07 Z4 No Starter Engagement?

R

RonRock

New member
My wife's 07 Z4 spends most of it's time in the garage not being driven. So I most often have a battery maintainer connected to keep a charge. Well it started to shows signs that the battery was starting to wear out. No surprise it is dater 9/13, so pretty good time on the battery. So it was still stating even though at times it would seem to be hard cranking.

She took the Z after pizza and came out and the car would not turn over, just a single click as the key is turned. I go to jump start the car with my truck, Diesel with 2 batteries. Should be plenty for this little N52. Wrong! No joy. Eat pizza in the parking lot while waiting for a tow.

So I'm fairly certain that it needs a new starter at this point. But before I tear into it is there any tests that I can/should do?

I did replace the battery figuring either way it needs replacement and I might get lucky and find that the old battery was just too week. New battery makes no difference.

I did find that the click sound seems to be coming from the air intake not the starter motor. Seems odd.
 
Need to put a meter on the starter to see if its getting 12v when the key is turned, starter motors seem to die without any advance warning, giving it a clout with a hammer may shock it into life but it probably won't last long if it starts after giving it a clout.
 
Thank you for the help. I can see that there is a large cable going to the positive lug on the starter solenoid. Also a smaller wire going to the starter solenoid, which I assume is the "control" wire that you mention should have 12V when the key is turned. That smaller (control) wire is not accessible with a volt meter without damage to the wire or connection cover. Is there a point where I can test for voltage other than the starter solenoid itself, which is berried under the intake manifold?
All cables and connections from battery and underhood look clean and shiny as new. No reason to suspect a corrosion issue.
 
Put the battery on a tender. Once charged, give the car a push start if possible. If it starts up then the starter motor needs replacing.
 
Out of interest, the wife's 2.5i did just that, and no amount of clouting the starter would make it work again.
New one fixed it.
Inside the brush housing of the old motor it looked like this. No wonder it wouldn't turn!
Starter motor.JPG
 
My starter died without notice; one day it worked, the next day it was borked.

OP if you have a 3.0, i refurbed my old starter with new brushes and got it working again. Happy to let it go for a few quid if you wanted a quick/cheap fix. PM if you’re interested.
 
Thanks guys, thought I'd report back in case anyone else had the same questions.

I had to order and wait for shipping the new Bosch starter and bolts and intake seals. I did very little in the time I waited on the car, removed the engine cover, disconnect battery and wait. I did not want to leave the engine open any longer than necessary, dust, bugs who knows what could get in with the intake off. Parts arrived so I go to work, well I call it work it was more of a leasurly pace while being careful not to break something. The project went very smoothly and less than 2 hours later the car was back together and starter spins like a new one. Happy wife.

The only questionable part to the job is the starter bolt torque. The torque specs that are in the BMW specs as well as the package that the bolts came in give a torque spec. in Nm and Ft lbs. Can't remember the exact number, but I set my torque wrench and tightened them to the correct torque. Then the specs show a Torque Angle for each bolt. 180* for the long and 90* for the short. So I started to set the Torque angle. As I tightened the bolts I was very concerned about the bolts or threads breaking or stripping that is a lot of tightening on an aluminum bolt. So I stopped when I felt that they are tight enough. I'll see if I can get a socket on them after a few miles.

Overall not a bad job. At least I was standing up and not on my back with engine crud dropping in my face.

Cheers,
Ron
 
Seems to be a run of failed starters of late, must be an age thing with our cars, had mine go duff late last year, no warning just dead one morning, a few clouts with a hammer shocked it into life but it gave up altogether after a few test starts. Easy to change on my 2.5 took about half an hour, old one out new one in with battery disconnected.
 
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