2003 325i Randomly Doesn't Start

[tyrel]

Hello all,

My wife has a 2003 325i with the following symptoms:

A week or so ago, in the morning my wife turned the key to start the car and instead of the starter turning over, it only made a single click noise when the key is turned into the Start position, and another (slightly quieter) click when the key is released. After trying several times and grumbling a bit, it suddenly started just fine.

The car then started just fine the rest of that day, and for a couple days later. Then the problem occurred again, this time also in the morning. Again, after a few minutes of staring at it it decided to start.

This has continued and has become more frequent, and doesn't always occur just in the morning now.

One additional detail I can provide is that when it is failing to start, if the headlights are on, they do NOT dim when the key is turned to the Start position. This indicates to me that the starter is probably not getting power.

I intend to take the car to my parents house (if I can start it) where I can get a better look at the starter & solenoid to make sure there's not just a loose wire or something. Otherwise I would guess this is probably just a solenoid problem and I need to replace that. However, is it a possibility that this is a problem with something else (ignition switch, starter, something else?).

Thanks,
Tyrel

[lj35pilot]

I had a similar problem with my '99 323 after i purchased a new key/remote. using the new key produced the results you mentioned occassionally even though the dealer linked it to the car. The car would start fine everytime I used the old key, so maybe your problem is the car sometimes doesn't recognize the chip in the key.