Starting problem.....

[CondorX5]

Had a similar problem this evening with the 4.8 to one I had about 5 months ago. Car's been running beautifully, no problems there. Went on a longish drive (about 30 miles) at lunchtime to attend a conference, parked, came back to the car about 3-4 hours later and the starter motor just stayed engaged and wouldn't start the car....... After trying about 5-6 times with a few minutes between each try, called BMW Emergency (they must know me by name now!!) Driver duly arrived with a great big low loader, said they weren't allowed to use that can of spray they used to spray into the air filter pipe any more, and after also trying and failing to start the car normally, he first tried locking / unlocking car on the fob (never had problems, but I guess immobilisers can be an issue) and then trying to start - no luck there. Then he shifted the gear lever around a few times, tried starting again, the starter motor kept turning over (it does it automatically on the 4.8, a bit unnerving) and it then eventually roared into life. Floored it a few times and it then sounded absolutely normal and ticked over just as it normally does and never missed a beat. The last time this happened and I had it in the dealers they claimed there were "no stored faults" so they "couldn't investigate or fix it". We are really careful not to use the X for silly short journeys, no sign of condensation anywhere under oil cap, car runs like a dream mostly. The recovery technician said most of time it was down to

a) faulty immobiliser
b)"condensation" problems from multiple short journeys (? didn't think this would prevent starting - just that the oil separator could pop its clogs and cause loads of damage) or
c) a transmission sensor "thinking" the gearbox was not in P and therefore not allowing it to start (but why would it turn over??) and moving the gear lever around through the gears a few times corrected this.

I'm not entirely convinced by the above, but would appreciate any further info / advice as this is the second time its happened in the past 6 months - each time, they've got it going without recovery and the first time there were no fault codes, bet there are none this time either.

Any ideas?? Low mileage (34000 miles), only ever use BP Ultimate (1.44/l today - cost £119 to fill the tank). Performance usually superb and a pleasure to drive. The V8 sounds great. We're back home now (didn't switch off en route - no tempting fate!!) and safely parked up so will be interesting to see if it starts normally again in the morning etc.

[pvr]

I would go for the immobiliser route. Have you tried swapping the keys? I always have the spare on me just in case as my 7 series had a bit of an immobiliser issue and swapping the key to my spare sorted it and I never looked into it further.

[Turks]

Hi Condor, sorry to hear about this problem. I too think it could be something to do with the immobiliser but it really shouldn't allow you to try to start the car as it is an automatic starter which keeps on going until the engine starts even if you let go of the key. As for the other two reasons, I would say a load of crap to be honest. Condensation wouldn't cause this and you wouldn't be able to even turn the engine over if it didn't think that it was in 'P'.

I have the Self Level Suspension issue at the moment with mine. With so many things to go wrong with these they can sometimes feel unreliable but that isn't fair really.


Turks.

[CondorX5]

I know what you mean Turks, the 4.8 is a far more complex beast than some of the other Xes, and its the price you pay for a performance car compared to a boring old normal one It doesn't phase me in the slightest about the X, at least BMW Emergency arrive pretty quickly to recover the car -but its annoying when you don't know the reason for something, Fortunately it started eventually. Luckily its an AUC (I don't think I want a 4.8 without a warranty). If you leave the starter to keep turning, can the car flood or damage the starter in any way? Both key fobs lock and unlocks the car with no problem, usual lights flash etc, , but I've seen strange immobiliser problems before. Perhaps a bit of sediment in the fuel line? Petrol did run down awfully low and the light came on before I refuelled (I try never to do this, partner being using car and just didn't remember) £119 to fill

I thought the "reasons" the recovery chap gave were a bit iffy, rather hoping it was a bit of crud in the fuel line which has now cleared than some esoteric and weird intermittent immobiliser problem, only time will tell. If it happens again I'll insist the main dealer looks into it further.

[Sanj]

[quote=""CondorX5""]compared to a boring old normal one [/quote]

On your own then!

Glad you're not phased by it - I wish I could help but at least you have some ways to try if it happens again. You taking it in though?

Oh and dump the partner - how dare they!

Good luck.

[CondorX5]

[quote=""Sanj""][quote=""CondorX5""]compared to a boring old normal one [/quote]

[/quote]


Are you confused as to whether that's you or the car Sanj??

[Sanj]

I know - it's me....

[pvr]

It was the "old" bit - right?

[CondorX5]

[quote=""pvr""]It was the "old" bit - right? [/quote]

hmmm, old??? Or boring????? or both

[Sanj]

Ouch! Boring...

NEWS FLASH: I have no Intravee's for sale... The PS2 mod slips my mind too - very interesting tho!!!!

[CondorX5]

Now now, I'm sure some nice beer tokens will help that faulty memory........