'89 520i won't start

[grr]

I've got a 520i/M20 which won't start anymore. I drove it into the garage yesterday, swapped the clock with a digital one and let it sit in the garage over night. Today it won't start.

The battery is fine, there's gas in the tank, and the starter seems to work like it should, but the engine won't ignite properly. I'm not sure if it's not igniting or just not getting any fuel.

The weird thing is, the digital clock doesn't work as it should (didn't yesterday either), and when trying to start the car I'm kind of getting flashbacks to how my E36 felt when I had the code thingie enabled. Since I only have the digital clock (with outdoor temp) my car don't have the code thingie, but could the swap have caused the ECU to crap itself or something?

Also, should I be able to hear the fuel pump when turning the ignition on and sitting in the drivers seat?

Any other ideas?

[uk525]

id have thought the first sensible thing to do after installing any new item and then have the car not work would be to disconnect the new item...

it certainly behaves like its code locked, not firing is the way it would work if it were code locked.

disconnect it

[grr]

I reinstalled the original analogue clock and had the battery disconnected for two hours before I tried again. No luck...

I'm starting to wonder if there's a change I've screwed up some vital cable or whatever in the dash. Or if the ECU can be damaged since I swapped the clock without disconnecting the battery...

[uk525]

are you sure your car was wired for the digital clock, i thought 520s generally werent

id check you havent blown a fuse

[grr]

I've checked the fuses as well, and I couldn't find any blown ones.

Are there fuses anywhere else than in the engine compartment? I know there are relays both in the fuse box and under the back seat...

Not sure if it matters, but the day before I drove it into the garage I drove the car about 300 miles.

And from what I've been told installing the digital clock shouldn't be a problem. Only thing missing should be the temp sensor, but the cabling is supposed to be there. However it's back to original state now...

[E34-520iSE]

Have you flooded it? I have the same car & engine. It's really easy to flood by repetitive starting attempts.

[grr]

Have you flooded it? I have the same car & engine. It's really easy to flood by repetitive starting attempts.
I think you might be right...

The car started again last night. Kind of unexplainable, but I'm guessing it's a combination of bad spark plugs (swapped them yesterday, it didn't start immediately afterwards), the engine being flooded (I should probably have tried to run the starter for a few secs with the spark plugs out) and false air (there's a crack in one of the rubber hoses on the air intake).

Thanks for your replies. :)