E30 Zone

Morning people. Not been on here for a while, never really needed to as any questions or queries I had would always get answered in a heartbeat by my old mate Sweep (Pete) and his encyclopaedic knowledge of E30s down at his garage.

Happens now and again on my 90 325i touring, turn the key and nothing. Dash lights up but no noise sound or motion from the engine. The car is making no effort to even try to crank over. Starter motor not even trying to turn. Is it the starter on its way out? Wait a while and try again and it fires no probs. Pain in the backside, busy with another e30 project that is taking all my spare time up and could do without messing with the 325. Any common issue it could be?

Thanks in advance

Have you gone through the steps for no starting in the wiki?

https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.p ... oubleshoot

I would have a close look at the ignition switch.
When starting - jiggle the key when in the cranking position.
And slop or wear in the switch will show up,

I had what you described

Tzantushka wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 14, 2023 1:38 pm

I would have a close look at the ignition switch.
When starting - jiggle the key when in the cranking position.
And slop or wear in the switch will show up,

I had what you described

Same hear !!!

Mart.

flybynite wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 14, 2023 8:49 am

Have you gone through the steps for no starting in the wiki?

https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.p ... oubleshoot

I had another good look at this and could finally see the arrows trying to indicate the process flow (this time on a monitor).
It's actually very good!

To the OP, I would highly recommend doing the Diagnostic Plug Start
(click on the link in the troubleshooting page to take you to the work instruction.
That's what help me rule out starter motor shenanigans.