Help please!@!

[HALES]

Hey everyone!

I have a 95 318i and i have run into some big trouble and need someones help please

right so problem started with the dreaded spinning ignition barrel so awaited the 3 weeks from germany to get the new one, meanwhile starting the ignition with the switch with the screwdriver! And 2 days before it arrived the passenger window clips snapped so the window dropped, i took off both the passenger and driver door cards to have a fix up.. I fixed the windows up then tried to start the car with the screwdriver and click click click no ignition at all! So tested battery etc etc and it was not any of the easy bits. It is now been at the mechanics for nearly a month and had all the diagonistc test but is not showing any codes. I have had the key, starter motor, battery, fuel pump tested but just nothing!
Has anyone got any ideas where to go next please?

[hodgepodge]

So....click, click, click. With the ignitionon on (in accessory mode), you get radio, wipers, etc? Then when you turn the key you get clicks? After that what do you get in accessory mode? Radio again? Watch the dome light when you turn the key. I know you said you had the battery tested, but if all electric dies when you try to start the key, you either have a bad battery connection or a bad battery. Your battery is in the trunk. Have your mechanic wire up another battery to the battery leads under the hood. The hot lead is on the left side rear as you are looking under the hood, covered with a red plastic cover. The ground is either on one of the strut tubes or, if not there, someplace solid that you can clamp the ground (earth) lead to. If you get a crank with a battery connected up front, then your problem is a battery lead or the battery itself. If you get no crank, then the options and dollars to fix probably goes up.

Is it a stick-shift? If so, can you try to push-start it? Confirm that the engine will crank (i.e. not seized or vapor locked.)



That's all I can think of at the moment. Please let us all know what you find out.

Hope this helped.

[HALES]

Hey,

Thanks for that but we have already tried... exactly right with the acc on we have everything, dash lights, radio etc etc just clicks to no igniton. we ran a wire from the starter to the terminal under the hood and that is fine. a wire from the fuel pump to power and that hummmss just no ignition..

my poor mechanic is just about to pull his hair out with this one!

[hodgepodge]

OK, very confusing problem... If you are still getting clicks with a battery connected under the hood, then it isn't the battery. Could be a bad ground someplace. Engine block to frame, maybe.

There are some service notices about binding/sticking starters but I do not have personal experience with any of them. A binding starter seems unlikely.

....probably electrical.

Couple of things...

Is the car a stick or an automatic?

If automatic, set the key to on and put the car through the gears, then back to park. Guessing you tried that.

OK, here's a possibility... You have a two piece ignition switch on your car. The switch itself is a little dial with 6 or eight contacts in it that sites behind the cylinder. Very delicate thing and they are known to go bad. If you have been using a screwdriver to start the car, you may have damaged the starter switch, which connects to the back of the lock cylender. Testing this would involve pulling off the cover to the steering column trim (same as replacing the lock cylinder) and removing the switch. Not difficult. A couple of (usually) red loctite-covered screws at the bottom of the column hold it on. The part is about $80 retail, less online. There are a bunch of "How to change ignition switch" threads and even some good youtube videos for different BMW models. I even see a youtube video that looks a little like your problem. I know you don't want to spend money on a hunch, but pulling the switch and looking at it might tell you if it is damaged.

Hope this helps.