Car sitting too long?

[BCARBOX]

Hi-

I have a 1995 BMW 318is. I have been doing things slowly (new seats, carpet etc..) because I have decided to keep it...forever. The car has been parked in my garage for about 1 1/2 years. Before I parked it in the garage, it ran great.

The other day I put a brand new battery in, but it won't crank. It sounds as if it's going to crank - and everything else seems to be working fine...but it just won't start.

I'm clueless about these sort of things, but it has to because it has sat for a year and 1/2 without being cranked, right?

[jsmn4vu]

Particularly if no gasoline stabilizer was used when it was parked, there's a good chance you're injecting mostly water into the cylinders. You'll need to purge that water/stale fuel from the system and put in some fresh gasoline.

[coconutmnky]

Bad gas, old oil

[westfield]

Do you mean won't start or won't crank. There is a difference....

If it cranks buy won't start - it most likely is bad gas.

If it won't crank - could be electrical...So which is it...?

[charbel]

he said it won't crank so that don't have nothing to do with bad gas

check all your ground wires. make sure the battery you put in is good. maybe give it a jump.. check your relays .. maybe someone pulled the main relay or some fuses by mistakes.

and i know it sound stupid. but if it is 5 speed. make sure you hit the clutch before you started up even tho it's in neutrole.
good luck

[jsmn4vu]

he said it won't crank so that don't have nothing to do with bad gas
In an ideal world, yes, but people in these parts sometimes use the word "crank" when they mean "start." The clue is, "sounds as if it's going to crank."

[flyfishvt]

+1 on the battery. These cars need a fully charged battery to crank. Even batteries right from the store can be bad. Happens every day. Charge it or jump it and try again. Jump it at the battery and not the jump post in the engine bay. Also it may be just stuck from sitting. Pull the plugs and get a socket on the crank sproket and try to turn it clockwise. With the plugs out it should turn pretty easy even if its just a quarter turn.

Of course all this is meaningless if you really meant to say start instead of crank.

[heifetz17]

he said it won't crank so that don't have nothing to do with bad gas

check all your ground wires. make sure the battery you put in is good. maybe give it a jump.. check your relays .. maybe someone pulled the main relay or some fuses by mistakes.

and i know it sound stupid. but if it is 5 speed. make sure you hit the clutch before you started up even tho it's in neutrole.
good luck

My '92 didn't have a clutch safety switch. I imagine a '95 would be the same and wouldn't matter whether the clutch is in or not.