330d wouldnt start! fixed now! - epic tale
Discussion
after spending half of last sunday going on about how brilliant and reliable my e46 330d was and how it had never missed a beat i went out, got in it and it wouldnt start!!! i couldnt believe it! got the AA out who were amazing - with me in less than 5 minutes!
i had a feeling it was the immobiliser as it was turning over but not firing up. he thought possibly the same. i got my other key incase the coding had been wiped - no joy. he pulled the air intake pipe off and while i turned it over and pumped the throttle he sprayed a type of aerosol fuel in - which sounded awfull as the car juddered and squealled as it burnt the fuel. this established that no fuel was getting to the motor. he disconnected the fuel filter and as i turned the ignition on diesel came out so we new it was ok up to there (on low pressure). so back to the back seats, removed them, and underneath there are 2 fuel pumps, tested both of those and they both ok. Starting to look bad. checks the ecu with a multimeter, sending 5v and 12v so its ok. he thinks its either an immobiliser problem - which he says will be expensive (i thought maybe we have different ideas of expensive as surely theyd just stick it on a computer and reprogramme it), or the camshaft sensor had gone, OR the high pressure fuel pump has gone - which would mean half the engine coming out and v expensive (on this diagnosis id imaging it would be very pricey.) so...again amazing service from the AA, they agreed to return the following day to tow it to the independant bmw garage i go to as it would have been closed then. they returned with a tow truck but couldnt get it on, so came back with something that worked. left it at the garage. meanwhile a lad at work puts me at ease by informing exactly the same thing happened to his car, same diagnosis, he spent ages and well over a grand trying to fix it, never could and had to flog it as a non runner! warns me to get the plastic ready!
A few hours later they ring me back - auxillery fuel pump and a relay had gone - £240 quid! result. i was getting myself ready for some big bucks! Just out of interest - which is the auxilery pump?!!? is this the high pressure one the AA man refered to, or, as id imagine, one of the pumps above the tanks, under the rear seats that he tested?!?!?
i had a feeling it was the immobiliser as it was turning over but not firing up. he thought possibly the same. i got my other key incase the coding had been wiped - no joy. he pulled the air intake pipe off and while i turned it over and pumped the throttle he sprayed a type of aerosol fuel in - which sounded awfull as the car juddered and squealled as it burnt the fuel. this established that no fuel was getting to the motor. he disconnected the fuel filter and as i turned the ignition on diesel came out so we new it was ok up to there (on low pressure). so back to the back seats, removed them, and underneath there are 2 fuel pumps, tested both of those and they both ok. Starting to look bad. checks the ecu with a multimeter, sending 5v and 12v so its ok. he thinks its either an immobiliser problem - which he says will be expensive (i thought maybe we have different ideas of expensive as surely theyd just stick it on a computer and reprogramme it), or the camshaft sensor had gone, OR the high pressure fuel pump has gone - which would mean half the engine coming out and v expensive (on this diagnosis id imaging it would be very pricey.) so...again amazing service from the AA, they agreed to return the following day to tow it to the independant bmw garage i go to as it would have been closed then. they returned with a tow truck but couldnt get it on, so came back with something that worked. left it at the garage. meanwhile a lad at work puts me at ease by informing exactly the same thing happened to his car, same diagnosis, he spent ages and well over a grand trying to fix it, never could and had to flog it as a non runner! warns me to get the plastic ready!
A few hours later they ring me back - auxillery fuel pump and a relay had gone - £240 quid! result. i was getting myself ready for some big bucks! Just out of interest - which is the auxilery pump?!!? is this the high pressure one the AA man refered to, or, as id imagine, one of the pumps above the tanks, under the rear seats that he tested?!?!?
High pressure pump sits at the back of the engine and is very expensive to fix if it goes. Low pressure pump sits under the passenger footwell I think and is fairly cheap/easy to repair. HP pump failure is rare, LP pump failure is more common and results in symptoms like failing to start/poor revving.
Fuel pump (8) goes regularly on E46 330Ds at around 60-70k miles.
Just make sure the panel was replaced properly under the car as the screws can corrode and break when disturbed, resulting in the panel dropping out and scraping along the road.
Suprised the AA bloke didn't just run a diagnostic check as it would've shown up straight away.
Just make sure the panel was replaced properly under the car as the screws can corrode and break when disturbed, resulting in the panel dropping out and scraping along the road.
Suprised the AA bloke didn't just run a diagnostic check as it would've shown up straight away.
Had a similar problem with my car twelve months ago. I called BMW assisance out and they replaced the pump (8) and the fuel pump relay. The car started after a LOT of cranking. But when I started it the following morning it still required a lot more cranking than usual. Later that same day it failed to start and I called the AA out Their diagnostics wouldn't/couldn't talk to the car and thus they struggled to find the fault initially. In the end they pulled the induction pipe off and squirted a small amount of Easystart into the inlet manifold.The car started straight away and I drove it straight to my local BMW dealer and left it with them for diagnosis.
They rang me a day later to say that two injectors had failed the prescribed leak down test and thus the fuel rail pressure was falling below a preset limit. This in turn prevents the engine starting as there's a sensor in the fuel rail which sends a signal to the ecu which in turn controls one of the fuel pumps.
Two new injectors later and the car was fine, added to which the performance was improved (as was the economy) !
They rang me a day later to say that two injectors had failed the prescribed leak down test and thus the fuel rail pressure was falling below a preset limit. This in turn prevents the engine starting as there's a sensor in the fuel rail which sends a signal to the ecu which in turn controls one of the fuel pumps.
