Struggling to start, and warning lights on

J

jamiecarpenter

Member
 Coventry
I came to use my z4 this evening and struggled to get it to start. Along with this, my Dash has lit up with Electronic steering, run flat, Exhaust Emissions and Dynamic Stability Control light all yellow. Did get it started but seeing all the lights on I turned it off. I then tried again later on and the same problem. It does turn over but struggled to get it to. I have recently changed the ignition switch and there is no problem with the battery. Could this be a starter motor issue? Its a 3.0 si 56 plate.

Any help would be appreciated

Jamie
 
Possible starter issue but the warning lights point to low battery?

Does it labour on starting?

May be worth a video
 
Yes it labours on starting. Battery is fine. The exhaust emissions light of late has been intermitent however the other lights are all new.
 
jamiecarpenter said:
Yes it labours on starting. Battery is fine. The exhaust emissions light of late has been intermitent however the other lights are all new.
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And it’s completely not turning over now? Clicks or nothing?
 
It turns over eventually. All warning lights remain on. Havent tried to pull it off the drive in case the lights signal a larger problem. Tomorrow il disconect the battery and see if that cures the warning light issue.
 
If it’s labouring and it won’t turn over give the starter a hefty whack

Could make it better for a short while but will get worse again
 
If the dash warning lights stay on after starting, it’s unlikely to be the starter motor. :(
 
Whilst I agree that the warning lights are odd, they could be due to the starter pulling the battery down perhaps?
Out of interest the starter on mine died last week.
When I opened it up I found this...........
That pile of powder used to be the brushes. I have no idea how there was any room left for an electrical contact to be made or for anything to be able to turn!
 

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Well I guess you could try using a code reader to check, then reset the lights (if they will).
What mileage is on the car? May be time for a starter change regardless?
Kind of feel, until you eliminate that you won't know for sure.
 
Yes im wondering whether just to change the starter regardless. its at about 85000 miles. They look like they vary in price quite alot, cant imagine that price makes much difference on performance for this part.
 
jamiecarpenter said:
Yes im wondering whether just to change the starter regardless. its at about 85000 miles. They look like they vary in price quite alot, cant imagine that price makes much difference on performance for this part.
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I took advice from Stuart (bigwinn) who pointed me to the RTX one on Eurocarparts. Could have paid nearly three times as much for Bosch.............
That's for an M54, yours may be different?
 
Just tried to pull it off the drive and the power steering is not working either. The warning ligh is on. This isnt looking good. Been driving this for the past 4 months without any problems.
 
jamiecarpenter said:
Just tried to pull it off the drive and the power steering is not working either. The warning ligh is on. This isnt looking good. Been driving this for the past 4 months without any problems.
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So it's 'read the codes' time by the sound of it.
 
That's great news. :thumbsup:

These electrical glitches can be so frustrating. :(
 
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