Unusually difficult no crank/no start...PLEASE help

[em3doc]

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2004 BMW x3 2.5i
serial#WB24902

I apologize in advance for the length of this. I just wanted to be as clear & detailed as possible so that I can hopefully get the most useful information.

I took a job on that is typical enough but all the usual diagnosis has turned up nothing. I took this job on let's say a Pro-Bono mechanic job, trying to help a young homeless couple get on the road so they can get home to their mother 4 states away. I figured 1 day and I'll have them on their way & now a week later & probably 5 or 6 missed jobs later & I'm stumped. I don't want to leave them stuck after I told them that I would fix their truck for them, but I also can't spend much more time on this & risk losing on anymore work.

The typical & maybe not so typical no crank/no start issue according to them started when the husband was messing around under the hood and there was a spark : and then the truck was dead. They had a shop scan it before they came to me & the shop told them that the TCM needed to be replaced, but from my experience I've learned not to rely on other peoples suggestions blindly. So I inspected it myself.

Here's what I've done so far:
1-Check all the fuses on the face of the front fuse panel behind the glove box as well as the fuses that are in the electronics box where the DME is located
2-Check the 2 large fuses (250a & 50a or 80a) in the rear near the battery (fuses 106 & 109 i believe)
3-I replaced all the relays in the car
4-I can hear the fuel pump turn on when I turn the ignition on
5-I notice that I don't hear the starter relay click when I turn the key
***leads me to believe the ignition switch is faulty
6-replaced ignition switch & all the relays in the dme box as well as the on top of the front fuse panel
***I can now here the click of the relay but still no crank
7-I try to put it into neutral and press the brake & the start it to see if it turns over & get nothing
8-I do notice that in the cluster when I shift out of park & down through the gears that it the gear indicator goes blank until I get to the bottom it displays S (which I believe should show D), but as I shift up back into park it displays D,N,R,P.
***although the gears do show up on the cluster indicator they aren't exactly correct
-D shows when it is about 1/2 way between D/N
-N is similar, shows between N/R
-R shows in the correct position but only when shifting up from D-P
-P is fine
9-Scanned it using ISTA-D
*no errors in EGS, DME, or EWS
-EWS module diagnosis scan tells me that the starter is disabled due to the P/N signal
-KOMBI shows error for information descrepency between itself and LSZ
-GM shows error for drivers side heated mirror & all four windows anti-trap not
initialized
-EGS shows correct values as I shift through P N R D M
10-Scanned using INPA
*EGS shift solenoids shows (???) as some of the values as I shift through the gears
11-Replaced complete shifter assembly and rescanned and problem remains I also notice
that the shiftlock doesnt seem to be engaging
12-Test the resistance of the lines that run from the shiftlock to the TCM...They were relatively high 1.4ohm & 0.9ohm...leads me to believe that I may have found the problem
13- Ran fresh line from TCM - Shiftlock
14-Then measure resistance of the new lines to double check each being 0.4ohms (really thought that I had discovered the problem)
15-Scanned again & problem remained
16-After thinking for a good long while I think about the cluster & researching, I come to find out that EWS EGS KOMBI & DME all share a bus so I think well maybe the fact that the KOMBI isn't displaying the correct gear and the EGS was showing me the correct values in ISTA-D that the KOMBI could be causing some kind of communication fault
17-I replace the KOMBI & still the error remains
18-I pull all my hair out in frustration until I resemble Homer Simpson LoL FML

P.S. Keep in mind that each time I scanned or replaced a part that I programmed & coded them to the car then cleared the faults as well

Any help, suggestions, ideas, comments will be greatly appreciated

[MIKYZZ4]

Have you measured the voltage across the battery terminals >Ignition Off/On?
Had battery been load tested? You probably already have, just trying to confirm.

[328 Power 04]

Used EGS computers for that car are some $20. At most it would need a flash and code, if that.

Hard to tell if the problem is that, but the test/fix is definitely cheap enough.

[em3doc]

Used EGS computers for that car are some $20. At most it would need a flash and code, if that.

Hard to tell if the problem is that, but the test/fix is definitely cheap enough.

That was the first thing I replaced after I saw in ISTA/D that the EWS was blocking the starter signal (terminal 50) because of the P/N signal. I actually replaced it with 2 different 1s. Now I even cloned the EWS & replaced it thinking that it could possibly be that & still no luck. The LSZ had faults even though the scan with ISTA/D & Inpa showed no errors (the only way I was able to tell was the fact that 1 tailight stayed even while the key was removed from the ignition. So, I swapped that out as well. Still nothing, and yes I programmed/coded each replacement module to the car.