Two new injectors later and the car was fine, added to which the performance was improved (as was the economy) !
Edited by Slippydiff on Friday 28th August 17:34
Hi
I too own a naughty 330d which sometimes refuses to start. I think most car owners would agree that the most difficult and annoying car issue is the intermittant fault.
My Y reg beemer started its tricks the day we took delivery from the dealer, doing its stunt that evening, in a multi storey car park, where the recovery truck could not get to it. So we began to push it down the ramps....... I tried it 2 floors down, and what do you know, it started.
It did not do it for a few weeks. When it did, we walked away, left it for 30 minutes, it started. We did nothing, touched nothing. However, last sunday my son Jason had the car near Brum, it did it and would not start. It got trucked back to Exeter, and hey, when off the truck, started up no probs. 4 times, Jason could not believe it.
Then, yesterday, a repeat exercise, it did it when I was in Plymouth. RAC came out, spent 1.5 hours fiddling, no joy. Trucked it to Exeter BMW dealer, and you'll never guess, the thing started first go when we took it off the back of the low loader.
Dealer has had the car on diagnostics and the ECU says the camshaft sensor is to blame. Fair doos I say.
However, and this is where the great Pistonheads brains come to bear, why would a sensor like this alter its workings by being merely shook up on the back of the recovery low loader (twice).
Is it something else and the ECU is fibbing? It also told us that the common rail pressure is a tad low, but unlikely to be it, the heating coils are not 100% but unless I am in Siberia, not the cause says the BMW dealer.
Any thoughts chaps?
The irony is that I would not normally bother with such unreliable machinery, but its such a bloody good car! Help!....................
TA
Alan
I too own a naughty 330d which sometimes refuses to start. I think most car owners would agree that the most difficult and annoying car issue is the intermittant fault.
My Y reg beemer started its tricks the day we took delivery from the dealer, doing its stunt that evening, in a multi storey car park, where the recovery truck could not get to it. So we began to push it down the ramps....... I tried it 2 floors down, and what do you know, it started.
It did not do it for a few weeks. When it did, we walked away, left it for 30 minutes, it started. We did nothing, touched nothing. However, last sunday my son Jason had the car near Brum, it did it and would not start. It got trucked back to Exeter, and hey, when off the truck, started up no probs. 4 times, Jason could not believe it.
Then, yesterday, a repeat exercise, it did it when I was in Plymouth. RAC came out, spent 1.5 hours fiddling, no joy. Trucked it to Exeter BMW dealer, and you'll never guess, the thing started first go when we took it off the back of the low loader.
Dealer has had the car on diagnostics and the ECU says the camshaft sensor is to blame. Fair doos I say.
However, and this is where the great Pistonheads brains come to bear, why would a sensor like this alter its workings by being merely shook up on the back of the recovery low loader (twice).
Is it something else and the ECU is fibbing? It also told us that the common rail pressure is a tad low, but unlikely to be it, the heating coils are not 100% but unless I am in Siberia, not the cause says the BMW dealer.
Any thoughts chaps?
The irony is that I would not normally bother with such unreliable machinery, but its such a bloody good car! Help!....................
TA
Alan
Been there, done that, at about 80k miles
Intermittent fault, won't start, no power to fuel pump under passengers's footwell. Then some days, and on some lowloaders it would start
Tried new in-line pump, no help, but now exchanged which gives me piece of mind.
Eventually sent it (against my better instinct) to my nearby main-dealer, who I usually wouldn't piss on if they were on fire.
Anyhow they rung me twice during the morning to say "We're working on the problem doing diagnostics. shall we continue?"
They ring me later on to say it's fixed and it was a Fuel Pump Relay.
I ask them to keep the car overnight and make sure it goes from cold, which was the most common tie to fault usually.
Go in the next day, £5.76 for the relay, £249.97 for the diagnostic labour!!!
So that's just cemented my reason's for not using them unless I have to. I should add my usual garage charged me £0.00 for fruitless diagnostic labour and when things they tried didn't work, offered to take the parts off and go back to square one. To their credit the MD did find the prob.
I would still break my knuckles before I tired of punching them in the face though....
Moral: try fuel pump relay(s) in this case.
Intermittent fault, won't start, no power to fuel pump under passengers's footwell. Then some days, and on some lowloaders it would start
Tried new in-line pump, no help, but now exchanged which gives me piece of mind.
Eventually sent it (against my better instinct) to my nearby main-dealer, who I usually wouldn't piss on if they were on fire.
Anyhow they rung me twice during the morning to say "We're working on the problem doing diagnostics. shall we continue?"
They ring me later on to say it's fixed and it was a Fuel Pump Relay.
I ask them to keep the car overnight and make sure it goes from cold, which was the most common tie to fault usually.
Go in the next day, £5.76 for the relay, £249.97 for the diagnostic labour!!!
So that's just cemented my reason's for not using them unless I have to. I should add my usual garage charged me £0.00 for fruitless diagnostic labour and when things they tried didn't work, offered to take the parts off and go back to square one. To their credit the MD did find the prob.
I would still break my knuckles before I tired of punching them in the face though....
Moral: try fuel pump relay(s) in this case.
Does any one know what the fuel relay actually operates pump in tank sounds like it's working. The the inline filter pump seems to be working as I ndisconnected the pipe on the outlet side and fuel surged through. But no fuel at injectors. So if the pumps are buzzing can I assume the relay is working okmor does this do something else.. help thanks Steve X3 and z3 owner maintainer
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