sort of an emergency

[nyle]

just did a road trip to st. louis from the philadelphia area. parked at the gateway arch, and when i went back to my car to go to a hotel, didn't get any crank. battery seems fine, lights come up no problem, not dim or anything, but no crank. it seems like i'm trying to start the car without initiating the clutch switch. the switch seems fine. i guess tomorrow i'll go back and try again, and poke around a little bit. until then, suggestions??

currently i'm using the internet at my hotel, with a planned departure of jan. 1st.


kyle

[aceyx]

Any problems with the key spinning freely in the cylinder?

Obviously, a check of the fuse box would be required as well.


EDIT: I would also try shouting out to stldrummer. Looks like an enthusiast in your area.

[nyle]

The key does not spin freely. Thank god. I know people had issues with that, and that was my first question when i called my back home arsenal of bmw enthusiasts.

I did look over the fuse box. Everything seems to be in order.

I had modified my clutch switch over the summer, so there is an additional "disable" switch, in case i feel the need to immobilize my car. I was inspecting that to make sure, and pulled a little bit on the wires connecting my switch to the safety switch and they came disconnected. I'm not sure if they were disconnected initially but thats what i'm banking on until the morning when i can get out there in the light and fix it.

It seems like that's the problem, ive had it go on previous cars. The key goes in and turns like normal, dash lights and head lights come on with no issue, nothing dim. There is just no attempt to crank. I'll keep you posted.

[thesk8nmidget]

lets hope its that.

sounds like it is very likely

[angel318ti]

try bypassing the clutch switch.

[CirrusSR22]

I had a bad battery this summer, and the lights looked fine and bright, but the battery was pretty much dead. At least dead enough to not start the engine. Threw me for a loop. Did you try to get a jump just in case?

[nyle]

It turned out to be the clutch switch. A wire disconnected. All better


thanks for the suggestions everyone.

[teetime4one]

ahhhh, back on the road!
right on