steve2k

Hello peeps,

My brother has an intermittant problem with his 1996(P)E36 320I saloon. Basically sometimes it will start and sometimes it won`t,
The car engine still turns over fast when trying. He`s had it in BMW dealer and plugged into computer but no faults are shown. They say they have checked battery, alternater, plugs+leads, fuel pump, replaced various relays etc. Eventually if car does start it runs perfect.
Everyone so far seems to be scratching their heads as to what the problem is, so i`m asking for some proper help as you will probably know that it does`nt mean because they are dealers that they are the best.
Any suggestions would be great or if you have/had a BMW and experienced this then please let me know to cheer him up.

Regards
Steve

greasemonkey

Tell him to buy a Subaru

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

It's not like the Scoobs, in that if you touch the throttle when it's cold, before starting, it'll flood is it?
Get him to read tyhe manual on cold/hot starts, and make sure he's doing it EXACTLY as they say.

Alcazar

misty

Check the HT lead where it goes into th e coil! I had a 323i that did a similar thing. The end of the lead was all burnt due to arcing.
dave

Freak

ECU?
If it has got wet it can either dry out, blow totally, or exhibit some of the syptoms you mention ( from personal experience on my 3 series)

I had one go pop when it got wet- im told this a common problem....even from something like jetwashing or really heavy rain
Due to the stupid positioning of the ecu (its in a hatch behind the battery) higher pressure water can be forced into it and it basically f*cks it up...

In august mine blew completely and i had a real ball ache tracking down a replacement... Before it blew it was doing the same things as you describe
and last weekend in that real heavy rain it did the same although luckily it dried out and there is no damage this time.....

just another suggestion

deano555

Steve,
Sounds to me like it may have got cylinder bore wear, ask your brother to find out from his dealer if it has ever had the block and pistons replaced, they will be able to tell him this if he gives them the chasis no.
Lots of 6 and 8 cyl bm's had this problem from about 96 my to 99 and it was due to poor quality fuel damaging the cylinder bore coatings. The fix was to fit new block and pistons with steel liners. Your description of turning over fast points to low compression, which is what you get with cyl. bore wear.
Easy way to check next time it happens remove the spark plugs and put a squirt of oil down each plug hole to coat the bores and away she goes.
Hope this helps.
Deano

2pin

My mate also has this problem with his 523, the mechanic also said it is most probably due to cylinder wear. They can do a balance test or compression test at the garage to check it. My mates car has the extended waranty so even though it has done 120K miles he will be able to get a new engine.

Blackscooby

This is a useful page for the bore wear problem

http://www.lestac.co.uk/bmw/nikasil.htm

Steve Lawson

As has been stated above check the ECU the drains for the scuttle panel get blocked then the rain water gets into the ECU causing all manner of problems.Its only a couple of 8mm bolts to get the cover off.Then you can dismantle the ECU and see if you have water ingress.
Also double check on the bore wear you really need a cylinder leakage test to confirm this though.Usually shows up around the 60k mark.Seen cars be starting perfectly and showing no problems suddenly just not start when the bore wear kicks in.
Also crank sensors can be prone to intermittant failure but the above two suggestions wont cost a lot to check.

Hope the above helps

Steve

steve2k

cheers people.

Will let let him know your suggestions

T.A. steve