[faro987]

Hi there,

I was hoping I could get some help or some insight into this weird starting issue I’m getting with my 2005 E90 320D with 117000 ish miles on the clock. The engine in question is the M47N2 and as you can see from the video the car will crank for a second or two but then it seems to give up, so I’m assuming a fuelling issue? Now this situation isn’t as bad as it used to be and I’ll explain that later…

From the video you can see that it took three attempts to get it started, usually it takes around two attempts and sometimes the car starts up straight away no issues. There doesn’t seem to be any correlation to any other variables such as outside temperature, whether the car has been sitting or not etc. It just happens randomly, but after the car starts it operates perfectly, no misfiring, no hesitation or weird behaviours.

Here are the things I did to tried and remedy this. I initially got an error code on all 4 glow plugs which suggests the relay module is shot, so I replaced all 4 plugs but not the relay module (haven’t had a chance yet and its tricky to get to). Whilst I had the intake off, I did a swirl flap delete and cleaned up the EGR and the manifold itself. But after replacing the plugs it made no difference and the car still struggled to start and I still have the error codes for the plugs, which means I need to changed the module asap. Next thing I thought it could be is the fuelling system, however upon testing the fuel pump it seems to operating fine but it takes a little while longer to prime the system than normal. This suggested the fuel filter was clogged, so I replaced that and much to my surprise the issue went away for a solid week, the car would start in all conditions without an issue. But the starting gremlin came back and I’m back at square one. Now it’s no where near as bad or often but the issue still remains. Also worth mentioning I use Redex regularly to keep everything clean internally.

From other posts that have the loosely familiar symptoms to mine, the injectors could be on its way out, I’m hoping this isn’t the case as they are around £150-170 each. I do need to get the glow plug module installed soon as this may be the culprit all along. So, if you have an idea of what the problem is or have had this issue please let me know so I can fix this issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxPsX4yh0Aw

[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by faro987

Hi there,

I was hoping I could get some help or some insight into this weird starting issue I’m getting with my 2005 E90 320D with 117000 ish miles on the clock. The engine in question is the M47N2 and as you can see from the video the car will crank for a second or two but then it seems to give up, so I’m assuming a fuelling issue? Now this situation isn’t as bad as it used to be and I’ll explain that later…

From the video you can see that it took three attempts to get it started, usually it takes around two attempts and sometimes the car starts up straight away no issues. There doesn’t seem to be any correlation to any other variables such as outside temperature, whether the car has been sitting or not etc. It just happens randomly, but after the car starts it operates perfectly, no misfiring, no hesitation or weird behaviours.

Here are the things I did to tried and remedy this. I initially got an error code on all 4 glow plugs which suggests the relay module is shot, so I replaced all 4 plugs but not the relay module (haven’t had a chance yet and its tricky to get to). Whilst I had the intake off, I did a swirl flap delete and cleaned up the EGR and the manifold itself. But after replacing the plugs it made no difference and the car still struggled to start and I still have the error codes for the plugs, which means I need to changed the module asap. Next thing I thought it could be is the fuelling system, however upon testing the fuel pump it seems to operating fine but it takes a little while longer to prime the system than normal. This suggested the fuel filter was clogged, so I replaced that and much to my surprise the issue went away for a solid week, the car would start in all conditions without an issue. But the starting gremlin came back and I’m back at square one. Now it’s no where near as bad or often but the issue still remains. Also worth mentioning I use Redex regularly to keep everything clean internally.

From other posts that have the loosely familiar symptoms to mine, the injectors could be on its way out, I’m hoping this isn’t the case as they are around £150-170 each. I do need to get the glow plug module installed soon as this may be the culprit all along. So, if you have an idea of what the problem is or have had this issue please let me know so I can fix this issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxPsX4yh0Aw

To me it just sounds like the starter motor is slipping

[Bluewater335D]

I'd always start with checking the battery, especially on these modern cars with all their electronics

Is the car throwing any codes up? - if you don't have the equipment, (Foxwell or similar), it may be worth spending £40 at your local specialist to have the information that the ECU is throwing out checked

The car should really start first time if all is OK