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Thread: My Car has stopped working. Immobiliser???

  1. #1
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    My Car has stopped working. Immobiliser???

    Hello to all,

    I have a rather strange problem with my poorly car.

    I have owned it for nearly two years and it has been a wonderful buy!

    Every single time it starts within seconds.

    I moved the car yesterday and (as normal) she started fine.
    However that same afternoon, nothing!

    Turns over and plenty of juice in the battery, there's fuel and compression too.

    I just wonder if anybody can offer any pearls of wisdom before i start spannering tomorrow???

    Also the buttons on the remote have stopped working, this leads me to believe that perhaps there is an issue with the immobiliser?

    I am inclined to think (please correct me if i'm wrong) that the batteries in the key should be fine as they are less than a year 9 months old and up until yesterday the range at which they would operate was at least 50-70ft.

    Please is anybody can offer any advice that would be great.
    I can pick up some new remote batteries in the morning and re-sync the key tomorrow.

    Just wondering if anybody has had a similar issues?
    It may just be that the car is upset with me as she has had such a hard life and is currently overdue a service, poor thing!
    Life is for thriving, Not surviving!

  2. #2
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    Hahahahahaha! Your car is indeed upset with you. I have no thoughts or ideas, but had to reply based on the humor inside your post. : )
    http://s434.photobucket.com/albums/qq67/mcallister95/
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by mcallister View Post
    Hahahahahaha! Your car is indeed upset with you. I have no thoughts or ideas, but had to reply based on the humor inside your post. : )
    Thank you for the reply none the less.

    My car has been absolutely brilliant, it really has but she really has had a hardlife with me.

    Through the hardships of no money at times and desperate times calling for desperate measures etc.

    I'm sure it was owned by some exec when the beautiful £50-60k car rolled off the production line...

    Under my ownership i'm almost ashamed to say, it has been used as a van to transport allsorts of stuff up and down the country including large propane cylinders (inside the car) at one point, it had a 'Heath Robinson' style homemade roofrack added, strapped down with a rachet strap passed through the door openings to secure it.

    I will post pics at some point, but have been to ashamed so far.
    She has every right to be fed up with me really!

    I'll have a talk and promise her a service and a valet as soon as I can afford to.

    See if that'll do the trick and she'll start again???
    Life is for thriving, Not surviving!

  4. #4
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    Does the remote have the red LED? If so, is it illuminating when your press the buttons? The remote has 3 features...and the immobilizing feature (EWS) is NOT affected by a non working battery inside the key. EWS is self powered through induction by a 125 KHz AM signal sent from the EWS control module to the Ring Antenna.

    The other 2 features (FZV) keyless entry, and (DWA) anti-them alarm siren system requires a working battery inside the key. These 2 features are the ones that can be reprogrammed by following the instructions posted many times here on the forum. EWS is NOT programmable...it has an ISN (individual serial number) that is assigned to the transponder chip inside the key and it MUST match the other EWS components which also have the same ISN assigned to them.

    Can we assume you have the 3 button RF (radio frequency) remote key...or do you have the 2 button IR (infrared) remote?
    Become a BMW CCA member! Click HERE to join and feel free to use my BMW CCA member #191509 as a referral.

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  5. #5
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    If it cranks and gets fuel it should not be EWS related, did you check for spark?
    Any codes? maybe the crank sensor?

    Have a technical question, don't send me a PM but post it on the board so others can benefit from it!

  6. #6
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    Hi Guys,

    Thank you for the support.

    My key is a three button key (but no red light)

    I suspect there is no spark as the engine is not trying to cough even.
    I haven't checked yet as I had no time yesterday to start spannering.

    This afternoon has been set aside for investigating, will post as soon as I can give any more info.
    Life is for thriving, Not surviving!

