M52 Starting problems

[anothere21323i]

A bit of a head-scratcher this one. Last weekend, my M52'd Touring refused to start. When turning the key, there was a 'click' from what I'm guessing was the starter solenoid but nothing else at all. I'd been commuting an hour a day for the previous few weeks without a sniff of trouble so this was out of character for the car. I thought it might be the battery, so I connected it up to my E46 330i to jump start it and it roared into life. Later on I checked all the fuses for a current drain but all was ok (thanks Si for your little fuse gadget ). I then connected it up to a battery conditioner and that showed that there were decent life in it so I left it for the rest of the day to give it a bit more juice just in case.

So last Monday morning I drove to work as normal but at home time it did the same thing - a click at the turn of the key but nothing else. I tried to jump it from a mate's car but it did nothing at all.

I've had a look at new starter motors from various places (anybody heard of RTX starter motors? Half the price of a Bosch item but I'm guessing there's a reason for that.... ) but before I go down that route has anybody got and suggestions as to what might be wrong? I guess I'll have to have a crawl underneath to see there are any loose connectors etc.

I should say that it's got an M20 starter motor.

The only upside of having a dead E30 stranded at work is that I get to commute to work in my E3 3.0Si!

Anyway any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated.

[jimbom30cab]

I has something similar and it was the engine main earth and batter -ve cable. I added an extra earth from the other side of the block to the spare terminal on the drivers side chassis rail, and cleaned up the original earth.

I also added one of these as originally i had a 318i cable which was about as thick as speaker wire

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321773894587? ... EBIDX%3AIT

it now spins into life and the battery never goes flat.

[anothere21323i]

Awesome, thanks guys!

[Brianmoooore]

Additional earth wires do no harm, but are totally unnecessary. All that is required is the OE item in good condition and fitted properly.

[jimbom30cab]

^^ same with every single component on the car !!

[anothere21323i]

Thanks for all your help guys. I spent a good few hours last weekend cleaning and checking every terminal and connection imaginable and no difference at all - sometimes it starts, sometimes it doesn't. I'm resigned to the fact that it's the starter motor.

Given there's an M52 lump fitted. it looks like my only option is to remove the inlet manifold in order to gain access - before I do this (which looks like a bit of a pain in the ar*e), has anybody got any timesaving top tips?

Thanks as always!

[Brianmoooore]

Removing the inlet manifold isn't "a pain in the ar*e". It's quite simple, especially in it's 'simplified' form, as it's likely to be on an E30 installation, and is the way to go.

[anothere21323i]

I should qualify my 'pain in the ar*e' assessment - fix this and get it back on the road, trace/fix another electrical fault (on my E3), prep my other E30 325i Touring for MOT and sale - all whilst planning a house move and preparing for starting a new job! I basically don't have the time even to do relatively simple things at the mo.

[DanThe]

Go at it from underneath, long extensions/breaker bar, I will apologise in advance for the tight bolts

[Brianmoooore]

Go at it from underneath, long extensions/breaker bar, I will apologise in advance for the tight bolts

Can be done from underneath, if you haver the facilities to get the car in the air, but it's not much fun that way either.
I've done it both ways, and out of the two, would choose removing the manifold.

[DanThe]

Only reason I would go from underneath is it saves at least an hour of faffing with the intake.

Also stay away from anything with RTX branding on it, they are the worst starters/alternators going, usual cheap chinese shite, ECP used to do a Lucas recon for about £90 and they are top quality

[anothere21323i]

I don't have the facilities to get the car on a ramp so it looks like it'll be a driveway job from the top, removing the inlet....

ECP don't list anything other than RTX - but thanks for the heads up Dan (and you are forgiven in advance for any elbow-cracking tight bolts). C3 have reconditioned Bosch items for about £130 I think.

Any other suggestions?