Weird start problem
 

If I start the car in the morning starts ok. If I try to start it in two hours after it was OFF then it cranks for about 10 sec until starts. It feels like there is no gas or something like that and it starts with a few cylinders at the beginning. If I let it rest up to about 8 hours then it starts ok. If I start it within 10-15 min after stop it also starts ok. Where should I start the investigation ?

Hello

model and year?

miles on vehicle?

> check list <

CHECK SPARK PLUGS (wehn was the last time changed )

CHECK FRONT FUEL PUMP

need info to tell more

2000. 4.4L, 216000km. This spring I had the engine out and got all the chain and chain guides, vanos and all that stuff replaced, injectors cleaned and new filters. I got the new fuel filter and regulator as well. Spark plugs are also new. The engine runs like new but this starting problem kills me. I will have to take it to a shop if I cannot figure it out soon.
I didn't see any front fuel pump. Where could that be?

Your about the same way as my vehicle does for.

Display red square box didn't light up red with message CHECK FRONT FUEL PUMP than it's not within that area problem.

Visiting BMW shop it's about 150 for the guy to check full list for your vehicle of any problem you have. KEEP IN MIND THAT JUST TO LOOK AT YOUR VEHICLE FROM BMW IS 150$$ US DOLLARS

Try driving around your area with shops that deal on daily base with German autos lots of the owners will take a second to look at it for free (as many had for me)

From that it's every hard unless the problem happen to one of us.

I had something similar, where it would start right up in the morning ,however if i drive around and stop for a few hours it would not work, but then would work if i left it over night....soon after my battery died, once i replaced with an AGM battery it's been ok so far (8 months).
Also i was told to leave the car running for about 2 mins after stopping if i intend of not using it for a few hours....not sure if any of this makes sense, feels like i do some kinda ritual :-) however it has worked for me so far.

I have a similar problem. '02,,3.0, 141000 miles,

Starts right up after its been sitting overnight. after its warmed up when you go to start it up. It churns but doesn't start. I never let the starter to just keep running for more than a couple of seconds. It always starts on the second try.

OP, how do you know only a few cylinders are running at first? I don't notice anything like that. Did you put it on some kind of test computer or the like?

I was wondering if maybe it could be a bad injector. the spark plugs have about 50,000 miles on them, I'm told they go 100K. Any thoughts.

It just seems like a few cylinders help out the starter and I have to press the gas pedal to increase the rpms and then all start ok and the starter stops.
It was thinking it might be an exhaust issue like the secondary air pump not pumping enough air or something like that to clean the cylinders ...

It could be the injectors as well, I have no clue at this point. My injectors were clean and the filters changed. Maybe they messed up something when they did the injectors cleaning. I will have it diagnosed on the 28 of Nov by an good indy shop. Not sure if the dealer was a better option.

I would think if only a few cylinders were running you'd kick on the Service Engine Soon lightand that would show a cylinder misfire code...random or specific. If you scan the data, you should see it as well, even if it wasn't enough to kick the SES light on, you should still see a stored code indicating a misfire at some point.

Let us know, I for one am curious how this could be happening and I just ran all the codes at the dealer 3 weeks ago and they didn't find anything. I hadn't thought of the exhaust hanging up in the cylinders, but wouldn't that activate a code?

That's where I was going and you articulated it for me:thumbup:

The problem is that there are no codes. The indy didn't find any with his autologic?

Did you ever check out your battery?

It's one year old battery. Always starts ok in the morning but I would think it's a timing problem like 8 hours of sitting in the garage but actually if I leave work after 8-9 hours it still cranks a good few seconds before starts.
I thought is the temperature but it isn't. It doesn't matter if it's winter, summer, outside or inside. It does this only between 1-8 hours interval (overnight). It also starts ok within one hour after start ...
I changed the speed/position sensor and flashed the DME with the latest firmware and no luck.

I flashed it with 12 14 7 533 588 since I don't know what this is:
"What is For vehicles with:
High speed synchronisation (S840A) = Yes"

http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E5...me_programmed/

The other option is 12 14 7 533 590.

Can you comment on this? Should I try ...590 firmware?

Did you NOT have this starting problem prior to this cleaning?

A long story short, I had the engine out and beside cleaning the injectors I replaced chain guides, chains, vanos... everything. I did not have this starting problem before.
Having said that it could be from anywhere... but the question is now how can I debug it.
The indy that I actually trust couldn't find the problem. I took it twice. I am thinking that my next step is to take it to the dealer but not right now.
I have the GT1,INPA what can I try/test/check to debug it?

I'm sorry but I'm not knowlegeable enough with the GT1 to say what tests to perform. Obviously, there are the basics that are needed - air, fuel and spark.

If you're not getting codes/faults, and therefore don't have a straightforward test plan you can follow, then it can be frustrating.

Hopefully someone can give more pointers on what to do from here. For now, I suggest going through the GT1 and, IIRC, looking through the function module for possible test plans to run related to fuel and spark.

When I get my GT1 back, I'll look and let you know if I find any possible tests that might help diagnose your problem.