2000 4.4 Problems Starting

[HellzMindPlaya]

I'm new to the community but have been reading around the board for quite a while. From the looks of it there are some very smart member here. Keep up all the good work everyone. I love that the Home page of the site is write-ups. Makes finding useful info very easy!

So now on to my question. My 2000 X5 has had some troubles starting lately, and i have finally grown tired of listening to is sit there and crank.

When I turn the key to the #3 position sometimes it will set there and the engine will just crank endlessly. Like it will not catch fire. I acquired the X5 with about 93000 miles on it and drove it for about a month before it started acting up. The first thing that happened was that it died about a mile down the road one day. I coasted off to the side of the road and restarted it without any problem. It drove around just fine for a good while and then it started having troubles with starting. It just sits there and cranks.

The X5 only does it when it wants to. I have tried letting it set there with the key in the #2 position and then starting it. It doesn't seem to help. Back when it first started happening the X5 would start right up on the second try, but now it will start on any different number of attempts, ranging from the second to the seventh. It has grown very annoying. It also has an annoying habit of dieing. Sometimes when driving down the road sometimes when backing out of a parking spot, very unpredictable and very sporadic.

It has also done that thing where you turn the key and you see the tach jump up and then fall all the way back down without the motor even turning over. It is just strange.

The last time the X5 had a service done I had then flash new software. It hasn't helped. The service was a Service II so they changed the fuel filter. They even did a Motorvac fuel injection cleaning service. At that time they also informed me i needed a new alternator.

So if you have any ideas please let me know. Anyone have any experience with something similar? Sorry for the book, if i forgot any important details please ask.

Thank you in advance,
Trever