1998 E38 Won't Start

[Artementy]

Gschroer you are on point! The shop told me it was the ecw this afternoon. Let's see what they say tomorrow
Thanks

Sorry, meant ews

So what was the fix? I have a 750iL with the same problem, no crank.
How did they repair it, if they did?

[longsufrin]

Sorry for the delay, been busy. Here's the skinny after switching mechanics:
Alternator went bad.
Brake switch went bad which kept the lights on and drained the battery.
Once the alternator was changed, needed time for the battery to charge.
All the other stuff was just a shop taking my money.

[Edwin NL]

Thanks for the feedback

[R Shaffner]

Here's a thread you might want to review.
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ends-are-wrong

I don't know whether this generation of BMW theft-prevention applies to your car or not. (This was written for e39s.) Even if it doesn't, some of the issues.fixes might be similar. (In other words, a no-crank condition could be electrical, mechanical, or because the car's theft prevention system is keeping it from starting.)

(Future reference for others with this problem.)

[zeebo737]

Hello, I also have an e38 no crank issue, I recently purchased the vehicle. it was cheap and is in fair shape for its age and I will be sharing photos (740i light brown ext with tan int),when I get back home (out of town).
history, after a short test drive i agreed to buy the car. I have a 97 740il as my daily now but wanted one in better condition and the shorter body.
anyway, drove the car home about 45 mins, it had a misfire, no other real issues mechanically.
so i corrected the misfire, it was a bad coil. on to the next fix which was the dreaded no wipers, drowned e-box, corroded terminals etc. which I repaired with the help of this forum and will be posting the details of my experience soon as I can. thanks again btw!
Now, after that struggle , I get it all back together and it will not trigger the starter! it was all good before I started the wiper repair. I checked and double checked the fuses, relays, all of my wiring etc , everything looks ok. So here is what i have found,
key in ignition turn on , all lights on dash work, gear selector lights indicate correctly, tried starting in neutral, climate control radio etc all normal also get the "key in ignition" notification. just no starter excitement.
next, I dig back into the e-box to check whats happening at the starter relay, I connect the multimeter to each pin and try a start and no voltage/signal on any of the pins. so I run a fused jumper from the jump post to pin 87 on the starter relay(black wire) and use a remote start switch to activate and it fired right up, sigh of relief....
but thats where I am now with it. any ideas? also let me add during the course of the wiper repair, I disconnected / reconnected the battery and all the components in the e-box several times.
The wipers work beautifully now btw, I just can't start my car from inside like a civilized human.

[acspecialists]

Well I hate to say it but you are going to have to dig into the schematics. The ignition switch sends the command to the DME and the DME starts the car. Start with all of the DME plugs and pins, clean and check one by one.

[zeebo737]

uugh really? could it not be the ignition switch or something prior to the dme?

[acspecialists]

Because it won't crank it could be the EWS but I doubt it. It was running and you were digging around in the e-box. If it was cranking it could be the unloader relay but it is not cranking. I had a 98' that beat me to death but it always cranked it just wouldn't start. It was the IGGY switch not sending power to the unloader relay that makes the plugs fire. I had to go through the schematics page by page and then check the wiring with a meter to confirm what I was reading. I quick look with INPA will tell you if it is the EWS.

[zeebo737]

thanks Acs, but just to be clear, the car will start and run and operate normally if I send power straight to the starter relay(pin 87) with the ignition switch in the run position. but there is no power being supplied to the relay either to energize the relay or to supply power once it has been closed. can we not rule out some components with these observations?

[goinstrong]

I had a bad battery, and some of these same things were happening. Example: car is off, everything turned off, but the rear running lights would stay on. The IAC would stay on if I turned the key to accessories mode, but would go away if the car was started and then turned fully off.
LOW BATTERY voltage for all of these! A new battery has resolved those issues.
A new ignition switch is inexpensive, and not hard to replace. I would swap your current one out and put in a new battery. Hope it is this simple for you!

[zeebo737]

thanks GS, I am pretty positive that I have eliminated the battery as the issue, I topped it with a good charger , I had 12.5+V at the jump post in the engine bay with a load tester on it. so yes I was leaning toward the ignition switch as well but would like some more input from members before I start pulling ,checking ,replacing parts without warrant. could someone advise on quick checks to eliminate causes, like the trans range switch, ews, key transponder etc. I have watched every video and read every post I could find but there is a lot of conflicting info.
I am new to Bmw electronics but have a background in general diagnostics repair and maintenance. I do not have any bmw specific diagnostic equipment as of yet but will be getting something soon. need help in this area as well.
thanks to all in advance!

[acspecialists]

I would guess that you can rule out the EWS. Only the schematic would reveal where the signal to the relay comes from. This can be viewed in NEWTIS but I had trouble jumping from component to component. When I got in the Bentley manual it was easier, the German method runs from page to page rather than continuously. There is no doubt that once discovered the fix will be simple the path to the fix may be difficult. One thing I know is that when the journey is over you will smile behind the wheel.

[Naz840]

I would guess that you can rule out the EWS. Only the schematic would reveal where the signal to the relay comes from. This can be viewed in NEWTIS but I had trouble jumping from component to component. When I got in the Bentley manual it was easier, the German method runs from page to page rather than continuously. There is no doubt that once discovered the fix will be simple the path to the fix may be difficult. One thing I know is that when the journey is over you will smile behind the wheel.

Was there a fix for this in the end?

[740KRIMINEL]

Hi guys soo i got a 1999 740il 130k miles about 2 months ago and i had a fuel issue soo i fixed it with a whole new fuel pump and housing.
It ran fine for a little then the car suddenly died on me . I thought it was the starter, relays/fuses but checked it out by testing all of them.

Alternator checks out but my battery stays at 11.4v i believe after getting started by the solenoid. But when i turn the key the lights inside stay on my key locks and unlocks my car but i get the no crank no start

Its Not the ews because i got it INPA read and every reads fine and stays on but when i turn the key off it cant crank it without jumping the starter
but the gear switches it shows no indication on the dash.

Switched the sensor and opened the last one and it looked all fine. Im at a dead end here and definitely not at the point of giving up soo any help or tips will help!


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[toomann]

Are you able to jump start it? I just had a similar issue with mine. Battery was shot. When reading 11v +/- it wouldn't turn over at all. Replaced the battery solved the problem. A low or shot battery can cause all kinds of electrical issues with these cars besides just not starting. The other thing to check is the antenna ring that is on the ignition switch. That picks up a signal from the chip in your key fob and then relays to the EWS. If that antenna ring fails the car won't start either. Ask me how I know.