My girlfriend was driving down the road when the car stalled. She coasted into a lot and tried to start it back up but it wouldn't turn over. You can hear the starter turning, I can hear the fuel pump in the trunk, but it just won't turn over. It is almost like something is not firing.
We checked the fuses and battery and both are fine. We even tried using jumper cables for the heck of it. I hitched it and towed it back home.
So, Any ideas?

thanks,
D

no spark can be caused by a few things, how good are you with diagnostic skills with a voltmeter? is the car a 3/87-12/87 or previous 528e?

OK, here is a little more info. She had been smelling gas in the car for over a month prior to this happening. So, maybe the fuel line is messed up? Clogged injectors?

Ok, even more info. I can hear the fuel pump, as mentioned earlier. I pulled the fuel line to the fuel pressure regulator and had my gf turn the car over, fuel is definitely making it to the fuel rail. I held a screwdriver to the ignition coil wire and had the car turned over again and saw a nice big spark. Im comfy with the voltmeter but I'm a total bimmer noob. My last car was a Volvo 240 which was super easy to work on. Does this year (88 528e) have a timing belt? Please say no.gulp . . .

oh yeah. "is the car a 3/87-12/87" how do I tell?

post your vin number the last 7 digits

if moisture gets in the dist. housing you will need to dry it off, that can cause a no spark issue, also the entire rotor can be shattered.
you can tell if your car has that last production date if it dont have a cold start valve, then its a super eta.
The non super etas have reference sensors which will get no signal for the spark.
The reference sensor for the super eta (also the super eta has the toothed harmonic balancer) is mounted on the passenger side of the balancer.
If you can use a volt meter you can test those, but they CAN be intermittent.
Main relay and ECU can also be at fault for no spark, there isnt much to check.

you verified you do have fuel but did you try crimping off the return line. possibly fuel pressure relief is gone.

It does have a timing belt, but the distributor is mounted to the cam shaft. If you have spark at a plug then the belt should be fine. Check the main relay on the drivers side inner fender.