Key in Ignition Lock

[Gabe79 410]

Irony of ironies... got into the e39 this morning to go buy a Nissan Leaf and intending on trading in the Toyota, much to my wife's dismay...

No start, no good. I have a battery pack starter, unsure if it's not provided enough juice though. Cables not long enough to connect to both leads in the engine bay. I tried connecting directly to the battery in the boot, that just set off the alarm and caused the error in the thread title.

Now the car has zero juice of its own. The battery might be dead, I suppose, but then it should have started when I tried jumping with proper leads from the damn Toyota... Anyway, this is what it looks/sounds like when I turn the key. crank crank, no start.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YnLNwpj4kwxvRCAJ3

EDIT1: Summary: Key turns, engine cranks (cranked, before I killed the battery...) but doesn't start.

EDIT2: I haven't driven the car in a few weeks now, if that matters.

Edited July 26, 2017 by Gabe79

[qube 3570]

when you connect up the jumper leads, rev the other car upto 2-3k rpm and hold it there while you turn over the e39.

 

[*Glenn* 854]

Toyota has a special positive clamp on the batter terminal. You may not have had a firm clamp on the terminal

[Gabe79 410]

6 hours ago, qube said:

when you connect up the jumper leads, rev the other car upto 2-3k rpm and hold it there while you turn over the e39.

 

 

5 hours ago, *Glenn* said:

Toyota has a special positive clamp on the batter terminal. You may not have had a firm clamp on the terminal

Thanks for the advice. I'll double check both in the morning.

 

Any idea what that ignition lock notice means?

[hotwire 352]

Also, what are your jumper leads like? Cheap sh*t small ones? If so - they are a waste of time & shouldn't be sold. I go out to numerous AA calls where the member has tried jump starting with no success. Is almost always these leads that were used.

E39's are a pain with the separation of the jump terminals & you will be farting against thunder to start with a little jump pack on the battery.

As Kyu says - connect the leads & run the Toyota for a few mins to get some surface charge into the BMW battery.

 

Ign lock notice?

[Gabe79 410]

25 minutes ago, hotwire said:

Also, what are your jumper leads like? Cheap sh*t small ones? If so - they are a waste of time & shouldn't be sold. I go out to numerous AA calls where the member has tried jump starting with no success. Is almost always these leads that were used.

E39's are a pain with the separation of the jump terminals & you will be farting against thunder to start with a little jump pack on the battery.

As Kyu says - connect the leads & run the Toyota for a few mins to get some surface charge into the BMW battery.

 

Ign lock notice?

Can you link a good jump pack? How about some good quality leads? SCA for preference. ?

 

The key key ignition error is in the video above. Might be unrelated. 

[Gabe79 410]

14 hours ago, hotwire said:

Also, what are your jumper leads like? Cheap sh*t small ones? If so - they are a waste of time & shouldn't be sold. I go out to numerous AA calls where the member has tried jump starting with no success. Is almost always these leads that were used.

E39's are a pain with the separation of the jump terminals & you will be farting against thunder to start with a little jump pack on the battery.

As Kyu says - connect the leads & run the Toyota for a few mins to get some surface charge into the BMW battery.

AA came and jumped me. The jump pack he carried wouldn't do it either, had to use juice from the truck.

 

I'm seeing some packs on Amazon recommended from the M5 forums in the US and might get one of the beefy ones next time I'm there.

 

Thank you all who posted. The key ignition note seems unrelated.

[hotwire 352]

I had been using for a couple of years a small 400 amp unit (same as the Power All). While it has had limitations, it has been a great unit & probably started about 400 vehicles. It was though past it's best & I was more often getting the battery & leads out.

I recently obtained a new unit (as in pic), it is way superior with about 4 times the output - this i have confirmed.

Be aware though, any jump pack sitting unused in the glovebox for 12 months will prove useless in trying to start the vehicle. I often use mine several times a day.

Jumper leads - discount the entry level ones, you will probably need to spend $60 -80 for a reasonable set

[kiwi535 538]

i always just leave the batteries connected for  a while before i try to start.The batteries will try to equalise so you will ge t some charge into the recipient.Takes a few minutes tho

[Gabe79 410]

10 minutes ago, hotwire said:

I had been using for a couple of years a small 400 amp unit (same as the Power All). While it has had limitations, it has been a great unit & probably started about 400 vehicles. It was though past it's best & I was more often getting the battery & leads out.

I recently obtained a new unit (as in pic), it is way superior with about 4 times the output - this i have confirmed.

Be aware though, any jump pack sitting unused in the glovebox for 12 months will prove useless in trying to start the vehicle. I often use mine several times a day.

Jumper leads - discount the entry level ones, you will probably need to spend $60 -80 for a reasonable set

Brilliant. I literally had this in my amazon cart for this week's big order from the US. I'm glad for your post. Thank you!

[Gabe79 410]

3 minutes ago, kiwi535 said:

i always just leave the batteries connected for  a while before i try to start.The batteries will try to equalise so you will ge t some charge into the recipient.Takes a few minutes tho

I have read that since the original post. Thank you for confirming it. 

[hotwire 352]

Just be aware these units are much bigger than the common little units. Haven't yet started an E39 but cannot imagine a problem with it.

On Friday i used it to start a Ford 4000 tractor with a virtually dead battery - started no problem. it actually amazed me.

[Gabe79 410]

Just now, hotwire said:

Just be aware these units are much bigger than the common little units. Haven't yet started an E39 but cannot imagine a problem with it.

On Friday i used it to start a Ford 4000 tractor with a virtually dead battery - started no problem. it actually amazed me.

Yeah, the Amazon reviews talk about them starting semi-trucks and 6L engines. Should be just fine for my needs.

 

Related: My battery seems to have a little drain and I'm fairly sure it's a poorly installed hands-free kit from the previous owner. I'll be hunting how to remove that thing this weekend, but anyone have a good auto electrician, or stereo installer who knows their way around e39s without guesswork on their part?

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

The "Key in ignition lock" message is displayed in one of our Tourings whenever the key is put into the ignition. Some sort of Japan spec reminder that could probably be coded out???

E39s do have quite large batterys, the ones in our two Tourings are only 60CCA smaller than the big John Deere on farm here- the Tourings are cold weather package tho