1998 E39 No Start EWS problems.

[Jayson Wonder]

A long and challenging task to say the least. Very rewarding to have accomplished this part of it.

[Fx323i]

I am glad to hear the good news, also that you are going to fix the problem in a proper way...

[Jayson Wonder]

I am glad to hear the good news, also that you are going to fix the problem in a proper way...

Thanks BMW wizard.

[JeanMachine]

Hello guys. Please help!!!
I have a 2000 bmw 328ci manual transmission.
The car wont start/no crank either. I've taken it to an indy shop where i got really disappointed. The replaced my (working) starter, said they checked the clutch and ignition switches and all the relays and fuses, it did not fix the issue. By the way the car does start sometimes. Its very random. I have 5 keys in total (3 diamond ones with the 3 plastic lock/unlock buttons, a vallet key and a little plastic wallet key). It does not make a difference which key it would start with (when it actually does start).
I have done a little bit of reading but all the information is quite confusing to me as it relates to individual cases. I do not own any special testing devices/cables/software.
If someone can be a good sport and just point me in the right direction as to what to begin addressing my problem with I would greatly appreciate it.
Its been 3 weeks ive had this problem now and its really frustrating as i love this car and looking at other replacements i simply do not see any other car that i would like.
Please please please help!!!!!
Thank you!!

[Fx323i]

JeanMachine:
Things you can try at home...

a) Take a jump start cable and connect the engine block to the chassis. If the car starts then, the engine ground is the culprit.
b) If you jump the widest two pins on the EWS, you get a crank + no start situation. To test if the EWS is making your car not to turn over, this is enough and takes less than 5 minutes to check.
c) If the car had previously been involved in any accidents, I would also check the + cable on the battery. On E46s there is a battery safety terminal (BST) which deploys in an accident. All the accessories work then, but the engine can not be started. Some people try to save money in an improper place when repairing the car after the accident and they just push pin back in the BST. After some time, you get exactly the problem you are getting now.
d) Indeed check all the fuses again, because if it was an indy who did not know E46s, he might have missed some. Also check for the battery voltage.

[geargrinder]

Hello guys. Please help!!!
I have a 2000 bmw 328ci manual transmission.
The car wont start/no crank either. I've taken it to an indy shop where i got really disappointed. The replaced my (working) starter, said they checked the clutch and ignition switches and all the relays and fuses, it did not fix the issue. By the way the car does start sometimes. Its very random. I have 5 keys in total (3 diamond ones with the 3 plastic lock/unlock buttons, a vallet key and a little plastic wallet key). It does not make a difference which key it would start with (when it actually does start).
I have done a little bit of reading but all the information is quite confusing to me as it relates to individual cases. I do not own any special testing devices/cables/software.
If someone can be a good sport and just point me in the right direction as to what to begin addressing my problem with I would greatly appreciate it.
Its been 3 weeks ive had this problem now and its really frustrating as i love this car and looking at other replacements i simply do not see any other car that i would like.
Please please please help!!!!!
Thank you!!

START YOUR OWN THREAD Jean Machine.
As you rightly point out, everybody elses thread has to do with their own situation / issues. This is not your thread. You could do that in the E46 general forum, or here, I would suggest E46 forum.

In addition yeah getting someone with the proper software to scan the car and ascertain what is going on is critical. Clearly you don't have the stuff and that's fine most people don't but if you can find a helpful nearby enthusiast it would go a long way to figuring out what exactly is going on. I would say your Indy doesn't seem to have a clue or use software in their diagnosis as it seems they are going down the shotgun 'replace stuff until its fixed' route which is seldom good. Finding another Indy may be your best option also - one that knows how to use modern BMW-savvy diagnostic software properly, which will tell him if the car is recognizing keys, if it is recording codes that point to the error, etc. etc.

[bmwdirtracer]

As Fx323i suggested, check/clean/rebolt the engine ground, and all major primary power connections. Also, check whether you have 12.5+ volts at the main starter lug -- in fact, have you checked battery voltage? 12.0 volts is a 90% discharged battery, which may not crank the engine. Then check whether you're getting power at the activation wire of the starter when key is turned to start.

[JeanMachine]

[QUOTE=geargrinder;28815292]START YOUR OWN THREAD Jean Machine.
As you rightly point out, everybody elses thread has to do with their own situation / issues. This is not your thread. You could do that in the E46 general forum, or here, I would suggest E46 forum......

