2001 BMW 320i - Won't Start :-(

[nickg123]

I am having problems with my 2001 320ci BMW as it won't start.

It's done 51,000 miles and isn't due a service for over 2000 miles yet.

This morning before work i went out to the car (parked facing down the drive which is a slight slope) and initially it fired up and almost instantly cut out again? I tried starting it and it was turning over but just not firing into life? I thought it must be a flat battery but anyway after a couple of attempts it wasn't having any of it so i jumped in with the wife and she took me to work.

I got home this evening and my Dad popped over to check it with me, he said it definitely wasn't the battery but we tried to jump it - he got down the drive and it started, ran for about 5/10 seconds before cutting out again. He pointed out the fact that the fuel gauge was very low (Range said 50 miles) and that as it's parked on a hill it could be that fuel isn't getting through?

We went and got 2 gallons of fuel to put in but still nothing and now the battery has pretty much died.

Does anyone have any clues or ideas of what this could be? I'm worried it could be a blockage in the fuel system or something but any tips would be helpful before i look at getting it over to BMW to start charging me scary amounts just to ID the problem :-(

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Nick.

[nickg123]

I'm being told it could be the fuel pump....

Any ideas how i can check without just taking it to a garage?

[trickywoo]

IMHO its very unlikely to be the fuel pump.

Its probably going to be a sensor problem.

Could be cam position sensor or one of the cold start sensors.

Most decent sized garages should be able to diagnose the problem by plugging it into their computer.

In the meantime I would advise taking the battery out and charging it as a flat battery will be scrap fairly quickly in cold weather.

[nickg123]

Thanks for the reply, i'll speak to the garage local to me to make sure they've got the diag tool then see if they can check it. If i can get it there today i'll get them to charge the battery otherwise i'll do it tonight.

Thanks again

[Shropshiremike]

trickywoo said:

Could be cam position sensor or one of the cold start sensors.

I would suggest the crank sensor as well could be worth looking at - particularly as it is turning over without "catching".
IME cam sensors usually mean it runs but feels "flat"

Cold start sensor is a good suggestion

Edited by Shropshiremike on Tuesday 25th November 11:56

[nickg123]

Car is being recovered today so hopefully it will be ok, the guy said it's likely to me the Crank sensor / Cam position sensor as they've done a lot of those on BMW's, he has all the up to date Diagnostic kit so he said it won't take long to find out!

[nickg123]

Just in case anyone's interested the fault was with both the Inlet and Exhaust Cam sensors.

Both have been changed and it's running perfectly again

[Shropshiremike]

nickg123 said:

Just in case anyone's interested the fault was with both the Inlet and Exhaust Cam sensors.

Both have been changed and it's running perfectly again

Blimey , good result. Did it feel a bit sluggish before the non-starting incident? Seems strange they both went together?

[nickg123]

Shropshiremike said:

nickg123 said:

Just in case anyone's interested the fault was with both the Inlet and Exhaust Cam sensors.

Both have been changed and it's running perfectly again

Blimey , good result. Did it feel a bit sluggish before the non-starting incident? Seems strange they both went together?

Hi Mike,

Not really, not that i noticed anyway - although i had been driving pretty steady due to getting low on fuel, i was hoping to just get one more day out of it lol.

Only thing is that he reckons one of the Sensors has been gone for a while?

It cost me £273.00 all in, £68 per sensor, £30 octane booster and 1.5 hours labour (including collecting the car) so it could have been worse.

[Shropshiremike]

nickg123 said:

Shropshiremike said:

nickg123 said:

Just in case anyone's interested the fault was with both the Inlet and Exhaust Cam sensors.

Both have been changed and it's running perfectly again

Blimey , good result. Did it feel a bit sluggish before the non-starting incident? Seems strange they both went together?

Hi Mike,

Not really, not that i noticed anyway - although i had been driving pretty steady due to getting low on fuel, i was hoping to just get one more day out of it lol.

Only thing is that he reckons one of the Sensors has been gone for a while?

It cost me £273.00 all in, £68 per sensor, £30 octane booster and 1.5 hours labour (including collecting the car) so it could have been worse.

Ah yes, I would have thought that one of them must have been down already and the second one was the last straw. That's why I wondered if it had been a bit sluggish and maybe idled a bit lumpy. Sometimes hard to notice depending on how bad it was though