Very Odd Intermitent No-Start Problem

[rsiegel]

Ok, this is weird. Last Thanksgiving I posted with a total no-start problem that happened immediately after I filled up with gas at an unfamiliar station. A number of posts on this board said they had seen increasing instances of bad gas, and recommended I drain the tank. I did (and changed the filter), put in fresh fuel, and the car started right up. A friend of mine who writes tech for BMW CCA Roundel magazine (Mike Miller) was the dissenter; Mike swore that the gas was a red herring, and that the problem would come back to bite me in the ass.

Like, ouch.

It was a beautiful late March day today -- 65 degrees in Boston. I drove home from work, ran a few errands on the way, pulled into the driveway, and shut off the car. Then my wife needed to leave so I had to move the car.

Dead, with the same symptoms as before (cranked over but no start). We pushed it out of the way.

I then cleared out space in the garage to put the car in, and just when I was prepared to push it in, I thought I'd give starting it a try.

With only slightly more effort than usual, it started up.

To be so intermitent, it feels like a fuel delivery thing to me. Any ideas?

--Rob

[RarlyL8]

Rather ironic timing, I've been playing out your scenario all week.

Pull a spark plug, leave it attached to the lead and crank the car. See/smell if the plug has fuel on it then hit the switch and see if you have spark.

Intermitent is a tough one. You may have spark and fuel one moment and when you put the plug back in it fails on you again. Keep up this vigil and you'll get your answer. I'm betting on no spark, electrical problems are notoriously intermitent (that's what my problem is).

[godxilla2]

i just had intermitent start problem with my carrera. it turned out to be the DME computer itself.