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Starter went out, Hesitation fixed...

2K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  bartman22 
#1 ·
Just wanted to post my experience with the starter on here since it sounds like a terrible DIY and symptoms seem to vary.

2003 BMW 330i
150k miles
zhp package

On Saturday I drove to seattle and back. 400+miles

I started my car about 5 or 6 times on Sunday and each time it sounded more and more like a starter sounds when the battery is dying. It got me home and I started investigating. OBC said the battery was at 12v, 14v after starting (good numbers for battery and alternator). My next thought was starter, but then I did some research and found how much of a pain in the ass it was, so I decided to check everything else out first. I got in the car to go to autozone and get some seafoam fuel injector cleaner, no crank. The dash and light lit up fine, but the starter wouldn't even click, just silence. I had bought a new fuel pump and was planning on doing that as preventative maintenance in the near future, but hadn't gotten around to it, so I installed that on the off chance. No dice.

So, this morning I took it to Autohaus Bayern in Beaverton (on the way to work (will forever buy a manual for just such scenario's where a compression start can make your life so much easier)) From what I read on the forums I was expecting to pay close to a grand, but they did it for $550, and were done by 3pm. I wouldn't say their exactly enthusiast oriented, as my questions seemed to fall on deaf or confused ears, but they got the car running great, in great time, for a great price.

As a bonus, the hesitation I was getting going up the vista ridge on hwy26 in 5th at 2800 rpm is all but gone. I was going to look around for an ECU update to BMW's most recent patch (theres a service note about it in 2006) as my research had mostly pointed to that as the cause, but Autohaus Bayern didn't seem to know what I was talking about. I will probably still look around, but the fuel pump (and filter about 4 months ago) seemed to get rid of my hesitation.

-BR
 
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#2 ·
Good to hear you got the starter replaced. Seems to be a fairly common issue with the E46's.. mine has given me issues randomly about twice a year for the seven years I have owned the car. The car finally died in my garage last week, so I could test the starter. Sure enough, the starter was the issue. Just finished working on it at the house. I will be cranking the car tomorrow.
 
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