Yesterday I tried to start my car but no luck. So I decided perhaps that my battery was dead, so I unhooked it and brought it in near the Wood stove to thaw out for the night, I also left it on trickle charge. So this morning I tried to start it a second time, but it still won't start. The engine turns over and the starter cranks. At this point I want to suspect a frozen fuel line or a broken fuel pump. I'm not sure how I would go about eliminating either of those two possibilities. However when I try to crank the carthere is a distinct fuel smell which is reminiscent of small engines like snowblowers. This made me wonder if perhaps the fuel injectors were still filling the cylinders but they werent getting a spark. If I pulled the plugs will I be able to see if they are wet with fuel? Are there any fuses or relays I should check before I get into this? On a side note I lost my only key, so I had to order one from the dealership, the mini sat for five days while I waited. I got the car back on the road with the new key successfullyand operated for about two days before this happened. I partially wondered if perhaps there was some sort of error concerning the immobilizer in the new key, but considering the car ran for two days with the new key I'm thinking that's probably just coincidence. Unfortunately I can't try any of the pairing methodswith the key, because I bought the non-remote style.

 

Last time this happened to me was when I parked outside during a cold spell. Normally the BMW was a garaged car. Turned out to be heavy carbon deposits, which needed to be cleaned out. Could of course be a variety of reasons and you didn't specify many details here. Car, age, mileage, past maintenance, etc.

 

My apologies for not including information about my car. For some reason I thought I had all my information in my signature. I'll have to try and get that updated!

2005 R53 Automatic: 145,000 miles

The car is running fine before it sat for five days, but even the
n I was able to drive it around for two more days before it wouldn't start this morning. I'll have to check the boots on the spark plugs again, initial impressions were that they appeared fine. Could I possibly be dealing with the failed ignition pack? Is there a way to test the voltage output from a coil pack?

 

I had a similar problem, I had forgotten to tighten the ground cable that goes from the engine to the chassis in the engine bay. Front, passenger side right near the upper engine mount. I took it off and gave it a little sanding, tightened it down and away it went.

 

I see the ground wire you're talking about. It'd probably be a good idea to clean that up and sand it like you did. I went to auto zone and bought a coil pack and plugs. I bought generic autolite plugs, they were supposey OE spec. They look like a normal plug, but the NGK's I just pulled out of the head have 4 prongs (this is new to me.) I'm thinking I should go back and get the NGK's. Anyway- when I pulled the plugs, all 4 are wet with black oily fluid. I cleaned up and reinstalled. Still no start, plugs are wet and again.

I haven't put the new coil pack in yet, I'm going to try it, because I think the wet plugs mean I do have a fuel supply? One more note, the boot on #3 of the coil pack was blackened. I cleaned it up, but it didn't help. Does that indicate anything ?

 

I might try coil pack with old plugs, in event old plugs are fine. I'd use these Autolite plugs if I didn't think the Pistons would hit them, the ground prong protrudes down further than the NGKs. The 4 prong plugs are very stubby.

 

I'm throwing in the towel on this car, I bought it used (apparently DUMB) with 130,000 miles and it's been 10 months of constant breakdowns. Water pump, low speed fan resistor, timing tensioner, A/C clutch, power steering failure, broken glove box, leaking CPS, cracked air intake hose, split coolant reservoir, failed door lock actuator, visor mirror covers snapped off hinges, windshield washer pump quit, remote key fob won't hold a charge, it's eaten two rear tires, door trim detached, rear wiper motor jams, supercharger PTO started rattling, serpentine belt flew off, serpentine tensioner shock blown. I don't doubt there's problems I missed. It's my wife's, and I can't throw money at it anymore, I can't make anymore financial sacrifices on it- I'm barely middle class. This car is obviously a disposable toy for those who can afford to replace it with a new one when its worn out. I thought because I've owned other cars with over 100k miles, that there was a reasonable expectation that ALL modern cars had advanced to being able to hit 200k. Bad leap on my part, I confess my poor logic.

I missed work and I'm stuck at home today because of this car. I surrendered my 1999 Saab to my wife, so she could go to work. It has 300k miles, and while it has given me as many headaches as this car, it's been spaced out over 10 years instead of 10 months. I was lucky enough to have my brother bring me to autozone and get a coil pack and plugs. But the plugs are weird that I bought, so I can't use them. I installed the coil pack, and cleaned the old plugs of gas and carbon, because I'm stuck home without a car until my wife gets home. To cut to the chase, I cranked it for 15 seconds and then a puff of smoke, and nothing. STARTER IS FRIED. It is the straw that broke my back!!!