Hi all,

I'm the proud owner of 2000 323CI with 65k miles on it. I love
driving my car, but I must say that at times the reliability of it is
less than perfect... and repair bills cost a mint. During my 5+ years
with the car - I've had issues with the A/C, a leaking rear-main
seal, bushings, and some bad rubbers (door seals). Of course until
now, nothing ever stopped the car from running. Well, the other day I
parked the car in the garage, and it was fine. Yesterday, I tried to
start the car and, it wouldn't start. I could hear the starter
turning or doing something, but the motor never fired up. It was
almost as if something had been disabled, or it was out of fuel. I'm
not the most technical guy, but I was able to do some searching on this
group and find issues with the immobilizer key. I went home last night
and tried my spare keys thinking it was the fix, and the car still
didn't work.

Does anyone have an idea what this could be? I've never replaced the
battery, but as everything (lights, dash, radio) turn on as normal -
I don't think that's it. I am probably going to tow it to my
service guy this weekend, but I'd love to get a diagnosis or possible
ideas before. Thanks in advance.

Lance

We went through some hard start problems with our demonized 2000 323i.
Fortunately it would eventually start and throw a check engine code. It
was the cam sensor. During the few days before the problem got
"serious" that while sitting at a red light I could "feel each cylinder
firing." In other words it was not sitting smoothly and calmly at a red
light - you could feel the engine pulsing. I asked around and was told
that this was in line with a cam sensor showing signs of fatigue. The
530 has these "moments" occasionally so it may be next.
We had the "rough" idle, the car died twice in parking lots
(thankfully) and displayed hard start properties. I am sure there are
other possibilities (fuel pump, pressure regulator, other sensors) but
it is something to look at.

Hi,

Thanks for the response. I was able to get it started last night after
trying for around 5 minutes. It finally started, and it ran rough with
thickish white smoke coming out of the exhaust. After a few minutes of
idling with the white smoke continue to come out, I decided to park it
on the street so I can get it towed the next day. It's at my service
place now, but they were reluctant to diagnosis it over the phone, and
they said it'll be next week before they can look at it. The only
other thing I can think of as a possibility (other than engine trouble)
is that water got in the tank somehow, as it had been parked outside in
heavy rain for a couple of days prior to the problems starting. It's
usually garaged. I guess I'll have to just wait and see.

Lance

In article <1136480180.120300.212930 (AT) g44g2000cwa (DOT) googlegroups.com>,
Lance <lance99 (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) net> wrote:
Previously, it wasn't started and run for only a *very* short time - ie
stopped it before it got warmed up? They don't like this and can flood
when you next attempt a start.

--
*Taxation WITH representation ain't much fun, either.

Dave Plowman dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Thanks. That's a definite possibility. As I do more research, I see
this has been posted by quite a few people as an issue with the E46....
and most bimmers. I also remember the smoke smelling pretty heavily of
gas. The thing that makes me nervous is that white smoke is usually
bad news. Of course, it was late night time when I got it started
(hard to see colors), and my wife thinks the smoke was gray. I
unfortunately won't know until the middle of next week though, when the
service people are scheduled to look at it. Thanks again.

In article <1136560632.384892.86340 (AT) z14g2000cwz (DOT) googlegroups.com>,
Lance <lance99 (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) net> wrote:
Dunno what your weather is like, but in the UK at this time of the year
you get vast trails of 'steam' out of a cold exhaust. Of course you tend
to not notice this unless something is up.
The smell of petrol says to me it was flooded.

--
*El nino made me do it

Dave Plowman dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.