I live in central New York. Salt belt. Could a bad ground strap cause my symptoms? If so where is the engine to chases ground strap located on the E53?

When I was doing the EWS DME synchronization it said turn on terminal 50 ignition and terminal 15. What is terminal 15 ?

Google says terminal 15 is ignition and terminal 50 is crank.

A faulty ground strap can cause a no start condition but it will not cause EWS codes. The engine ground strap is on the passenger side engine mount.

If you want to rule the ground strap out, take jumper cables to anywhere on the engine block to somewhere with an unpainted surface on the chassis, or a bolt that screws into the chassis. The lift point to the chassis ground point usually works well.

Keep in mind that will test for one possible failure mode, it won't indicate every issue with EWS.


You do not need to be cranking to align ews-dme. Key needs to be in position 2. If it's in the wrong position it won't even hook up to INPA or whatever reader you are using.

If you have EWS codes still present after alignment then that should be the focus.

Fuse 11 is EWS power.

I connected jumper cables from engine to chases and No luck. That rules out the ground straps as the cause of no crank. So I will scan for codes to see if 80: DME- EWS transmission parity code is back. If so I will run the DME - EWS alignment function again. Only this time I will turn on terminal 15 ignition then terminal 50 Crank when prompted. I am hoping the old tired battetry with 11.5v maybe caused the DME and EWS to fall out of synchronization. Fingers crossed. As I mentioned. The battery was replaced 2 months back.

The code 80 DME- EWS transmission parity was cleared. The code has Not come back. DME -EWS synchronization = still no crank.
To test if starter is functional. Can I short pins 1 and 2 on the EWS just to see if it cranks? It is most likely going to end up being a faulty start

The code 80 DME- EWS transmission parity was cleared. The code has Not come back. DME -EWS synchronization = still no crank.
To test if starter is functional. Can I short pins 1 and 2 on the EWS just to see if it cranks? I think it is most likely going to end up being a faulty starter motor, But I still want to confirm before condemning it. Thoughts on starter rebuild kits vs u pull it yard used starter? If I go for a used starter from salvage yard. Will the starter off any m54 work ie. X3, 3series, 5 series...? Will n52 n54 3series starter fit a m54? I only ask because I saw many E90 328i's last time I was atu pull it yard.

Yes, attached is a picture. The pic shows how to bypass EWS when a delete is done. I did an EWS delete temporarily while chasing down an parasitic amp draw. The fuse sends starter power. Send me a PM. I have a detailed procedure to test EWS. I saved information from web searches. I can email you a PDF file.

It would be helpful knowing what "just clicks" really means, is it the starter solenoid clicking when the key is turned ?? If you are at the EWS connector already then you might as well try the bypass but if you suspect the starter anyway then why not take a few things out of the way and get access to test at the starter, maybe even do a quick check for power at the bulkhead connector while trying to crank as well.