528i crank no start update (solved
Hey everybody, im updating what has happened with my car for posterity sake, for the sake of all the unlucky sons of guns after me who will encounter something similar, and i appreciate all of the help and suggestions people have offered
Disclaimer, im an idiot, im fairly new to bmws, they are not what i grew up on and they are still a strange creature, so i did a lot of dumb stuff firing tons of shots of in the dark wasting time money and energy.
In the fall of 2025 i bought a 2000 528it 5mt that had been sitting for a couple of years, there were no codes related to a no start, the car would crank no problem, it would fire with quick start and run like a bag of dog crap. The buddy i bought it from (he purchased the car for some trim, but he thought it was too nice and new i wanted a manual wagon) figured it was probably fuel pump so i replaced that with no avail, so i started it with quick start again and after letting it run for a few seconds the cats were glowing red and i thought “maybe the cats are clogged, ill pull them to see just to make sure i dont harm my engine/cats” so off they came, i was able to pull them without jacking up the engine or removing the motor mount no problem, having a Milwaukee m12 electric ratchet with the small batteries made the entire process much easier, i bought one for reinstall and it was 2-3 times faster reinstalling the manifolds than taking them out. I inspected the cats, they were fine. Back to the drawing board
Next i decided to make sure i was getting fuel out of all of the ports, i replaced the fuel filter and i had my wife crank it over and i watched all of the exhaust ports to make sure fuel was coming out (i still had the manifolds off at this time). Then one day at work my buddy (same one i bought it from) said “is your tach moving when cranking? It should flutter when rolling over, if its not its likely a crank sensor” so i went home and checked and it was not moving, before doing anything i googled “should an e39 tach move while cranking” and it said it should, and if it isnt it would be the crank sensor. I dont like using ai but i also checked chat gpt and it said the same. So i pulled my oem crank sensor and put an amazon one in. That didnt work, and when i googled what the resistance should be on the sensor it said 500-600 ohms, so i tested resistance and it was like 3-4 ohms, ordered another sensor from amazon and a bremi sensor from work, none changed my symptoms, and all read the ohms wrong. I checked the wiring on the plug and the voltage read correctly, i checked the fuses under the cabin airbox and they were fine. I had a big brain idea and i checked youtube for cold start videos and some gentleman had a cold start video in -25c and the tach didnt move when cranking. So im still and idiot
So next i put the manifolds back on and checked the spark plugs, pulled them all, cleaned a few that looked good and replaced others (i didnt wanna replace all 6 because they are expensive and the valve cover gasket is leaking on 3 of them, so i didnt want to put 3 new plugs in where they would get covered in oil. its on my to do list) tried starting, nothing, tried the quick start again, cats started glowing again.
Then i decided to go vacuum line hunting. Some of the big plastic hoses going to the ccv were just plain missing half of it, so i ordered a ccv from the dealer and some febi vacuum hoses from work. I took the disa valve out and it was broken in pieces/ melted, i started pulling the intake and the vacuum distributor was all melted inside, there was slag in the ports for it. I pulled the intake and cleaned it as best as i could. I replaced all of the underneath vacuum lines and hoses, new intake manifold gaskets new air box hoses. I used a 9v battery and alligator clips to individually test each injector and they seemed to spray fine. I re installed everything and tried to fire it up.
It wanted to start, it really did, i could feel it cough and sputter and it wanted to make me happy, she was emotionally supportive, just not physically.
So i thought id check for spark. Started with plug one, cleaned the oil off, used an alligator clip to ground it and it had spark, re installed and then tried number 2. Pulled, cleaned, grounded, sparked, reinstalled. Then i pulled number 3. It was oily and wet, i wiped it down ground it out and when i rolled it over something magical happened. She fired. On 5 cylinders she fired. I almost pissed myself and i shut it off. For a moment i thought maybe i had huffed too much brake clean, or gas fumes, and i was hallucinating. or maybe i had just died and God made heaven a crummy tent shed in bum frig idahoe but my e39 runs. I definitely wouldnt complain. Anyways i tried again and i wasnt dreaming, after it fired again i quickly shut if off, put the plug bug in and it runs like a dream. Its currently on the amazon crank sensor, and ill just keep a spare in the glove box and the tools to do it in case i break down.
So all in all i spent around 1000-1500 Canadian on parts (i work at a part store so thats with employee pricing, and the dealership gives me employee pricing on parts), probably 20-30 hours having a thumb war with my prostate while throwing parts at this thing. And now im happy as a clam that my car runs mint.
What can you take away from this? I have no clue, dont be an idiot like me, theres many more idiotic, embarrassing things i did that were not pertinent to getting the car running. Do i know what caused it to not run? NOPE! But i do know if you throw enough parts at it it will run eventually. I think this car was just a death of a thousand cuts, or maybe she just hates me, who knows. But i dont really care. My Glacier green e39 manual wagon runs now, now i just have to fix the floor, jack points, rear hatch, rear brakes and front suspension and itll be all sorted out
Sorry for my terrible writing style, and if something doesnt make sense i was just trying to info dump to help the next sucker, and i was adding stuff as i was remembering, so it may be a little screwy, sorry. Thanks again for help and suggestions people made. I honestly dont know what happened, but i know im a magicianic now