E36 No crank, no start but lights on dash work like normal.

[15flounder]

My car finally messed up when I had time to work on it. So I jumped the two wires at the EWSII unit and it started right up. I figure the relay in the unit might be bad so I pulled the board out and made a permanent bypass. I really hope I’m done with this problem. Incidentally, this also has permanently bypassed my clutch switch. I don’t care, so long as it starts.

[TheDirtE36]

That had to be a very late production car. This topic has been covered several times over my 2 years here and it always comes to the same conclusion...no clutch safety switch.

BMW has added certain items to cars at the tail end of a production run like adding EWSII and OBDII to late production 95's. I'm betting that the 323 was one of those cases. The 323 was only produced for the last two years of the e36 run.

They started the transition of putting clutch safety switches in the late 96 and 97 e36s

[M3AN]

"Safety switch"?

It's an idiot switch. Seriously, if you need one of those your driving license should be revoked.

[stagnant]

Quick note--I just went through this with my '97 E36. Radio and headlights worked but wouldn't crank, climate control module was dead, no warning gong, and alarm remote wouldn't lock/unlock doors (just gave warning beeps as if trying to arm the alarm while a door, hood or trunk is still open). Battery was showing 12.3 volts and a jump from another car did not help start it. It turns out my fuse #31 was blown. This 5W fuse powers part of the HVAC, heater core valve, warning gong, OBC/clock, the and the immobilizer (I assume that's EWS).

I replaced it and car started fine, but fuse blew again 2 days later. Another thread said it could be a shorted component or wire blowing the fuse, and one possible short is the heater valve (controls coolant flow to the two sides of the heater core). Other testing can include unplugging the OBC and unplugging the HVAC module. I unplugged my heater valve and drove all today without blowing fuse 31. If that continues a few days, next step is to replace my heater valve.

So if your E36 won't start, the OBC/clock and HVAC displays are dead, and your battery has enough voltage, check fuse #31, or whichever one your fuse box says controls both the immobilizer and heater fan. Then carry a few spare 5A fuses until you find out why it blew. If your OBC and HVAC displays are okay, then it's not fuse #31.

Wow. This saved my dead M3 in the home improvement store parking lot. I thought it was odd that the alarm would not set when I got out of the car. It gave me three chirps. Oh well. Went inside, came back to leave and the exact same issue as LivesNearCostco had. Whipped out the smart phone and found this thread. Unplugged my heater control valve (electrical cable) after immediately blowing several fuses in #31. Now she fired right up and I made it home. Now to decide if I want to attempt the control valve replacement or pay someone for the headache. Thanks!