dnitake

Was at the track on a sunny day and the car wouldn't start after running OK earlier in the day.
1) Instrument panel won't light up until the headlight switch is turned on. Then I get the beeping and the display lights up.
2) The OBDII port will not read.
3) The windows will not rise from the down position.
4) The radio works.
5) The trunk will open w/ the key.
6) The climate control display is off.
7) The battery cables were removed and reconnected.
8) A jumper from a fresh battery was tried, short and long. No results.
9) No clicking sound from the starter.
10) Checked major fuses for ignition, etc.

Any thoughts?
Theories are bad ingnition switch or immobilizer.

Invius

I would start with your ignition switch, since some of these things are working, and some are not. Common issue with bad ignition switch. A temporary fix is to try moving the key back to the left just a touch, and sometimes that will line everything up again, but not always.

dnitake

That seems to be the prevailing opinion, and logical too. Found a replacement for $6.64. Amazing.
PS. I need to upgrade my AAA to the premium version. 5 mile towing is pretty useless.

Rpompea

My opinion, track day killed the battery, substitue with known good one and then proceed to ignition switch as that is another known weak link

Invius

May or may not help where you are, but I carry road hazard through my insurance company, and it is quite a bit cheaper than AAA used to be, like 80% cheaper -- may be worth the phone call to your agent.

dnitake

I pulled the ignition in prep for putting the new one in when it arrives. First off, this is pretty tough to contort oneself to get to screws. The DIY is valuable so you know what to expect trying to get to the "blind" set screw. And that you can just pull off the connector. No retention. At first blush, there is purple retainer ring that looks like it needs to released. This is not the case. I won't repeat the DIY's, but a larger jewelry screw driver w/ a short shank and wide short handle would've been much easier. It's hard to get leverage w/ 2 fingers on a tiny screwdriver in the room allocated. I was considering removing the seat; it's that hard for a guy not practiced in Yoga and who has a bad rotator. One last word: you don't have to remove the set screws to get the connector off as says the DIY. This is true. I'd add DO NOT remove those screws as you'll never get them back in again on the blind side w/o putting a bullet in your head having done so. I suppose a magnetic jewelry screwdriver might do the trick, but I'm never going to find out.

So I took the switch apart and tested the contacts. There's a center ring w/ contacts. The copper blades are springs which make contact w/ the contacts on the inner ring. A plastic cam turned by the key has a cam mechanism which separates the "points".

Of course, all the contacts tested good. But there is one more set of points. The white plastic vertical post in the pic pushes down and causes the points at the 4 o'clock position in the pic to make contact w/ a connector. I don't know what this does as I didn't check a wiring diagram, but I suspect it may go to alarm/immobilizer that a key has been inserted rather than a screwdriver just jimmy'ing the switch. Of course, this contact tests OK too. So I'm hoping my start problem is associated w/ this plunger mechanism not working.

As I preview, this sure is a big picture.


Next is getting the new switch in.
start ? drive : AAA; //for you SW types

dnitake

My indie found the non-start issue w/ my car. The root problem was a bad starter. The solenoid would not disengage and put a heavy load on the starting circuit. This caused a fusible link to blow. This fusible link is contained in the "current distributor" amongst other fusible links. He said this is a BMW part and the wiring diagram does not give instructions as to its location. Replacing the link enabled the starter to work and at first worked fine. But the next morning, the starter would not disengage with the engine running. It remained on even though the key was then removed. He jogged the key a few times and got it to shut off. Some damage had been done to the battery bus wire insulation to the current distributor from getting too hot as well. That's what fusible links are for. Hope the ring gear is OK. Next is to replace the starter motor and an O2 sensor and move on to the main problem which is a #6 cylinder misfire
exhibited by a fair amount of power loss at sustained high RPM's.

logray

It is in a pain in the *** place in psngr footwell, in a white/gray box on the firewall. Really hard to get to, you have to loosen it from the non-battery end of teh main battery cable. Then crawl/squeeze/contort yourself so you can get into the footwell and behind the dash, and somehow bend things out of place until you can get the box down to where you can get at the fuses.

logray

Forgot to mention if your ring gear is damaged and you need a new FW I have one for sale, it's basically brand new.

dnitake

Thx Logray,
Must've been an afterthought to place it in such an inaccessible way given there was no
coordinate for this box. We were musing since it apparently had a BMW stamp all over it, Porsche
wanted to hide it deep.
I had just installed a new LWFW a few months ago. Wouldn't think there is a connection.
But I'll keep yours in mind as things unfold.

alpine003

This is so true. I just replaced my wife's starter on her BMW a couple months ago. That was one of the worst repairs I've done lately.

Good luck on the repairs.