My Car Won't Start

[wilks88]

Hello everyone,

I have a 95 M reg BMW 318IS coupe which all of a sudden now won't start. When I turn the key in the ignition nothing happens - the ABS, battery and oil lights come on as you would expect but the engine won't turn over. The extent of my knowledge is as such: The tank is full of petrol and the battery is fine.

Any ideas?

I've had this happen only once before when the door was partially locked - might the car somehow think the door is locked even if it isn't? I'm very confused.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Bear]

Originally posted by wilks88@Nov 18 2004, 03:02 PM
Hello everyone,

I have a 95 M reg BMW 318IS coupe which all of a sudden now won't start. When I turn the key in the ignition nothing happens - the ABS, battery and oil lights come on as you would expect but the engine won't turn over. The extent of my knowledge is as such: The tank is full of petrol and the battery is fine.

Any ideas?

I've had this happen only once before when the door was partially locked - might the car somehow think the door is locked even if it isn't? I'm very confused.

Any help would be appreciated.

[snapback]233227[/snapback]

You say the batery is fine, but can she be jump started? I have seen batteries that show 12 VDC at rest, that when you try to crank her the voltage drops to 10VDC or less.

[NyteRyda]

maybe it's time to replace the parts inside your alternator or the alternator itself. the same thing happend to my car when the internal parts of my alternator went out.

[wilks88]

I've noticed something else - the driver's door window doesn't come down a fraction when opened, something both doors on the coupe model should do. Could this be the reason the car thinks it's locked? I'm hoping it just means replacing a sensor. Any thoughts?

[kearnyme]

If it won't jumpstart then there is something wrong with your battery and possibily your alternator. You just have to start going down the list of things it could be untill find the problem

good luck