Distributor question/problem , need some help

[GooneriC]

Will a dizzy from a 1985 323i work on a 320i of the same era ? I checked realoem..the part numbers are different but i am wondering if the distributor will still work - they both look the same.

[Brianmoooore]

I would guess that the difference is different advance weights/springs and/or maximum advance stop, so it will fit, but won't perform quite as intended.

[GooneriC]

Ok... back to square one then i guess.

[Brianmoooore]

I doubt if there's much difference in them, TBH. A good 'wrong' distributor will probably perform better than a worn 'correct' one.

[GooneriC]

Well i took the cover off the old dizzy today and noticed that on part number 4 in this diagram , one of the 6 prongs on the impulse sending wheel was broken ( how in the hell did that happen ?) .
Would simply replacing that solve my problem?

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?mod ... g=12&fg=05
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[Brianmoooore]

With the 'prong' missing, I'd expect no spark on one cylinder. If that's the problem, then replacing this part should fix it, but it's a bit worrying not knowing why it broke.

[GooneriC]

Yeh thats got me a bit stumped... the car has been off the road for almost 2 years , i've started it now and then to make sure everything runs as normal. Three weeks ago i took it into the garage and cleaned the interior out and it refused to start..did all the checks following the steps in the wiki and got stuck at the distributor, no power at all coming from there so no spark at the plugs either. Its only today i took everything off and noticed the prong broken.

[Brianmoooore]

Maybe the pulse generator has been destroyed by the missing bit.
The last time I played with this kind of distributor would have been around 1980, so I'm a little rusty on how to test them!

[GooneriC]

Could be.. either way i think its best i look for another distributor before i go fooling around with this one