[Cjohnson28]

Hey guys! Been really scouring the threads here to dig for an answer but cant find anything that's lining up with my particular scenario.

My 07 328xi will just refuse to start at times. But typically only after I've taken it on a short trip and turned it off, then try and start it again shortly after. I can start it first thing in the morning, no problem. Get to work, drive thru mcdicks at lunch, drive it home. No worries.
But I've had instances where I've gone to Subway, parked the car, go in and get food, then when I come out, the car wont start. I'll have to leave it alone for roughly an hour before it will start again.

148,000km on it
My battery is pretty fresh. Only 2 years old, and took a voltmeter to it, everything checks out fine on the battery condition. Terminals are fine, no loose connections.

I did have the starter replaced about a month ago. This issue never happened previously to the starter being replaced.

I called my buddy who did the starter for me and told him what happened. He suggested I use my spare key to see if it was just a dead fob. The spare worked but about a week after, same issues happened.

I'm carrying both keys and they aren't the comfort access. I tried the toothbrush charger hack and left them both in the charger overnight for a few days straight. I'm sure it helped charge them, but I dont think that was really the problem.

I called BMW and they gave me the old "we cant do anything without you bringing the car in and giving us $175 to diagnose it" the only suggestion the dealer tech gave me was perhaps the key fobs need to be reprogrammed since the battery was disconnected to do the starter job. But again, $150 just to get them to do that, and that's IF that's the issue.

Anyone know if it's possible to do the reprogram yourself? Or any suggestions of any other possible solutions?

Any ideas are super appreciated!
Thanks!

[Efthreeoh]

Sounds like the starter is defective. It should be under warranty.

[Cjohnson28]

Sorry for the late response! I checked for a few days on the board but no replies.
It doesnt seem like it should be the starter, as it never struggles to start when the car has sat for an extended period. Only sometimes after my quick in and out trips.
I did just notice that if I open my door while the car is "on" but not engine running, I'm getting the big yellow exclamation on dash?

[Oolien]

i had the same problem intermittent starting issues until one day it didn't start at all, it turned out that my ground strap was corroding.

[hybrid90]

What exactly do you mean when you say the car isn't starting? That it's not turning over or it turns over but doesn't catch?

I had this same issue a couple of years ago with my E90. I won't go into the full story, but it turned out that the Power Cable that runs from the Battery to the Engine Compartment was crimped where it meets the firewall causing a break in the wire. So what was happening was when the wire got warm, it would separate causing an interruption in the circuit. That's why it works fine in the morning and after it's been sitting, but when it's warm you're screwed...

The symptoms for me were that it would turn over once (if at all) and then just click. But I had power to everything, it just would not turn the starter over.

Hopefully this helps. But you should also looks at the ground wire as that could have the same effect.