire all over the place while you are checking it to try and stimulate the trouble spot. Good luck, let me know if you stumble across something or if you can give me any more pointed info after some further diag. Good luck.
