I have what sounds like a fairly common intermittent issue of strong crank/no start with my '01 E53 4.4i (about 10 times in 2 years, but getting a bit more frequent).
It will always start right away the second try and run great all day.
So I'm initially counting out battery, fuel, ECU, crank pos. sensor, fuses... I've read everything I can on this board and elsewhere and I believe it's the ignition switch.

I have to bring it in for inspection this month anyway and asked the service manager if he could spend an hour looking at the issue.
Not wanting to grab at straws or get gouged by the dealer, but I do want access to their diagnostic equipment (and their swanky waiting area).
The service manager was sufficiently vague as to what they could find out.

BMW ignition switches seem to be a real issue so you'd think there would be alot of info out there.
I'm temped to go to an indy BMW specialist who would hopefully treat me better than my dealer who acts annoyed that I don't have a 2013 X5.

Does anyone have any input or know if a crank/ no start would throw an error code if it was the ignition switch?

Thanks.