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bmw 1999 318i starting problems

My 1999 318i has developed and odd problem. Today when i went out to start it - it would not start. Lights and power seem ok, i tried jump leads but the starter is not turning at all.

When i turn the key pretty much all the dash lights are on and the headlights flash as i turn the key (note this happens even when the headlights are switched off).

My first thought was a flat battery but the jump start did not help. I then suspected an issue with the key/immobilier - but trying 2 spare keys made no difference.

Is this likely to be an issue with

1) immobilier or 2) engine managment unit or 3) Something else.

Its not a great time of the year to bring this to a garage so any suggestions as to what i could check in advance would be appreciated.

-- dkh

Reply to
dkh
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  1. Specifically I would suspect the ignition switch.

Steve

Reply to
shazzbat

"shazzbat" wrote in news:fl65oa$c4d$1 @news.datemas.de:

Not that im pretnding to have any clue about what I'm talking about - but would a faulty ignition switch cause the headlights to flash when i turn the key to start ?

Reply to
dkh

dkh wrote in news:Xns9A15C7290F11Chisdancingleg@216.196.109.145:

Following up my own post...

I put a voltmeter on the battery terminal and earthing point i was using for the jump leads... noticed that it had a very poor connection. I then tried it on a better but more awkwardly placed earth point - it read 11.99volts - which sounded alright.

However this did cause me to retry the jump leads again given that the metal loop earth point had such a poor connection.

Surprise surprise it worked.

If it is simply a case of a weak battery then thats easily fixed, however its odd that bmw choose to indicate a weak battery by flashing the headlights ! I'll know tomorrow whether 25mins driving round town has given the battery a big enough boost.

-- dkh

Reply to
dkh

A good but flat battery will still read over 12 volts, so it sounds like yours is kaput. An earth problem will cause all kinds of faults including odd lights coming on.

Mrcheerful

Reply to
Mrcheerful

dkh wrote

Not quite. 11.99 is flat battery. Assuming the atmospheric temperature was

4.4ºC, a serviceable battery should be at or higher than 12.406ºC, when the State of Charge (SOC) was 75% full. Even worse, if the car had not been driven for a few hours, the electrolyte would have been more acidic at the bottom of the battery (stratification); the 11.99 meter reading was therefore higher than what the real SOC was, i.e. a misleading reading, the actual SOC was lower! See Table under "4.4.2. Open Circuit Voltage vs. Temp at Various SOC..."
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Glad that the jump start solved the immediate issue. However, I would advise using a proper battery charger: using the moving engine > alternator to recharge a weak battery is bad practice.
Reply to
Lin Chung

Oops, 12.406V, not ºC.

Reply to
Lin Chung

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