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kashmeister
06-02-2012, 08:02 PM
Hi everyone, I just went and checked out this 06 330xi, 100k miles.

Customer complaint: After sitting for a while, the car does not start up easily and cranks strong but just doesn't start until the third time. If its warm it starts up very easily.

My thoughts:

-Fuel pressure

Owner said fuel pump was changed. I released the fuel pressure through the valve and i'm not sure if its being primed properly before ignition. does the system prime it when you unlock the doors?

-Starter (common for 06's)

Owner said this guy came to change it, left it halfway and never returned his calls. He took it to a euro mechanic and he got it working again. He's pretty sure there is a new starter and I didn't here any grinding sounds.

-Eccentric shaft sensor

There was no oil in the connector, but I told him the next time he starts it after a while he should unplug it and see if it fires up quickly. From what I know, if its disconnected it will set the valves to the fullest length and use the butterfly valve to control the idle speed.

Things I noticed:

-Screws missing from microfilter cover
-Random crimped brown 20ga wires near the starter
-Original valve cover gasket
-missing engine cover

Scanning with INPA there were no codes in the DME. When I unplugged the Eccentric Shaft Sensor, it registered the fault but the car showed nothing on the iDrive.

I looked through old faults, I found low batt, fuel pump ekm motorfehlt, crankshaft sensor.

any thoughts? i really wanna help this guy out, he seemed pretty bummed out

02325
06-02-2012, 09:51 PM
depending on what fuel pump was used, it could be bad. yes the pump primes b4 starting. if you are loosing fuel pressure that would explain 3 tries b4 eng runs.

a simple fuel pressure test will comfirm this. the pressure should never go to 0 psi.

kashmeister
06-02-2012, 10:19 PM
what triggers the fuel pump prime sequence?

after releasing the pressure I tried locking and unlocking the doors and also hitting the start button with the brake (ign2). No pressure built up.

I checked the fuel pump control module in INPA and it seemed fine, 60psi at idle speed of 660rpm