Acting Like a Dead Battery...Ignition Switch Bad?

[Silver Wagon]

back story:
i haven't been driving my E30 for a few months now. i have been planning on replacing my oil filter housing gasket. i have degreased the engine and don't want to get more oil on it before i replace the gasket.
in the meantime i got a new front valance and installed it. while doing so i noticed that when i put my key in the ignition and turn it to on, nothing happens, no lights anywhere, nothing. i did this so i could turn the wheel to gain access to bolts for replacing the valance.
since its been a little while i assumed the battery was dead, no biggy. i left the key in the on position and continued to replace the valance. while doing so, i noticed some music playing. i looked inside the car and all dash lights were on and the radio was playing. as everything should do.
clearly the battery isn't dead. my only thought is the ignition switch is going bad. is this a good assumption?

[dnguyen1963]

Maybe or maybe not. Since you are working on the valence, you might have disturbed the ground connections.

[Silver Wagon]

there's no ground wires near the valance.

[dnguyen1963]

Check your grounds. Almost everyone that works on the body of the car swears that they did not touch the grounds. It is the first thing I check when there is electrical problem.

[330SMG]

Check the wiring coming out of the ignition. PO had put 3 but connectors in a row on one wire making me think switch was bad. Soldered in good wire no more issues.

[Silver Wagon]

here is some more back story.
its a 91 318is
bought it from a lady that used it for a bumper car. its got some dings and dents.
the power came on while the valance was off the car. that would mean all bolts i took out were still out. if there was a ground disconnected it would still have been disconnected and nothing would have worked. also, the entire car had no switched power, that could have only been achieved by disconnecting the battery or something not letting the ignition flow the necessary power.
lots of stuff is rather original on the car so i need to get the motivation to do some testing, which i should have done before posting. but i didn't realize people would fixate on the bodywork as much.
i will hopefully get the time and weather to look at it tomorrow. i will do some testing and report back.
thanks for the replies guys.

[dnguyen1963]

I highly suggest that you look at the Bentley and locate all the grounds.

[Silver Wagon]

so, after a long time of no free time i was able to work on this yesterday. it turns out to be a bad ignition switch. i replaced it and all is well.