Thanks guys. It turned out to be the ews. I had a mobile guy come to my house, he tried reworking the ews but was unable to fix it. Said there was a crack in it. Fortunately he had an ews from another car at home. Today he brought it over (i assume he'd already done any necessary programming) plugged it in and bam, car starts every time with any key no problem.
Thanks again and sorry for posting in the wrong tread. Im a noob to all this. Registered only to ask my question.
Cheers

[Fx323i]

Aha, so the guy pulled the data out of your (I guess) 0D46J MCU in the EWS and put it into another EWS (needs a bit adjustment if the part number is different, but works if the guy knows what he is doing.

[MicIcarus]

While this is an old thread, I just wanted to say thanks to Fx323 - so far the most comprehensive discussion about EWS that I've found on the net.
And of course, thanks to BimmerForums for keeping this knowledge base online for the rest of us to search!

(working thru an issue of an EWS-key de-sync after clearing ECU codes with an aftermarket code reader... and yes, if I continue with my questions, I'll start another thread)

[Fx323i]

Miclcarus: This is strange. I would never say this was possible as the part of data in the EWS is only accessible via diagnostic socket after grounding one point on the PCB.

The only thing I can think of is that you tried to erase EWS using BMW Scanner 1.4. There is an instruction to short two pins on the EWS and then run a procedure. This way you erase the whole memory of the EWS.

[Fidelio353]

I am glad I am not the only one with this problem. As of today I went through my second set of DME/EWS/FOB set off ebay for e53. I just installed it today and works. Excellent thread guys. I may save a lot more time on the next issue. I bet this bug will return.

[Maxframe]

Producing a spare key, especially when you have only one, sometimes becomes a big necessity. Recently I bought a 1997 (04/96 production date) E39 and it came with one key. No problem, I'll pull the EWS unit, read the MCU, obtain a blank key with transponder from Amazon like I'd done previously, put the EWS unit back in the car, select a key number and program the new key, have a locksmith cut it, put it in the steering column lock and VOILA! I'd have a winner.

But that was not to be. I found out my EWS II unit is behind the glove box that has to be taken out, the plastic panel it and other electronic items mount to has to be lowered, then you have to try to extract the EWS from there with a wire harness that is a tad to short for easy removal. Then, I erred on the programming by not selecting the PCF7930/7935 coding as my AK90+ was at the default EML coding and I missed it. It didn't work, so I re-programmed the key as I should have since I was pretty sure this new key could be re-programmed if it hadn't started the car. That didn't work. I tried coding it to another key slot with no success. I got a PCF7930 chip that is one-time programmable just in case, but it was a faulty chip, as my AK90+ indicated when I tested it, so I had to get that replaced under warranty by the vendor. I ordered another new key from my key vendor, and tried it by coding its transponder, then moving it over to my cut key. That was met with no success.

During that time, I discovered I shouldn't mark the chosen key slot used for the key I'd just programmed and write that back to my EWS II. I talked to a guy that makes keys who was making me an F10 key and he suggested re-flashing my EWS II unit if I had the original .bin file. I did and several others along the way. But, I neglected to take a copy before I did this re-flash. I was also under the impression that EWS II did not use a rolling code - it does. So I killed my working key. Sigh. In frustration, I put the matter aside since I have a number of cars to drive and frankly I had to re-think what I was doing and maybe get an idea of why my efforts were not working.

After a couple of weeks went by, I returned to this issue and did a ton of research. I found loads of information, some of it incorrect, for EWS 3+ and EWS 4 systems. Do note that previously I had quickly and successfully made a spare key for an E38 with an EWS 4 unit in it about a year and a half ago. Some of my efforts led to finding information from BMW on all their EWS systems and I read it. Then I read it again just for my EWS II. Then I started to try to put the pieces together from how the system works to what I'd done and so on. That was about the time I ran across this forum and a discussion where Fx323i had posted on sparek keys and he made alot of sense.

I DM'd him and laid out what I'd done and where my frustrations were. He gave some very good direction and I went with that combined with what I had learned from my research along with corrections I'd learned from experience. I went out on my own and removed all the check marks from the used key slots, so my EWS unit showed no keys were used. Note that I have the 2D47J MCU. Then I re-flashed it with that information and re-installed it. I used the key I'd coded - no crank. I used the key I had (key #7) and it cranked and started. YAY!!! So, now the car was no longer dead in my drive and I learned that the EWS unit ignores its stored rolling code when it sees that key number hit its "unused" (i.e. no marked as USED in the MCU). After that time, then key slot, fixed code, password and rolling code must match!

