Help! E46 wont start

[zero 1162]

So my wife rang me from work to say her e46 wont start.

She was adamant she didn't leave any lights on to run the battery flat, but I thought that was probably the fault.

I drove to her parking building, and sure enough radio, lights etc work but car wont even crank.

I tried to jumpstart with my car but hers just wouldnt even crank.

I scanned her car for codes and got the following;

I dont know if the codes are relevant to the not cranking issue or not.

 

We have never had this problem before - please help.

[qube 3570]

crankshaft or camshaft position sensor faulty?

[BM WORLD 1283]

wont crank ? battery to flat , jumper leads not good enough ?

starter motor ?

ews fault , key died ? ews box fault .

 

did the starter motor click etc when turning the key

[Driftit 2078]

That system too lean code is a prick.  It can mean so many damn things.

[zero 1162]

I will go to her work tommorrow and try a bunch of things.

If nothing works I will have to get it towed home.

 

Things I will try;

# voltage test the battery.

# swap batteries from my daily.

# putting it in neutral and trying to push it (starter motor)

 

What else can I try?

[Dogballs 115]

54 minutes ago, zero said:

What else can I try?

spare key.?

[zero 1162]

5 minutes ago, Dogballs said:

spare key.?

I dont have one sadly.

[gjm 3258]

Did the lights illuminate brightly, as you'd expect?

If so, could be starter motor... I had a similar issue years ago when  the earth strap corroded/frayed/wore through.

Hope it is something simple and you can sort it quickly.

[zero 1162]

So I went back to the parking building after dinner tonight and no luck.

Voltage on the battery was 12.1volts which is not great but should be enough to at least turn the starter over.

I put it in neutral and it rolled fine, so its not the starter jammed.

 

Anyone know a good tow company that is not too expensive and will be gentle with the vehicle?

[gjm 3258]

8 hours ago, zero said:

Anyone know a good tow company that is not too expensive and will be gentle with the vehicle?

A friend on Facebook - I think he is in Blockhouse Bay - has a trailer, was looking at doing occasional jobs for cash. He'd be cheaper than a commercial firm, and you could be there to assist/watch?

 

Edited May 24, 2018 by gjm

[BM WORLD 1283]

ezy go towing

[zero 1162]

Okay, so car is being towed to my house.

My mate has a really flash scanner and will scan for me. Will a scan pick up a failed crank or cam sensor?

What else can I do to troubleshoot the problem?

[BM WORLD 1283]

1 hour ago, zero said:

Okay, so car is being towed to my house.

My mate has a really flash scanner and will scan for me. Will a scan pick up a failed crank or cam sensor?

What else can I do to troubleshoot the problem?

get ya volt meter out

[gjm 3258]

2 hours ago, zero said:

My mate has a really flash scanner and will scan for me. Will a scan pick up a failed crank or cam sensor?

What else can I do to troubleshoot the problem?

My ickle BMW Scanner 1.4.0 picks up a cam sensor failure (0x70, decimal 110). That's a fairly easy one to replace - I have to do this on Miss M's 318Ti (M44 engine). My OBD-OBD II adapter arrived today.
However, I doubt that's stopping the car from turning over. I think the engine can run - sub-optimally - without the cam sensor? (That would need to be confirmed.)

[zero 1162]

Car got towed home today.

I swapped the battery with a known good one and it still wouldn't crank or even click.

My friend scanned it for me and this is what we got. I think the fuel trim codes are existing. Any ideas?

[BM WORLD 1283]

Dead key or fault in ews box 

give the key a hard wack 

try that 

Edited May 27, 2018 by BM WORLD

[zero 1162]

Thanks Brent.

 

I tried that but no luck.

I will check the connections to the ews box.

If either box or key are stuffed is my only choice to go to bmw?

[Gabe79 410]

33 minutes ago, zero said:

Thanks Brent.

 

I tried that but no luck.

I will check the connections to the ews box.

If either box or key are stuffed is my only choice to go to bmw?

If the ews is still good we can code you a new key (or just a transponder) easy. 

Edit: even if your ews is dead, get a used one and we can code a new vin to it easy too. 

Edit2: this can even be used as a diagnostic step. Coding keys is cheap, like $5 for a transponder. We can code a key and you can test it to see if your car starts. That’ll answer your question. Same for ews, but I don’t know how much a used ews would cost you. 

Edited May 27, 2018 by Gabe79

[zero 1162]

29 minutes ago, Gabe79 said:

If the ews is still good we can code you a new key (or just a transponder) easy. 

Edit: even if your ews is dead, get a used one and we can code a new vin to it easy too. 

Edit2: this can even be used as a diagnostic step. Coding keys is cheap, like $5 for a transponder. We can code a key and you can test it to see if your car starts. That’ll answer your question. Same for ews, but I don’t know how much a used ews would cost you. 

Thanks.

I can get another ews from the wrecker to use as a test.

[BM WORLD 1283]

3 hours ago, BM WORLD said:

Dead key or fault in ews box 

Have a ecu ews and key etc if you wanna swap the whole kit out etc 

[zero 1162]

1 hour ago, BM WORLD said:

Have a ecu ews and key etc if you wanna swap the whole kit out etc 

Thanks.

Hopefully I don't have to change everything. 

If I do will I need to change the locks and ignition too?

[BM WORLD 1283]

9 hours ago, zero said:

Thanks.

Hopefully I don't have to change everything. 

If I do will I need to change the locks and ignition too?

all easy stuff to change , should have towed the car to my work could have sorted it really quickly

[exextatic 111]

If it's the EWS module playing up, it's possible to bypass the EWS system entirely with a modified DME (and splicing two wires together at the EWS module).

Edited May 27, 2018 by exextatic

[NZ00Z3 187]

Unplug the EWS, use a 30 amp fuse to jump the ignition leads (wires that provide power to key and finally starter solenoid) and see if the car cranks.  It won't run, but will tell you if it is the EWS that is stopping the crank.

[zero 1162]

6 hours ago, NZ00Z3 said:

Unplug the EWS, use a 30 amp fuse to jump the ignition leads (wires that provide power to key and finally starter solenoid) and see if the car cranks.  It won't run, but will tell you if it is the EWS that is stopping the crank.

Thanks.

Can you tell me which wires those are, and I will try that?

 

Edit; I have the ews out, and there are no physical signs of damage to it. I have exposed the ignition wires - there are six larger gauge wires on the back of the barrel, and two very small ones that click via a mini connector onto the keyring surround.

Edited May 28, 2018 by zero