So I redid and my cooling system and now...

[trickiekid]

So after completly replacing all of the cooling hoses and pipes and taking my time to put everything back correctly my car doesn't start. It doesn't crank, build fuel pressure, nothing. This sucks. The car has been down for 2 1/2 weeks and I am missing my car. I talked to my buddy who is a BMW Tech and he said it doesn't sound like EWS to him because it doesn't crank. I did make one mistake when reassembling the squid to the starter. I had the 12gauge ground connected to the "trigger" post on the solenoid. I am not getting voltage on start to the positive post on the starter. I tried to check the voltage on the fuel pump. There are two plugs. The rear most plug, I think, is the power and the other is the sending unit for the fuel gauge. Am I wrong about that? So does anyone have any advice, other tham take it to a dealer (that is the next step, I am fearing that tow bill)?

[thesk8nmidget]

what all exactly did you do to your car for the 2 and a half weeks it was down?

just cooling rebuild? or anything else?

[trickiekid]

I work 12 hour days so I could only do a little at a time. I dodn't like to work when I am exhausted, more stuff would be screwed up then.

[thesk8nmidget]

but all you did was the cooling system?

[aceyx]

This might be a lousy question but is the battery okay? 2.5 weeks is a while for it to sit.

Manual/auto? (Thinking about the clutch switch here).

[thesk8nmidget]

thats a good point try jump starting it. also check the fuses

[trickiekid]

I didn't think about the clutch switch... I did try to jump it and I have checked voltage at the battery, 12.9v. Fuses was the first thing that I checked. All I did was the cooling system.

[trickiekid]

Anyone else before I call the tow truck and start lubing up before taking it to the dealer??

[M4YTY]

Recheck your starter connections if you have had them off. Only reason i can think of unless something has crapped out on you which is totally unrelated to what you have been doing.

[trickiekid]

So The clutch switch was good. After looking at the wire diagrams from BMW for the ti, I figured out that it was in fact the EWS. It is going to be a little painful to get that re-aligned, but not as bad as I had originally thought. The tow there is going to be almost as much. Thank god I have a few dealerships close to me. My next mod was going to be suspension, but now it looks like a conforti injector with the ews delete. Thanks for everyones help. I will let you all know how the dealership works out.

[Philly]

are you positive this is EWS related?
ive become somewhat of an EWS freak trying to deal with my swap.. and I can't understand how not touching anything besides the cooling would mess up your EWS and cause it to "unalign" itself... if anything, maybe the antenna box is fried and its not sending a signal to the module, which i still think is HIGHLY friggin' unlikely.

And presuming you have a OBDII 4cyl since you said "injector" .. conforti does not make an injector for this setup. And EWS delete is only an option with the M3 version... I asked about getting a "custom" one for my 328 when I needed EWS delete, and TMS told me to contact Conforti directly, which I did and never recieved a reply.
I ended up sending my DME to ActiveAutowerke who charged an extra $100 to add the delete to the "tune". And FWIW, I don't believe they offer any software upgrades for the 4cylinder either.

If EWS is the case, I will be more than shocked.



Have you ruled out the battery? Even if you have dash lights, it possible it may not have enough current to engage the starter (hence no cranking)

IF the battery is good, have you tested the starter? I would most likely say this is the case if the battery is fine... its possible for the solenoid to burn out, causing this issue. It happened to my mom last week in her passat, it started fine with no struggle, went on an errand and couldn't even get a peep out of the starter... no crank or anything, it turned out to be the starter.

[Philly]

I suppose it could also be possible that you fried your DME as well, still unlikely but you never know...
do you have a CEL? If so, you can rule out that as being the issue.

I would not reccomend this... but i tried this myself under the instruction of an employee at AA when I was having trouble getting my car going. Same symptoms, but mine would at least roll-over..... and fwiw, I only did it because my DME already had the EWS delete in the software.
but I believe its possible to "trick" the EWS by doing this :
If you remove the module from behind the glovebox and take the slider connector off, jump the 2 thickest gauge wires, i forget the colors, but its obvious which 2 wires they are, they are just a few pins apart as well.
Then under the hood, on the largest connector on the engine harness (screw on type near the fusebox), if you peel back the rubber insulation, I believe its Pin#7, it is a green wire.. if you try it, cut it a little ways back to make it easy to splice back together when your done.

Again, I don't know if this would help at all in ruling out EWS... but its easily reversible if you attempt it.

[trickiekid]

The battery was changed last night. While trouble shooting I had an abs light come on and then the hazards stopped working. Weird stuff happens in bimmers when the battery goes down. So, I ran out last night and bought a brand new battery. I threw it on a charger just to make sure that I had a full charge. Threw in the battery, jacked up the car, slid underneath and checked voltage on the solenoid, and I had 12 volts to the positive. Then I went back to the fuel pump, pulled the plug with the larger wires, and I had no juice to those. So after that I went back to the BMW wiring diagrams and confirmed that the EWS would cause both no voltage to the pump and wouldn't allow the starter to turn.
I had thought about jumping out the EWS, but I then remember reading somewhere in the forums to take your key out of the ignition before disconnecting the battery. I can't say for sure if I had taken the key out of the cylinder when I would disconnect the battery.
So, I am tired of it sitting in the garage, my wife has been cool up to this point (and I am sure as hell not going to push that), and I freaking miss my car. So, after much self debate, I am going to put it on a flatbed at around 1 this afternoon and assume the position. I love my bimmer except for the fact you can't rekey the transponder without the dealer. Thanks again to everyone.

[Philly]

And even with voltage to the starter, its still possible the solenoid is burnt out and won't allow it to turn. The starter could be brand new but if the solenoid goes, the starter will do nothing.

if it turns out to be EWS, i will be absolutely shocked.

GL tho, and don't forget to post the results of the dealership trip.

[trickiekid]

So, I am waiting on the flatbed to arrive. It could possibly be the solenoid is burnt out, but again, the fuel pump should still kick on. I am expecting the worst and hoping for the best. Grand total so far for the trip to the dealership is $20 for the tow.
To be continued....