1988 BMW 325iX Turning Over but not starting

[Chris Spiegl]

Hey y'all,

I'm new to E30's and new to this forum. Luckily I have friends who are very good with them.

So a little background on the car, I bought it about a month ago, the true mileage is unknown due to the typical gears braking. The car sat for about a year from the guy I bought it from. I went and test drove it and it started right up after a year of sitting. Drove it around once I bought it and it drives well. Well until the brake line rusted out... So I just got done fixing the brake lines. Was on jack stands for about two weeks. Took the car down last night off to the jacks, but I of course forgot my keys at home. I replaced the cluster last night as well as my old tach was broken. So that brings us to the present day. I stopped by the shop today to move my car back home. And the car would turn over but never start up. I did not get around to checking to much. I know it wasn't the battery but that's as far as I've gotten. I have a handful of ideas that I am going to check tomorrow, but would like yalls input.

Sorry for long story, thanks for reading and any responses would be greatly appreciated.

[dnguyen1963]

When a car is sitting that long, I would take out the fuel pump and check the sock to see if it is clogged. Tee in a pressure gauge right before the fuel rail and check for pressure when cranking. If you get good pressure then check the CPS and spark plugs. Remember the rule of thumb...for an engine to run, it must have good compression, fuel, air, and spark. Troubleshoot along those lines.

[SecludedPlayer2]

Pull the fuel hose off and jump the fuel pump relay, quick google search will show you what to put the jumper wire to. If it gets fuel then check for spark, pull a plug wire and try to crank it, if you get a little jolt or see a spark then that's probably good. Make sure the battery has a charge. From my experience those are the first things to check. If still nothing you might have a bigger issue. Is so pm me and I'll try to help you further.

[Kershaw]

Pretty good advice so far. My 2 cents.

1. pull a spark plug and with it connected to the wire, put it next to the strut tower and crank the car. Verify there is spark.
2. If there's spark, the issue is probably fuel. Disconnect all the spark plug wires, crank, remove a spark plug. Verify it is covered in fuel, smell it. If you're unsure, then T in a pressure gauge, remove an injector, etc.
3. Always, in any recently bought e30, replace the CPS, crankshaft position sensor. Just do it. It'll save you a headache down the road even if that's not your current issue.

And do the timing belt as soon as you can.