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Thread: No Crank No Start E36 M3 Full Power

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Westchester County, NY
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    1995 BMW M3 Estoril Blue

    No Crank No Start E36 M3 Full Power

    Hello Everyone! I wanted to make this forum post to share my experience that I recently had so here it goes.

    I drove to work one day after class in my 1995 BMW E36 M3 with an OBD1 S52 swap. Car ran and drove just fine and I worked for 3 hours. Got back into my car after work and tried to start it but nothing happened.

    -Car had full power, no dead battery.
    -All lights and dash worked fine along with the radio.
    -Car unlocked and locked electronically.
    -No fuses were blown.
    -When I inserted the key, the car did not crank nor start.
    -Tried to push start the car down a hill and nothing happened.

    I took the car to my mechanic because I was fumbled and I could not find what the problem was.

    THE CULPRIT....... MY KEY ($95)! Apparently there is a chip in our keys that prevent the car from starting and sometimes it goes bad.
    While the car was apart during testing, my mechanic took the time to change these other parts since the car is old:
    -Ignition Tumbler $183 (it was on its way out. Occasionally it spun around and around).
    -The steering column lock $158.
    -The key pick up ring antenna $39.

    The car starts again and runs fine. The old key still does not start the car, but it will unlock it.

    Hope this helps anyone with the same problem. I searched the forum for a while and could not find an answer. Cheers!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Panama City, FL
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    2001 E39
    Geez, so I think I am battling the same issue. Please help!

    NOTES
    - I have a 98 528i (e39)
    - I have two OEM keys, but the electronics died a year or so ago. (The rubber lock button was busted, water got into the remote part, and it died. The other key has been working just fine, so we did not address it.)
    - After that point above (and maybe before) the bust key will manually unlock the car but it will not start. All electronics INSIDE the car, work

    STORY
    I ordered a replacement rubber piece for the fob and tried to replace it last night. I decided to start with the busted key and removed the buttons from that remote, pulled the electronics out of the working remote (battery was removed for like 5 secs) and put the old key with new rubber back together. ALL of the car electronics worked. lock/unlock, trunk, lights, key cylinder lights, EVERYTHING. BUT, the car will not start. No noise from the starter, as I would expect from a dying battery, no light issues, NOTHING pointing to a dead / dying battery. Everything points to the key.

    So, remembering that this key did not start the car when I last tried (w/o electronics in the fob), I decided to put everything back into the old working key to try and get the car running. Again, all electronics work, but the starter will not engage.

    After some reading, I noticed that a lot of people were pointing to DEAD car battery, even though all electronics may appear to work. So, I'm charging the battery. I also found that a lot of people were pointing to the key needing to be reprogrammed as well. So, of course seems easy enough, I tried it. NOW, the damn key doesn't work at all. lol

    Quick reprogram steps.
    1. Key into first position
    2. remove key
    3. hold UNLOCK button down
    4. hit LOCK button 3 times, slight pause between
    5. let go of UNLOCK
    6. (optional) insert key back into position one

    Car should cycle lock to unlock.... IT DOES NOT. ugh...

    Any ideas??? Help please

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Posts
    1,600
    My Cars
    2x 97 M3/4, 05 530i
    It's not a problem with the electronics in the key. It's a problem with your anti-theft system. It's called EWS II. You can google it. There's a transponder in your key- it's a small black rectangle. If your key is busted it might have fallen out.

    If you are having an EWS problem its either a key with a bad chip, a bad receiving antenna, which is a small plastic loop at the base of the ignition, a bad EWS module, or the EWS module and DME have come out of alignment and need to be resynched.


    You posted the steps for reprogramming your keyless entry. That is COMPLETELY unrelated to what is going on with your no-start situation.

    Also, you have an E39. This is the e36 m3 sub forum. There are several subtle differences between the two cars.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Panama City, FL
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    2001 E39
    Thank you! Yes, I noted the difference in the forums, but this was the most recent and closest to my issue. So didn't want to open up dead threads. I will def open one in that forum.

    Back to the issue, DUDE, that was it! I noticed that little black box when I was messing with the old key, not thinking that it was with the new one. Car is now working.

    So, I can assume that when the car just does nothing, like described above, it is something with the EWS system. Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened. (usually, after a handful of key turns it finally turns over)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Posts
    1,600
    My Cars
    2x 97 M3/4, 05 530i
    If the car suddenly won't crank but the battery appears to be fine, it's PROBABLY the EWS system, yes. It can also be the igntion switch but those usually show symptoms first.

    If you mess with a key or drop it or something like that and the car won't crank it's almost always EWS related.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Richmond, VA
    Posts
    2,538
    My Cars
    e28, Spec3, M3, M3, ZHP
    On some cars there are also ways to disable the EWS key piece by snipping one of the wires. Do a search for that topic and you might find a work around. This modification is typically done with track cars, but can be adapted to a street car as well.
    Andrew Elmore

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Posts
    1,600
    My Cars
    2x 97 M3/4, 05 530i
    Quote Originally Posted by VaTechE36 View Post
    On some cars there are also ways to disable the EWS key piece by snipping one of the wires. Do a search for that topic and you might find a work around. This modification is typically done with track cars, but can be adapted to a street car as well.
    That only works on the silver label 413 OBD1 DME's. There's no way to disable EWS by cutting a wire on the MS41 dme, which would have been for all e36 and e39 OBD2 single vanos vehicles.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Westchester County, NY
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    1995 BMW M3 Estoril Blue
    Sorry I never saw these replies guys!

    Anyway I am having the same problem again (no crank no start). I believe it has to do with my EWS II module. I will update this thread with what happens and if I find a resolution. I am currently looking to disable the EWS II by installing a Chip with a tune as well (my cars not tuned yet) and cutting the green wire.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Vernon, CT
    Posts
    145
    My Cars
    1999 M3 5spd
    This happened a while ago to me when I had a 95. Everything looked normal, but no click or starter noise when I turned the key to the start position. I may have tried to jump start it unsuccessfully with my friend. I ended up cleaning the battery contacts, and it didn't happen after that.
    95 cosmoschwartz M3/2/5 : 2012-1/1/2014 (worn rtab's and bald rear tires in the rain)

    98 cosmoschwartz M3/4/5 : 2016-3/10/2017 (understeering SUV)

    99 Estoril M3/2/5: 6/16/2017-current

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Westchester County, NY
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    1995 BMW M3 Estoril Blue
    SO HERE IS THE FIX!!!!

    Thank you to both Michael from TRM for the article and advice and Jordan from RKTunes for the Chip and Tune.

    Read over this article, This is exactly what I did:

    http://www.trmtuning.com/2013/10/11/ews-e36-chassis/

    I bought my chip from RKTunes since he is local to me. I am more than happy with the tune.

    I cut both the small green wire coming from the EWS II module and cut and connected the two LARGEST wires.

    My car now starts with my new key, and the old one (which stopped working originally).

    - - - Updated - - -

    Just a heads up, the chip has to be installed in a certain direction. The first way I installed it didn't work, I had to flip it around. Hope this helps anyone who is troubled.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    Orange, CA
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    1995 BMW M3
    Just experienced this issue on my 95 M3, figured I post in case somebody runs across the same issue. Car wouldn’t start, no crank, no sound at all, all lights worked fine and battery was fully charged... After about 2 hours or so trying to diagnose the issue, a buddy of mine told me to try stepping out of the car, locking and then unlocking the door, then trying again. Started right up with no issues. I did hear that this may only work for the models manufactured before January 1995 although I am not fully sure. Hope this helps and spares somebody a headache.

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