Help! Intermittent starting woes

[bcredliner]

Well done. Great that you updated the thread.

[StephenVA]

Congrats and thanks the update on the solution. May help others

[upallnight]

Most people on this board probably never had to deal with point contacts on a distributor, but having grown up with changing point contacts on old Triumphs, Lotus, and early Porsche, when the point contact get old they need to be replaced in order for the engine to run properly. Relay contact are very similar to point contact except that they are not opening and closing as much as point contact.

[deuchant420]

Ok, it's been a month now with many cold weather starts and I have had NO starting issues. It seems that going through all of the relays and fuses in the E box and the relays behind the fuse panel has cured the intermittent start problems and the fuel pump not working start issue. The only part I replaced was the fuel pump relay which I exchanged with the horn relay. I have a new one, but I don't want to mess with it now that everything is working so I think I'll just keep it in reserve. Fingers crossed. I hope this helps anyone with these issues. Thanks for all the input.

[davewlee]

I have been having the same issue for a couple of years... There must be a relay that is not connecting or triggering because the only way I can get it to start is by unplugging the fuse for the fuel pump in the glove compartment , try and start it (it Starts up like normal) , shut it down and then reinsert the fuse (#47), if my memory is correct. It will be ok until the next time (maybe 1 year or 1 month)

[deuchant420]

did you open the E box in the engine bay and check all the fuses and relays in there? My guess is that I must have had a loose connection in there as well as a faulty fuel pump relay. The E box is on the opposite side of the fuse panel in the engine bay on the passenger side. The cover has 3 torx screws you need to remove to access it.

[deuchant420]

OK, so after much diagnosis and help from these posts. I was able to determine that the culprit all this time has been the power distribution module in the E box. It's the square module with all the fuses. Mine is located right in the front of the E box. Less than $100 on ebay genuine BMW part. It seems that something goes wrong with these and they lose the ability to conduct the juice properly resulting in a random no start condition. Everything else will work as normal, but the car will not turn over. These modules are on many different models, and can cause the exact same problem in each.
I hope this helps all of you who are dealing with this issue.