[rosullivan04]

Hello all! I have an '08 335i heavily modified with the DocRace kit. I blew the engine ~2yrs ago and due to medical issues I haven't been able to put it back together until a month or so ago. It has a new engine installed and everything is hooked back up. I went to start the ignition to prime the water pump the other day and found the ignition does not function when I press the Start button. The lights on the passenger side light up but not the driver side; strangely enough the lights are on all the time until I unhook the battery. If I flash the high beams all the lights fire up including the rear brake lights and the HID lights. When I press the Start button nothing happens; no key lock, no steering lock etc. The brake lights appear unresponsive as well. It's a manual so this is with the car in neutral with the clutch not pressed.

I attempted to pull codes from the DME and there's no error codes present; at least the DME is responding!. The battery was on a battery tender the entire time and all the lights appear to be bright. However, I haven't tested the voltage. The key I charged off and on with my toothbrush charger, it locks, unlocks and pops the trunk open so I don't believe it's lost its sync with the DME. I have another spare key and it does the same behaviour.

I've went through and checked all the grounding straps, positive terminals on the alternator and solenoid etc. and all looks well. I also unhooked the battery monitor to the DME in case that was broken. iDrive and dummy lights do not light up; the only light that comes up is the monochrome display with the yellow headlight warning. I'm grasping at straws here but am running out of ideas. Has anyone seen something similar to this before?