318ti wont start

[bimanut]

Ive got a compact 318ti auto for my gfriend and it wont start.
It was running and starting fine,then came to start it to take for mot and nothing.
Recharged battery still nothing,fitted another charged battery and still nothing.
ignition lights come on and you can hear buzzing coming from the engine but nothing not even a click from the starter.
I was going to try the council method of bridging starter with screwdriver but cant get to it.

Does anyone know if there is a relay or pins in the loom that i can bridge to see if starter will turn over to try and eliminate starter fault ?

TIA

[jimmyspeed]

there are two relays (fuel pump left, main relay right), under a small black cover. They are located between the fuse box and battery, its worth swapping them out to check

also check the engine earth, its located next to the drivers side engine mount, down low. To save grovelling in the dirt you can earth the engine with a suitable jump lead and test

buzzing is probably the idle control valve

[E30BeemerLad]

Try moving the gear selector back and forth, I would have thought these have an inhibitor switch which prevents the car being started if it is not in P.

Just an idea

[bimanut]

Update..

I hooked the starter up to power and it started to turn over,i couldnt leave it to fire up cuz the top inlet manifold is off to get to it.
Checked the wiring with an indicator bulb and no power to cables but there is power coming from the ingnition switch.

I swapped the two relays as described above with relays off my E36 iS onto the compact and vice versa the iS started but not the compact.
Yes i think the buzzing was the idle control valve and swapped it for another one.

I wondered about the inhibitor switch and tried shifting it back n forth but to no avail the hand book says it can be started in P & N when either is selected and ignition is turned on there is a faint `clunck` coming from the selector.

I`m starting to lean towards EWS problems?
Ive brought a data cable and program to see if i can see whats going on
If that dont work she better buy some barbecue food to cook on it after i set fire to it

[wellard]

It does sound like an ews problem if the starter isnt operating.try swopping the transmit receive module over from your is.its located under the steering column lower cowl,they were quite common for failing.its a small black box with two connectors,one from the ring aerial and the other goes to the ews module.