Z3 just clicks, starter will not engage

[02rollin]

I've got a 2001 m54b30 Z3. It has been great and I had it storage over the winter. The battery was dead so I charged it up and started driving it around. Now when I go to start the car the starter just clicks but doesn't spin the starter.

I charged the battery overnight and went to start and it wouldnt start. I swapped batteries with another battery and it did start, slowly, as if the battery didn't have a lot of juice. I figured the battery was the problem and charged the new battery to make sure it had a solid charge from not being used. Well a day later the car again would not start. Relay or solenoid keeps clicking but the starter does not turn over.

Today I tried to diagnose it. I checked voltage at the battery 12.2 and then I checked voltage at the positive terminal under the hood. 12.2 volts. But the same issues, clicks but not starter engagement. Even with a battery charger hooked up the same issue occurs. I checked the starter and the positive terminals are solid and I loosened, checked for corrosion and retightened. The ground on the starter are solid but I can't quite get a wrench on them with the intake manifold on. Next i checked the connection in the trunk and tightened it just in case. Then i looked for the chassis ground under the car on the passenger side. Both connections are solid.

I removed all relays to see if maybe there was a starter relay but nothing changed the problem and all fuses look good. I even checked the relays next to the ecu, no dice.

Is there a starter relay on my car? I'm assuming not and read the starter solenoid is built in to the starter unit.
On the e30s you can use the obd port under the hood to jump two pins and engage the starter(11 and 14 on the e30). I couldn't find a pinout of the z3 pins, is this something i could do with a wire to test whether the starter works? This would be ideal to determine if the starter is the issue or if I am chasing a bad ground or something similar

How do I test the starter is the problem short of pulling the intake manifold and starter and putting 12v directly to the starter?

[rf900rkw]

Are you sure it was 12.2V? That is a dead battery, under 50% charged. What is the voltage while trying to start?

Does it click once, or cyclic?

Starter relay is part of the EWS system. There is no easy jumper that can bypass it.

[02rollin]

Thanks for the reply. The starter just clicks repeatedly. I can't check the voltage while trying to start without another set of eyes, but with the battery tender hooked up, I have 14V at the positive terminal under the hood before starting and it just keep clicking. I know that doesn't rule out the battery, but i'm leaning toward starter solenoid at this point. Maybe I can check voltage at the starter next.

[rf900rkw]

Clunk clunk clunk clunk at about 1-2 hz is low voltage. Clean all of the connections you can reach. Not just tighten, but loosen scrape tighten. Load the system with the blower on high, A/C on high, maybe the headlights too, and check voltages. Check across each junction. Battery negative post to terminal, post to chassis, chassis to engine block, Same up the positive tree.

[02rollin]

Clunk clunk clunk clunk at about 1-2 hz is low voltage. Clean all of the connections you can reach. Not just tighten, but loosen scrape tighten. Load the system with the blower on high, A/C on high, maybe the headlights too, and check voltages. Check across each junction. Battery negative post to terminal, post to chassis, chassis to engine block, Same up the positive tree.

Thanks for the suggestions. I brought the battery charger to the front of the car, turned it to emergency start, and connected to the terminals at the front of the engine bay. I measured over 13 v at the terminals. Next I tried to start the car and still nothing but clicks. Then I put the positive end of my multimeter on the positive connection of the starter and grounded to see the same 13 v at the starter. At this point I will check the negative terminals and connections, but they are extremely hard to see and get to. I'm pretty sure the starter needs replaced but will check again before ordering. I found the part number to be 12412354709 and a replacement starter (new from fcp euro for under $200). https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...-motor-sr0448n

I may try my hand at a used unit from ebay but there is no guarantee it is in any better shape than my current starter so maybe not worth the risk..

I also found some DIYs to help in the process for future reference. The one supposedly can be done without removing the intake manifold.
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...=870419&page=2

[Pelican Parts]

I've got a 2001 m54b30 Z3. It has been great and I had it storage over the winter. The battery was dead so I charged it up and started driving it around. Now when I go to start the car the starter just clicks but doesn't spin the starter.

I charged the battery overnight and went to start and it wouldnt start. I swapped batteries with another battery and it did start, slowly, as if the battery didn't have a lot of juice. I figured the battery was the problem and charged the new battery to make sure it had a solid charge from not being used. Well a day later the car again would not start. Relay or solenoid keeps clicking but the starter does not turn over.

Today I tried to diagnose it. I checked voltage at the battery 12.2 and then I checked voltage at the positive terminal under the hood. 12.2 volts. But the same issues, clicks but not starter engagement. Even with a battery charger hooked up the same issue occurs. I checked the starter and the positive terminals are solid and I loosened, checked for corrosion and retightened. The ground on the starter are solid but I can't quite get a wrench on them with the intake manifold on. Next i checked the connection in the trunk and tightened it just in case. Then i looked for the chassis ground under the car on the passenger side. Both connections are solid.

I removed all relays to see if maybe there was a starter relay but nothing changed the problem and all fuses look good. I even checked the relays next to the ecu, no dice.

Is there a starter relay on my car? I'm assuming not and read the starter solenoid is built in to the starter unit.
On the e30s you can use the obd port under the hood to jump two pins and engage the starter(11 and 14 on the e30). I couldn't find a pinout of the z3 pins, is this something i could do with a wire to test whether the starter works? This would be ideal to determine if the starter is the issue or if I am chasing a bad ground or something similar

How do I test the starter is the problem short of pulling the intake manifold and starter and putting 12v directly to the starter?

Are you able to pull the car's codes? This should give you a good place to start troubleshooting.

[02rollin]

I don't have a diagnostics tool and the local autoparts store wants the car at the store to diagnose any codes.

[02rollin]

To follow up on this: I charged the car overnight so the battery was at 14 v and when I would go to start it, it would continue to click. I then checked voltage and after a startup attempt it was down to 10v without even cranking the engine over. The second battery I had did the same thing.

To be sure the battery wasn't the cause and the starter was the problem I took the battery out of my daily driver e30 and the z3 fired right up with 14v at idle. As it turned out the car battery and my spare battery were both bad. I bought a new one from autozone. They had an online deal for 25% off and with the core exchange I was able to get an AGM battery for the z3 with a 3 year warranty for only $144. Thank you for your help and rf900, you were right on the money and I'm glad I didn't attempt to pull the starter and find out that it wasn't the problem. As I've found BMW starters rarely go bad, so make 100% sure the starter is the problem before ordering parts or ripping apart the hard to get starter on the m54.