[KEVIN88GT]

I have a mid June built car with 1600 miles on it (700 of those in euroope) and two times now....upon starting I hear the engine cranking over several times before car turns on..... can this be a fuel pump going bad (early symptoms)?

I noice there aren't that many fuel pump theads anymore...did bmw start using a different pump at a certain time in the build cycle? I just don't want to get stranded somewhere.

[wj4]

If your car is taking more than 1 second to start, then fuel pump is a possibility.

[twinturbodude]

Originally Posted by KEVIN88GT

I have a mid June built car with 1600 miles on it (700 of those in euroope) and two times now....upon starting I hear the engine cranking over several times before car turns on..... can this be a fuel pump going bad (early symptoms)?

Right at the beginning of August I started noticing a sort of uneven idle at about 1000 rpm instead of the usual 600-700 or so after starting...a day or two later I started getting long cranks (2-3 seconds)...at least half a dozen both during hot and cold starts. Crap! I figured I was going to need a new high pressure fuel pump for sure. But I think I just got some bad gas...I switched stations and got exactly one long crank right at the start of the tank (probably still on the old/bad stuff). Absolutely nothing since and it's been well over a month now and I've driven a fair amount.

So you may want to make sure you didn't get some bad gas some place...I suspect that's what happened to me. My car starts every time now right off the bat and immediately idles right at 600-700 rpms perfectly.

[KEVIN88GT]

I got gas at the same place I always do...I'll see what happens 2morrow when I get a different brand of gas.... say I get stranded though... how far will BMW assist tow my car? my dealer is 33 miles away and by far not the nearest bmw dealership... but probably the only one that will give me a loaner...

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by KEVIN88GT

I got gas at the same place I always do...I'll see what happens 2morrow when I get a different brand of gas.... say I get stranded though... how far will BMW assist tow my car? my dealer is 33 miles away and by far not the nearest bmw dealership... but probably the only one that will give me a loaner...

which dealer? i believe they will tow up to 50 miles.

[KEVIN88GT]

DiFeo BMW... hell I'll go closer if someone has a good service dept and will give a loaner

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by KEVIN88GT

DiFeo BMW... hell I'll go closer if someone has a good service dept and will give a loaner

If your vehicle should break down while covered under
warranty or require towing after an accident or collision,
it will be transported to the nearest authorized BMW
center. You may also elect to have your BMW towed to
the BMW center of your choice, provided that the center
is within a 50-mile radius of the closest center.

you should be good to go...

i got my 335i from difeo too.

[krash]

I'm scheduling an appointment today. All the sudden, the crank times are much longer than before. Once the car gets going, I don't notice any other issues. If it is a fuel pump problem, I'd obviously like to address it prior to a complete meltdown...

[KEVIN88GT]

thanks for the info guys... made an appt today but the first one available with a bmw loaner was oct 6 hope it's ok till then.... I dont want to be damaging the starter with the long cranks though...

[scottp999]

Mine consitently starts right up when the engine is cold or only turned off for a few minutes (like when pumping gas). Any time it's turned off for 45 minutes to 3 hours I have a 2 second crank time.

Will prob wait a few weeks and then make an appointment.

[KEVIN88GT]

is there any way to check the fuel pressure through some hidden i-drive menu to see if that actually what the prob is?

[pittyinSC]

No but if it does go bad you will get a Limp Home mode warning or Low power or w/e...btw what gas do you use?....If its Shell then good but if its not top tier that could be the culprit

[KEVIN88GT]

I use BP most of the Time.... tried Exxon since the problem started....and monday filled up wit Quickstop gas.... always 93 octane...same problem persists.....so Im sure it's not the gas

[krash]

The thing that is really strange about this is that sometimes it starts immediately. For the last 2 weeks or so, it would crank 4 or 5 seconds every time I started the car.

But today, it started immediately every time. I took the car to and from work and then took my son to guitar lessons and then ran a couple other errands...

Strange.

I am taking the car in tomorrow. At this point, I wish it were a more consistent problem just so it would be easier for them to diagnose any problem. I would hate for it to work perfectly tomorrow, and then all the sudden the long crank times come back in a couple days or so.

[pittyinSC]

Originally Posted by KEVIN88GT

I use BP most of the Time.... tried Exxon since the problem started....and monday filled up wit Quickstop gas.... always 93 octane...same problem persists.....so Im sure it's not the gas

None of these are top tier so try going to one of these on the list

QuikTrip
Chevron
Conoco
Phillips
76
Shell

[OC Guy]

It's not the gas.

[KEVIN88GT]

Define top tier gas.

[fragadellic]

Originally Posted by OC 335i

It's not the gas.

+1

My money is on the pump. If you search the fuel pump failure threads, they all start out with someone getting the long crank. What happens after seems to vary in the posts; some of them crap out immediately (and have left people stranded) and some take a while to die.