@Salparadise, no they Bosch parts bought here.

@Proporsche, identical Bosch parts but different part no, I measured them cause I read here someone said the BMW part wire is longer, but the one I bought is the same length both the metal sensor and the wire.

@Flat6pac, I will try your method, glue a 8mm washer or feeler gauge to the metal sensor just to be sure.

Thanks everyone, I will get him to measure the gap and if that didnt work then perform all tests on fuel injection system per Bentley manual. And will surely report back the finding.

The BMW sensor is completely interchangeable. If he didn't remove the bracket theres no need to waste time on that, since your getting spark. I would check the obvious, make sure they didnt get swapped. (he will have to ring out the wires to the DME connector to confirm) but even before that did you check your DME relay? This is the most common problem and often overlooked especially if the car starts at all. I once had a situation where the car started and ran fine until it warmed up than it would backfire (HUGE backfires) spit spudder and eventually die. After troubleshooting the entire motronic system it turns out that it was a faulty DME relay. Although a failed relay will typically produce a no-start situation, it can also fail intermittently causing the symptoms I described.

We do this on every 3.2 in the shop - per Bruce’s instruction.

Thanks again for everyone's help

It was the spark plugs, replaced them with new ones and all is good. What a relief...

Anyway, here is future reference for CHT & speed / reference sensors:
1. Old CHT sensor is 13mm (single wire), a new one (two wires) is 14mm.
2. Buy BMW speed / reference sensor part# 12-14-1-708-619-M14 (sold here)
3. CHT won't cause a "no start"
4. Bad speed sensor will cause a "no start"

Installation & troubleshooting are all explained in Bentley Manual page 240 fuel injection and page 280 ignition systems.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1519048993.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1519048993.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1519048993.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1519048993.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1519049213.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1519048993.jpg

Awesome - what a relief indeed. Glad it worked out.