Nonetheless progress was being made. I broke out my laptop with INPA and ISTA. I also got out my PASOFT v1.4 dongle. If I had a working key INPA could read the EWS information properly, but didn't give me all the much help in fixing it. And, it had huge issues trying to read the EWS if a key had not been accepted by the system. ISTA wasn't so helpful. But, PASOFT showed me the key slot, the fixed code, the rolling code and checked if the key password was valid. THAT is what was stopping my key from working. But, why? There is only one password, so why would one key read it and the other not.

Then I found EWS Editor 3.2. Normally it comes with a dongle and an adapter, but I didn't want to spend the money for those. Especially since the adapter was geared towards and EWS3.x system and had no capability of plugging in to my round prong EWS II connector. But, I was able to purchase for a very small amount of money, just the software. I installed it and read the .bin file that I had most recently taken from my EWS II unit. It read it just fine. The key slots and fixed codes matched exactly to what I was coding and what was on my newly coded key. I tried several different key slots and always got the right code. The software showed the password and confirmed there is only one. And, I found out that once the EWS sees a key for a given key slot and its fixed code matches, then it writes back to the key the random code and marks the key slot as USED in the EWS. Aha! Now I knew my AK90+ was not only reading the MCU correctly, but writing keys correctly, etc. So why didn't it work? And why the "wrong password" result?

I got back with Fx323i and ran all this by him. He thought I had a weak transponder chip in the key I had bought and recommended the VVDI X15 chip. I had also found out that my EWS II system uses a separate transmitter/receiver module mounted just back of the ignition cylinder. I thought that perhaps it was failing. It had enough power to activate what appears to be a factory key, but not one of my replacements. I looked up the price of a new TR and said oh no. It was more expensive than a new EWS unit and I was convinced my EWS unit was fine.

I did find a source for a used TR unit on eBay at a great price, so I ordered it. I also ordered the VVDI X15 chips, though I had to buy a bag of 10. The TR unit came in two days before the chips and I checked it against my TR unit. My original was SW02 and the replacement was SW04. Other than that, they were identical in stamped part number and physical appearance. I plugged the newer one it, put my coded key in the ignition and it cranked and started. TERRIFIC. It was a failing TR unit. Well almost.

I let Fx323i know and he asked me for two things. One was to put the old TR unit back in and code up a VVDI transponder and see what happened. I did and it worked just fine. So, Fx323i was absolutely correct. It has to do with the strength of the transponder when it tries to communicate back to the TR unit that then signals the EWS unit. THAT is the part that couldn't be completed previously resulting in wrong password. So, I put the newer TR unit back in and am running on the key I coded. If that should ever have an issue, I have that VVDI chip coded and ready to go set up for the next key slot number up and all I have to do is swap out the transponder chip.

The second was to write up my experiences and share them on this platform. My apologies that took awhile, but here it is, so hopefully it will help others. While it is tilted towards an EWS II (EWS2) unit, most of the steps and concepts work for an EWS 3/4 system, except for the separate TR unit on the early systems.

[bmwdirtracer]

WOW.

Martin (Fx323i) is a friend, and a magician when it comes to EWS difficulties.

That said, when I have a problem of needing an extra key for my BMWs, I order one from the dealer.

So, Martin, are you still watching this forum? Long time, no see!

[Fx323i]

Hi Chris, I am not really active here but I do have an e-mail alert on private messages. In case someone needs, I am happy to help if I have a bit of spare time. I also am in touch with a couple members from Bimmerforums on WhatsApp, which is way more convenient for me because most of the time I am not close to a PC where I could run internet and the forum is not working well on mobile devices (which I usually have on hand once I have some time).

[bmwdirtracer]

I'm glad to hear from you again, my friend. I hope all is well with you, your family, and your business!

Thank you for helping those intrepid souls who can't just buy a key, or an EWS unit, from the dealership! If you ever visit the states, I hope to see you! Meanwhile, if there's ever anything I can do for you, you've got my email...

[Fx323i]

Good to see you here! I am now having a real lack of time since my son was born (now he is 6yo)... Anyway, if anything is needed or you come across something I could try to help with, just send me a mail :-) You have it if I remember so I am happy to help. I just do not have a time to go through the forums like I had in the past years