jonhamil

There is a problem with my 2008 LCI 5 Series: E61 2.0D N47 engine.

Current situation: Engine will turn for 2seconds approx. After that, even if my finger is still on the start button, it won't turn further. If I take my finger off and then press again, it will turn again for approx 2s. It doesn't start. No fault codes present (it has not been running since they've been cleared).

History: I have done a lot of work to the car including cleaning out and replacing the DPF and replacing the inlet manifold with a reinforced flap inlet manifold. I was also halfway through replacing the radio with a touchscreen Apple Carplay compatible unit. The dashboard and centre console were removed from the car.

The car was running and had no faults but had a high pitched noise on acceleration. Upon investigation it was the injectors which needed cleaning. If you Google “Diesel black death” you will see the issue that I had. I took the injectors out, stripped them down and cleaned and replaced them. Once replaced , the car would not start. While fault-finding, I then found a diesel leak on the right had side of the engine (as you look at the car from under the bonnet). I replaced all of the diesel lines from the bulkhead connectors under the bonnet to the injectors and high pressure fuel pump. I also replaced the wiring loom on the engine as several of the connectors had had their white tabs broken off by previous garages etc.

The car would then not turn. I couldn't even hear the 'click' of the starter motor solenoid . So I replaced the starter motor and now, I could hear the solenoid, but it still wouldn't turn. I then discovered that the positive lead under the red cap that flips open to jump start the car under the bonnet wasn't tightened down. I must have forgotten to tighten it up... Tightened it up and the car turned over but didn't start.

In the middle of all this, I had used ISTA+ to reset the adaptations for the swirl flaps as I had not reset the adaptations when replacing the inlet manifold before. ISTA+ gave me a 'failure' message. I marked that as something to come back to and left it there. I also used ISTA+ to reset the DPF as if I had installed a new one. This worked fine.

I then replaced the battery as the old one was probably doing the car no favours and didn’t seem to be holding charge well. I noticed that it has had a lot (4) of batteries in the past 50k miles.

I then had one error message: “S0457 Programming abort: control centre/control panel centre console” coming from the SZM module. I reprogrammed the module and it did successfully program and removed the error code. I am really confused how that error came about though.
Strangely it came up with a "you can reprogram one more time" message which I said ok to. Looking at the UIF - it has not been reprogrammed before..

I did wonder if it could be CAS / DME sync issues but there are no error codes.. I do think the 2s thing is a massive clue but can't find anything anywhere about that. I’m going to check the fuses and the electrical connections in the box under the pollen filter on the right hand side of the engine today.

Would be REALLY grateful for any advice anyone can offer. Why would the car only turn over for 2s at a time and why would the SZM module randomly need reprogramming? Many thanks in advance :-)