Help Needed (newbie)

[andymarshal]

hi guys i was driving my 540ia this morning and i got to traffic lights and the car cut out. i used the auto start feature to try to start it sounded like it was running very, very rough so i switched it of. the obc reported no faults and i had just filled her up. the aa came and didnt know what was wrong when we started it again it sounded like it started but wouldnt rev and you could hear the starter motor keep coming back in to get it going - he siad that the engine was not running so he towed me off.

he said it did not sound major but did not know - any ideas guys?

its 1999 540ia with 63000 miles and full bmw service history 3 owners from new.

thanks guys.
andy

[BeelZibub]

Did you put diesel in it??? even with your flash chip and over expensive exhaust she won't run on diesel!

[///Matt]

With the delay from fill-up to the problem, it sounds like bad gas to me. Is there any way/chance that water got into the tank?

[andymarshal]

Thanks for the help guys, i am on holiday in majorca at the moment, i have just spoken to the mechanic who has sorted the problem - there was no fuel at the engine. he read the fault codes and discovered that the fuel sender switch or mechanism was the casue of the problem. he took all the rear seats out of the car and found that the cable had come off, he drained the fuel tank put a new sender in plugged it in and hey presto it works, the jammy git has the car for the next 9 days now while im away.

i was crapping myself at one stage, you see i also drive a diesel company car (my main car) and i thought i may have put diesel in the 540 and ruined it, i checked my reciepts and found that it was unleaded - i did puts lots of fuel in and it did overflow alot - so i wonder if this has anything to do with it?

one observation with this car i mainly use for city driving and can usually get 24 - 25 mpg. but when i first had it i was driving hard and did no more than 10-15 miles and this used half a tank. i did the same again the next day bang another half a tank (30 over 2 days). i then realised that thats ok if you own shell or your best mates with roman abramovich, but im not so i decided to take it steady from now on.

it was fun when i beat that porsche boxster though.

andy
ps more pics coming soon when i get back.

[andymarshal]

beelzibub, is that a touch of jealousy i feel there?

by the way what part of birmingahm are you in - i live in quinton

andy

[BeelZibub]

Originally posted by andymarshal@Sep 28 2004, 06:12 PM
beelzibub, is that a touch of jealousy i feel there?

by the way what part of birmingahm are you in - i live in quinton

andy

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Just down the road - Northfield