Guess the problem Competition! AKA Whats up with my car?

[blueshadow]

Hi,
I would be interested to hear any suggestions as to what the problem my E30 has.
It involves starting.
It starts first time every time but I have to plan my trips very carefully. Let me explain....
When my car gets warm, anything over normal temp. i.e sitting in traffic for 15 mins OR after a long journey and the car is turned off and the engine heats up a bit owing to lack of air circulation. Then the problem begins. When I try to restart the car I turn the key and nothing happens. The starter doesnt even turn, almost like a flat battery. I then have to wait about 40 mins for the engine to cool down to about one third of the way of the temp guage, then it will start no problem at all. The issue is that it seems to be happening more than it used to. The other day I was in a traffic jam, everyone turned their car off, so did I (DOH!) .... then after about 10 mins everyone moved off....but not me!! I had to wait 30 mins till mine would start!

So...what would be the problem. ? My local BMW man could not suggest anything... It seems a strange fault.... why would a hot engine prevent it from turning over?

Any help would be appreciated (I was 30 mins late to work yesterday because of this!)

Lee

[SD]

Tired starter relay or solenoid? Think this can cause the symptoms of not starting when hot.

I'm sure someone with more technical knowledge than myself will be along shortly.

[E30Mark]

Do the rest of the electrics all work OK when the starter doesn't turn over?

What happens if you try to bump start the car when hot? if it starts OK with a bump start then i would have thought the problem is down to the starter circuit, could be a dodgy solenoid.

Have you tried giving the starter a gentle tap! when hot? see if this helps.

Otherwise you need to test the voltage to the starter etc.