Intermittent starting

[Supercooper04]

I have 2005 3.0d X3. recently I have intermittent non start problems which I'm struggling to sort out. I originally thought it was a faulty battery but that all test okay.

You can sit in the car, turn the key, lights and radio come on but the car doesn't start when the ignition is in the crank position. You can turn the key a few time and it will start.

I've done a drop/ load test on the battery and that's okay. The battery is charging, the battery terminals aren't loose. its charging on idle with the radio on etc at 14v.

Starter pulls the battery down to 10v or 11v. there is no solenoid click when you crank it and doesn't start the dash lights dont dim either.

[marti]

Could be a few things, you really need diagnostics run.

[Alan Gunn]

Do you mean it doesn't turn over/crank every time you turn the key.
Or does it crank and fail to start.

[Supercooper04]

Mine started doing this recently. charged at 14v, drop tested and dropped to 10 11v. I took it to my garage to check the starter. They couldn't find the fault. We decided to change the battery and fixed the fault. the battery was tested again a day later off the vehicle and it failed.

[X5Sport]

Check the starter current draw. It should be no more than 180A. If it is then the starter is shot and needs replacing. Around the time yours was built there was an issue with a certain make of starter motor resulting in internal shorts. This can result in a current draw of over 900A, which the battery cannot cope with. I’ve changed two now on my old E53, and our E46 with the 30d engine. With the E46 it would start twice but then need fully recharging. The E53 would not crank.

It is a diy with the right Etorx heads for socket sets and a decent large breaker bar and torque wrench (the bolts are very tight - but need to be).