[Demetriou.J.D]

Hi all,

I am fed up with my e93 320i. I have posted a couple of days ago but didn't get really get any responses as to how to fix it.

I have gone to 5 different mechanics including the BMW Dealership.

I keep having long cranks and no start whenever the car is warm. By this I mean that I will typically switch the car off, go to a shop for a couple of minutes, come out again and try to start the car and I get long cranks up to 10 seconds and the start fails. This continues on until I leave the car to rest for about 20-25 minutes. The car starts fine from cold.

What I have checked and changed till now:

Tried a new HPFP
Installed new Coils
Checked the Fuel Pump and the pressure it pumps gas out.
Changed the crankshaft sensor.
Changed NOX Sensor as I was getting an error.
Changed spark plugs.
Had my injectors checked, two were faulty so I replaced them.

The last one happened today and I was nearly sure that this would eventually fix the problem, yet after leaving it off for a couple of minutes and trying to start the car I got the long cranks again.

The latest error today is 2D59 'DME, internal fault: monitoring, actual torque'

Could this be the problem or do you think its something else?

[BashShah]

Battery?....just a thought

[Red_Bean_Bun]

Camshaft sensors would affect starts as well.

[Demetriou.J.D]

Thanks for your reply. Regarding the battery, it was checked and everything is completely fine.

I will have some camshafts sensors on Monday, so I will check those out too and see if that changes anything!

[EB89]

Sounds like battery to me too, what exactly was tested? What was its voltage with the car off?

Sounds like it right on the point of 10ish volts and sometimes able to start the car and sometimes not.

A cheap way to test is to buy a CTEK 5amp battery charger, plug it in and do a recondition, it will

1. Tell you if the battery is stuffed
2. Charge it to max over a day or 2

Then go for a drive and see what its like. The chargers are cheap, and you can do it yourself without outlaying lots of cash for a mechanic to guess, plus you should have a battery charger anyway.

[Three_thirty_I]

Have you investigated the possibility that there may be a problem with the MAF sensor? If it is being affected by the heat soaked air intake when standing for a while with a hot engine bay - usually a MAF has the a hot wire and a thermister, between these two components they tell the ECU how much air is being breathed into the engine based on the intake air temperature at the time. Just a thought. One could always unplug the MAF and see if it makes a difference when it's acting up.

Just to be clear though, it's long cranks, not long and slow cranks, as in a tired battery? And this makes sense, because it's rarely the case that you would have no problems with cold starting, but then problems with warm starting in terms of battery issues.

[Demetriou.J.D]

Thanks for your replies guys.

EB89 Will check the battery. Just didn't think it would be that as I got a new one around 3-4 months ago, and the cranks are strong, and not a 'dying battery' kind of crank. Will check it and let you know.

Three_thirty_I No-one has mentioned this till now so I will definitely give this a go today and get back to you!

Another update is that when re-checking the fuel pressure on these long cranks, it gives around 37-42 PSI. I've read that it should be around 75 PSI. One would think that this could mean the fuel pump has a problem, but would this be possible if it fires up immediately from cold and only gives me the long cranks when hot?

[Three_thirty_I]

You might be onto something with regards to the fuel pressures!!

[Demetriou.J.D]

So after checking everything, the Mechanic still didn't find anything, so he called BMW UK up. He told them whats going on and they basically went through everything they checked and everything has been done thoroughly. So now mechanic had to send log files to BMW UK so they investigate.

Will keep this thread updated once I know what the problem is so hopefully someone else can save a lot of money for no reason.

Thank you to everyone who tried to help!

[Serenity2019]

Hi. Did BMW UK identify the problem. My car has the same problem and I have been tirelessly searching for a solution.

[johnd89]

on another car it was the camshaft sensor.
while cranking can u smell gasoline in the tailpipe?

[Scottchn]

Originally Posted by Demetriou.J.D

So after checking everything, the Mechanic still didn't find anything, so he called BMW UK up. He told them whats going on and they basically went through everything they checked and everything has been done thoroughly. So now mechanic had to send log files to BMW UK so they investigate.

Will keep this thread updated once I know what the problem is so hopefully someone else can save a lot of money for no reason.

Thank you to everyone who tried to help!

I realise this is ancient now but I have the exact same problem. Did it end up resolved?

Please please please reply

Kindest regards,
Scott