  7. #7
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    If the last time you started the car you only moved it a few feet and stopped it again - the car will probably be flooded. Have a read of this:

    http://www.meeknet.co.uk/E32/Flooded_M60_Start.htm
    Timm..2007 E64 650i Individual Sport..1999 E31 840ci Individual Sport..ex owner of 2000 E38 740..1999 E38 740i V8 M62..1998 E38 735i V8..1993 E32 730i V8..1988 E28 518i


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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Timm View Post
    If the last time you started the car you only moved it a few feet and stopped it again - the car will probably be flooded. Have a read of this:

    http://www.meeknet.co.uk/E32/Flooded_M60_Start.htm
    Thank you for that Timm,

    The other odd thing is that the key (remote central locking etc) has stopped working simultaneously which is what led me to believe that something might be up with the receiver in the car or immobiliser.

    I'll get to the bottom of it sooner or later.
    Life is for thriving, Not surviving!

  9. #9
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    As others posted, the remote control function has nothing to do with the starting of the car.
    Check all fuses, if your remote suddenly stopped, and car wont start, might be a blown fuse.
    Best bet is to read the codes. Or at least check manually spark, and fuel delivery.

    Good luck.

  10. #10
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    If at first you don't suceed...

    Put everything away for the night, open a beer, be glad that you don't need the car for work in the morning and post another message pleading for help!

    Well gentleman I am stumped!

    I have a spark, fuel, compression and juice in the battery!
    And yet no brum brum

    Sadly I cannot check what codes are displayed on the dash because too many of the pixels are duff and I haven't gotten around to doing the pixel fix job (as I read about in an old thread).

    Bizarrely enough the remote central locking in functioning again perfectly without my having done anything.

    The odd thing is in thing is that in the 2 years i've owned the car she has started within seconds EVERY TIME WITHOUT FAIL...

    My car definitely has a personality!

    Can anybody offer any thoughts?
    Last edited by Ascension; 07-25-2011 at 03:50 PM.
    Life is for thriving, Not surviving!

  11. #11
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    If you have all that how is the crank sensor?

    Have a technical question, don't send me a PM but post it on the board so others can benefit from it!

  12. #12
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    Still flooded! When this first happened to me I took half the car apart looking for the problem - fuel-pump pressure tested, ignition voltage etc etc. It was only when a friend managed to convince me that it was flooded that I went through the routine - and got it going again.

    Did you move the car just a few yards before it failed to start?
    Timm..2007 E64 650i Individual Sport..1999 E31 840ci Individual Sport..ex owner of 2000 E38 740..1999 E38 740i V8 M62..1998 E38 735i V8..1993 E32 730i V8..1988 E28 518i


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  13. #13
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    How do I check the crank sensor?

    Yes I moved the car a few feet and then it wouldn't start again.

    I will go through the flooded procedure again tomorrow! Grrr!
    Life is for thriving, Not surviving!

  14. #14
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    The test for the crank sensor is see if you have sparks - which you have! If you didn't get it going, you didn't fully follow the starting procedure. There are no short-cuts, you must have a good battery, it must be fully charged, another car with jump-leads helps - but it is imperative that you have 100% charge on the car's battery.
    Timm..2007 E64 650i Individual Sport..1999 E31 840ci Individual Sport..ex owner of 2000 E38 740..1999 E38 740i V8 M62..1998 E38 735i V8..1993 E32 730i V8..1988 E28 518i


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  15. #15
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    A huge thank you to everybody who posted advice.
    Finally got my car started today!!!

    Woo hoo she lives!!!!

    Now I have to keep my promise to her of a service and a valet as soon as I can afford it lol
    Life is for thriving, Not surviving!

  16. #16
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    I think it was the threat of yours to "spannering" - I would not start either!

    What the hell is - "spannering" ? Oh, my guess is either Cam Position Sensor or the crank position sensor - for it to be that sudden.
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  17. #17
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    lol, spannering...

    A comical (made up) term for me starting to work on the car armed with spanners, sockets and a big hammer!

    I think that TIMM was correct with his diagnosis of a flooded engine. The car was started and moved only a few feet from the front of the house.

    Combination of hot day, cold engine and short run time results in a flooded intake manifold and overly rich mixture so no brum brum
    Life is for thriving, Not surviving!

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