E30 Zone

over the past few days i have put a 325 engine into my 316i... ive gone to turn the key and i get nothing at all.. when i put the ignition on i can hear the idle control valve working but i get no lights up on the dash apart from the battery warning light.. the lightsa and radio work fine, i put a jump pack on the battery incase it was flat but still nothing..

any help woud be much appriciated !

one more thing i nearly forgot... i also have two 3 pin plugs on the engine wiring loom right next to the plug for the ECU i couldnt find anywhere for these to go?? as i did not have them on my old engine loom.. thought they could be for some optional extras my car didnt have??

First check,is the black yellow wire connected at the ignition switch? Are there any loose/unconnected wires around the column switch connectors?

Hi mate
I assume you have connected the engine earth strap?

I'd like to know what those two plugs you mentioned are for. They were on the loom for my replacement M40 when I swapped it. In the end I used my original loom so I didn't worry about them.

SPADGE wrote:Hi mate
I assume you have connected the engine earth strap?

yup connected the earth strap.. saying that i had the engine bay painted before i put the new engine in so will grind the paint off where i connected the strap just to make sure i got a good earth..

daimlerman wrote:First check,is the black yellow wire connected at the ignition switch? Are there any loose/unconnected wires around the column switch connectors?

i havent touched any of the wires around to the ignition switch so i dont think thats the cause of the problem but i will check tommorrow

I suppose you read this before you did the conversion????
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ic&t=83367

Wouldn't have anything todo with an imobiliser if you have one? just a thought

Link together pins 11 and 14 of the diagnostic socket (that's what it's there for!!), and see if the starter engages and turns the engine.
If it does, the start signal from the ignition switch isn't reaching the engine loom (black/yellow wire) for some reason - wires around the steering column knocked apart when fitting the 325 ECU and loom, or an immobiliser?
If it doesn't, then either the battery + isn't reaching the starter motor and/or engine loom, or the earth strap isn't fitted properly between body and engine. In the case of the latter, you may have done serious damage to your engine loom, as the current may have taken an alternative path via a small wire from the oil level sensor to the earthing point on the strut turret top.

rix313 wrote:Wouldn't have anything todo with an imobiliser if you have one? just a thought

yes i do have an imobiliser.. the light flashes when its activated and doesnt go out when i put the key into the ignition? maybe is not deactivating now ive put a new engine wiring loom on it.. could this be the reason why its not starting?

just bridged pins 11 and 14 and she fired up first time... going to check the black/yellow wire from the ignition switch ... if this looks okay is it likely to be my imobiliser?

TomCropp wrote:just bridged pins 11 and 14 and she fired up first time... going to check the black/yellow wire from the ignition switch ... if this looks okay is it likely to be my imobiliser?

Mr Moore stars yet again,black/yellow wire has a nasty habit of falling out of it's holder,well worth checking.

i checked the yellow and black wire, unplugged it and plugged it back in still nothing, is it worth using a test light to check ive got a voltage running through it?

right not really sure what ive done here but after playing around with the yellow and black wire my ignition lights have all illuminated and the car started off the key

thanks for all your help

right.. sorry for being a pain.. but i still havent solve the problem, playing around with the black and yellow plug was only a temporary fix... after i turned it off i could not start it again... ive taken the ignition switch off the back of the barrel and i have battery voltage at the wires to the back of the switch.. ive taken a look at the plug where the engine loom meets the main vehicle loom and there is 4 more pins on the engine loom would this have anything to do with the problem??

The extra pins in the C101 are for the oil level sensor, etc., and aren't relevant to your problem.
If the ignition lights weren't/aren't lit with the ignition switch on, then the problem isn't with the black/yellow wire.
It has to be a problem with the red wire (which comes from the fusebox), the ignition switch, or the plug and socket for the ignition switch loom, which should be clipped to the steering column, about half way down.
You will have disturbed things in this area when you fitted the engine ECU and it's loom.

Brianmoooore wrote:The extra pins in the C101 are for the oil level sensor, etc., and aren't relevant to your problem.
If the ignition lights weren't/aren't lit with the ignition switch on, then the problem isn't with the black/yellow wire.
It has to be a problem with the red wire (which comes from the fusebox), the ignition switch, or the plug and socket for the ignition switch loom, which should be clipped to the steering column, about half way down.
You will have disturbed things in this area when you fitted the engine ECU and it's loom.

oh right i see, ive checked all the wires underneath the steering column thery all seem to be fine couldnt find any damaged or chafed wires..

would it have anything to do with my imobiliser? i dont no whether its standard or not? i have a red light that flashes next to my heated rear screen switch.. doesnt look very standard... do you know where im likely to find my imobiliser??

Has the flashing red light got any wording on it???
Immobiliser could in 2 places, either a cheap one built into the siren, or a seperate box, normally under the glovebox area.If it has all black wires, do not attempt to cut anything as you'll never find whats waht.Try to chase them and find out what wire does what and label them, this is all if it is the immob cutting i.

i dont think my imobiliser is BMW i think its a cheap aftermarket ad-on.. it should automatically disarm when the key is in the ignition the reason the imobiler isnt dis-arming.. was because the coil of wire that hangs around the ignition barrel had fallen down by the steering column, the fob on my keys was too far away from the coil of wire... ive now moved the coil back around the ignition barrel and it now works fine...

thanks for all your help.. im now off out to enjoy my new 2.5 lire 316i