Hi, I've owned my X5 for about 8 months now. I have done a lot of work on it to bring it back to spec. Lately I've been having an intermittent starting issue. I had the battery and alternator tested and the battery was found to be low on charge on a consistent basis so I replaced it. Was good for a while, then it started doing it again. It would usually crank over and start after several tries, but one night it wouldn't even after 20 or more tries. I got out and whacked the starter with a ratchet I had in the back and it fired right up! I assumed it had to be a bad starter motor so I ordered and replaced it with a new, never rebuilt Bosch starter. It was great for about a week with no issues and I thought I had it fixed. But, the other night it did it again and it's happened 2 or 3 times since then. I've checked all the cables for loose connections or breaks and I've pulled the steering column covers off and checked for anything loose to no avail.
Could I have a defective starter? Is there anything else I can check?
Here are the specifics: all lights come on as usual, I can hear the relays click, I can hear the fuel pump come on, but when the key turns to the ignition point nothing happens. It seems like the first time I turn the key I can hear a brief click, but the the subsequent tries no noise at all. This leads me to believe that maybe I have a faulty starter. One other thing, the heat shield was missing when I went to put on the new starter so it has none. Not sure this would cause this type of problem.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!