1995 525i tourer, wont start - Please help!!

[royal]

Hi all,
I've been lurking here since buying the car but not posted much until now. What was a couple of fun days fixing the car during my holiday has become a nightmare as I need it for work next week. I'll try to be as detailed as possible, I've done a lot of research on here and also have the bentley manual but the car still wont start.

Quick history - Got the car 4 or 5mths back reasonably cheap due to 205k. I figured being a BMW and full service history it had another 100k lol. It overheated the next week, replaced the plastic waterpump with a metal one and its done 5k miles since without any problems.

The missus was driving the car returning a trailor we'd used to move house. As she was parking the trailor (lots of revving etc as the trailor was heavy, like when you start on a hill) the car cut out a few times. She then couldn't start it so left it while having a cuppa thinking maybe she'd flooded it or something. On return she managed to start it and drove home. On the way it cut out and chugged to a halt, and hasn't started since. The RAC guy had a look at it. He couldn't start it with 'easystart' spray and reckoned it was contaminated fuel. As it was late and he couldn't have checked much I thought this was unlikely. I'd filled up the day before at a busy shell garage and done about 40miles. The garage insisted there was no other reports of contaminated fuel (I guess they would say that though)

To start with I didn't have access to the internet or a Bentley manual so I replaced the DME (white) relay (BMW dealers thought this was the fuel pump one!), and also the light green one which the BMW dealers thought was the main one!, this didn't help.

I checked the spark plugs had spark by removing the coils and grounding them, spark was present.

I then got internet access (dial up :-( in the new house), and got the Bentley manual.

I checked the main relay as per the Bentley manual and had voltage and ground in the right places.

I checked the fuel pump relay and also had the correct readings (I also jumped the pins)


I then checked the voltage at the fuel pump and it was present. This seemed like the fuel pump was dead so I pulled the fuel lines and there was no fuel in the line so I thought that was the problem. It was a saturday and I missed the dealers so I tried fitting a pump from a scrap yard G reg 525 (M20 engine I think?) as I was desperate, which didn't work. On monday I ordered a new correct pump and fitted that. It still doesn't work.

I pulled off the inlet manifold and checked the resistance of the CPS. it was 600ohms which seemed ok (bentley says the m50 should be 1000 odd but on here someone said that this is incorrect and it should be roughly the same as the m20 540ohms?). I didn't think this was the problem as I had spark anyhow but didn't know what else to check.

I've also checked the signals at the ECU plug and they all seem fine. All the grounds are there, the main supply, fuel pump relay comes on at initial start up etc.

I tried jumping the fuel pump relay again and turned the car over but it still doesn't start.

Now and again it will fire on a couple of cylinders or more but wont actually start.

Battery has been charged several times!

Sorry its long but I wanted to get everything I've done in. I'll add to it if I remember anything else. I hope someone can shed some light as I'm desperate to get it running now.

Yours Hopefully!

[31Hertz]

Perhaps I am simplistic to suggest: have you changed the fuel filter? When you pulled the plugs, were they soaked with gas? Do a fuel pressure test? Anyone else with ideas?

[royal]

Tbh I havn't replaced the fuel filter, and know I should have. Would this actually stop it from running?

The plugs didn't seem that wet but I could smell fuel from the cylinders. I left them to dry for a bit before putting them back.

Maybe I need to check the injectors then? Is there an easy way to check them? I'm off to check my Bentley manual in the car.

Thanks for the reply, all help much appreciated!

[royal]

Ooh there is something important I forgot:

I can't do a stomp diagnostics test for some reason. I press the pedal 5 times and nothing happens. I'm not even sure where the engine check light is so maybe the bulb has been taken out by the previous owner? Could someone tell me where it is and what it looks like? and if theres any way of confirming.

[shogun]

Is that a US spec. car or European?
If not a US spec. car, not possible to make a stomp test.
I recommend you to buy a PEAKE tool.
www.peakeresearch.com

Have you checked the fusible link?
http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/mainte...sible_link.htm

We just solved a similar problem on an 850, 6 months the owner tried, read this
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=27721

[royal]

Its a UK/European car. Thanks I'll check those links now. Wouldn't it all be dead if it was the fusable link?

[royal]

Just looking at the 850 problem now. I have wondered about the imobiliser. Everytime I do anything I have to switch the alarm on and off to crank the car to see if it starts. I ended up temporarily cutting the red siren wire to stop it going off and waking up the owners of the drive where it is at the moment.


Could someone clarify this for me:

Not sure if youve searched the archives but I had a 'no start' problem that was initially intermittant and then permanent. It was a faulty body control module giving an erroneous 'immobilise' signal to the EML's.
There are a few parallels. I also had problems reading the codes with a scanner. Most of the time I got nothing at all.
The solution was to cut the two immobilising wires to the EML's. I cut them just before the EML plugs in the EML 'black box'. If I remember correctly they were black with a violet stripe. Check the archives.
The car started immediately and ran faultlessly when they were cut.
I initially thought it was a faulty alarm module giving the signal but eventually found it to be the body control module. The alarm signal passes through this module.
Its just an idea and something that is very easy to try out and eliminate. If this isnt the problem, just re-connect the two wires.

I'm not used to the mnemonics yet, what is the EML? Can I do the same on a 1995 525i tourer?

[Ross]

Since you have stated that it runs with atarting fluid your fuel system seems the culprit.
Be sure you are jumping the correct relay, you wouldn't be the first one to confuse them. Switch with a known good relay to be sure. Check the connections and esp. ground for the pump.
It's unlikely a fuel filter would be that clogged but if you don't know when it was changed then you probably should.
Do you have an aftermarket alarm? These have been known to cause trouble. I always remove them from any car I own if so equipped at purchase.

[Ross]

You're not out of gas, right?

[royal]

no mate, I've got an almost tank full. I've been up to my arm pits in it changing the fuel pumps as I've not got anything to drain it with.