So buy I this 1998 328i, and it works great for about a month. Then the ignition starts to drag on the start(like a small delay before the actuall crank). Then it just stops turning over at all, all the electronics would turn on but nothing from the ignition. So I call the guy i bought the car from, he takes it gives it back to me in a week and say it was the key tumbler which I didn't question because thats what i thought it was.... wrong... It's doing it again..Wierd thing is once I do get it to start it will start fine for weeks, then on an oddball day won't start up at all...Any advice would be greatly appreciated

I would check all connections on the battery and starter motor for openers.

Dan

Does it not start after it rains? Any patterns to the no-start? After a day of short trips and frequent restarts? After a day of one start and one long trip? I'd be checking grounds first and starter amp draw next.

It has a harder time starting after a trip of 50+ miles. When it doesn't start it seems to help if I mess with electrical items such as turning on and off the radio, lights, messing with the horn and pressing the brakes. Even then I have the key in the on position, and the start will be delayed. As for rainy days i've noticed nothing that seems to stand out. Oh the low coolant light and the temp for outside is -35 which i don't think matter and are probably irrelavent(sp) to the situation.

Thanks again

How old is that battery? It definitely sounds as if you have a weak battery... possibly one shorted cell in the battery... or some type of short, loose connection or corrosion on the the battery terminals. I have seen some weird lights and temp readings from dying batteries.

A visual inspection on the battery will tell you if there is corrosion... make sure the connections are tight.

You can have the battery tested to see if it has a bad. On a 1998 model you may be just about ready for battery #3.

I took to the car to autozone today to test the battery I was reading 13.5V good battery, wierd thing is when i tried to start it afterwards it wouldn't turn over. Still won't actually lol..
The guy i bought the car from swears up and down the starter is new, with no warranty. I'm getting power to the starter, because the starter gets warm or hot.. Thinking im just going to drop the money for a new starter and see what happens.

(Let me elaberate on "turn over" I'm saying this as no sound from the motor at all. Would be like a completely dead battery with electronics working and battery meter reading green. So anything i can think of leads me to the starter, just don't understand how the starter can start my car for 2 months and not completely die yet)

Thanks again ^_^

if you get power to the starter then the starter is gone, if not-it could be your key and/or antenna ring around ignition cylinder, all related to your ews system.

New Key tumbler and key =(
Anyone know of a way to test ignition switch ?

Charged the battery that the car wouldn't start on tonight to about 16.2V. Turned the key on delayed about 7 seconds bam cranked right up. Drove it to the house, started 3 times in a row, put the Interstate Starter tester on it, and it wouldn't start.
Next question if ignition switch is gone, would it send power to the starter ?

Thanks again ~_~

If you are getting power to the starter it is not the ignition switch. The question though is how much power are you getting to the starter.

Testing the voltage on a battery will not tell you if it has the ability to crank the motor... for that you need to test the current or the amps. If you are familiar with electricity forgive me for the following explanation... if not, I hope this helps... the best analogy to explain volts and amps is using a comprsion of electricity to plumbing or something familar like a water hose. Volts are similar to the pressure coming from the hose. Your tiny Water Pik may put out 12 psi... like your 12 volt battery... but it won't knock you on your butt like 12 psi from a fire hose. That increased flow between the Water Pik and the fire hose is analaogous to higher amps. A tiny flow of electricity at 12 volts (lets say .001 amps) won't have nearly the power as a 12 volt battery pushing out 600 cold crank amps.

So... what kind of amps is your battery putting out? A shorted cell in the battery can significantly reduce the electric current from a battery. So can corrosion on terminals or on a wire since the reduce the flow just like pinching the hose would.

Get an ammeter to test the amps near the battery and then near the starter to determine if you are getting enough current from the battery and then to the starter. If you are consistently getting sufficient current from the battery and to the starter solenoid... then it is probably a short in the starter motor or it could be a solenoid malfunction. The solenoid is simply a larger switch that can handle higher amounts of current... that larger switch is turned on and off based on the smaller current that flows through your ignition key. The solenoid keeps you from having big cables capable of carrying 600 or 750 amps into the steering column at the starter switch.
The new starter you mentioned could be a rebuild... probably is a rebuild... either way, new or rebuilt even new starters can come with a defect.

If you are not getting current to the solenoid... look for corroded terminals or cables or less likely a shorted wire in the ignition circuit.

To test all of these things you need to get a multimeter... one that measures volts, ohms, and amps. Be careful on the amount of amps that the ammeter (that is the real name of the device on the multimeter that measures amps) will handle... most will handle far less than the amps your battery should be developing.

In summary... get a good multimeter and start to narrow down the circuits and devices until you find the problem. Electric problems are a pain... good luck...

Thanks for this info, I have a meter that I had to buy when I wen't to school at UTI. Once I get the car to my house from work i'll test all the wires, and report my findings..
One more thing, i'm looking for a diagram on the ignition circuit and I can' find one. If anyone can point me in the directions I'd appreciate it.

Thanks again