[redz06]

I searched and did not find any pertinent posts. My 2011 335i sedan has started having extended cranking times when cold. Sometimes it will not start until I give it a little throttle. It was not like this before. It would quickly start in any weather, whether the engine was cold or warm. And I never had to touch the throttle. Is something wrong?

The car has 22k miles on it and is completely unmodified.

[BOBKUR]

Fuel pump?

[chromisdesigns]

Originally Posted by BOBKUR

Fuel pump?

Yep -- typical first symptom of the HPFP going bad. Take it to dealer for diagnosis and replacement before it fails and strands you.

[redz06]

HPFP was my first concern as well. Although the weather was warmer today and the cranking before start was minimal. It reminds me of a problem that I had on my Porsche 944 Turbo where there are two pickups that read the position of teeth on the engine flywheel before they allow the car to start. If one of the sensors/cables has an intermittent fault it is most difficult to diagnose. Shops that were aware of the problem did not bother with chasing a diagnosis and just replaced both sensors cables. Problem solved.

The advice is right and this is a BMW warranty problem, and the dealer will get his chance to run it to ground at BMW's expense. If it is the HPFP, it is disappointing that this is still around in an August 2011 build car. Optimally, I would prefer to let BMW take care of it when I am back for my next oil and filter change. This is probably 4 months away, though. I wonder if it can wait that long?

[d8rknight]

Get your starter checked. Mine started with extended starts for about a week or two until it just wouldn't turn over

[chromisdesigns]

Originally Posted by redz06

If it is the HPFP, it is disappointing that this is still around in an August 2011 build car.

The changes BMW made in the pump and car programming reduced, but did not eliminate, the original problem. Best guess is that programming the low pressure pump to come on when car doors opened was the best part of the fix. The theory behind that was that the HPFP was running fuel starved for a few seconds every time the car was started, and eventually failed because of it.

It's debatable whether the various tweaks they made to the pump itself even mattered -- it was only once they made the programming changes that the incidence started dropping.

People do still report failed HPFPs even in the newer models.

[redz06]

I have no signs of a half engine or any other distress. So my question is how BMW should discern that my HPFP is shot. For most starts there is no extended cranking time as well. It only occurs occasionally when the engine is cold.