[335scott]

Figured i'd post this on here and share my experience.

Wednesday last week I went to leave work and I couldn't b/c my car wouldn't start. Didn't know what it was but after trouble shooting i determined it was the starter. Went the DIY route b/c BMW Alexandria wanted 1300 dollars and i asked two indy shops for a quote and the refused to give me one.

The starter is a pain to get to (gotta take off the intake manifold) and i ended up stripping the rear e12 torx bolt trying to get it out. After lots of contemplation, my friend and i decided to drill out the starter housing to get the thing out. It worked! We also took apart most of the starter while it was on the car to find out the inside was decimated! The thing only had 66k on it. I went with a Duralast replacement w/ a lifetime warranty b/c it sounds like some of the OEM starters die prematurely. Saved myself about 1100 bucks doing this myself.

Attached are some pictures of the starter.


Starer has the two red "tabs" coming off of it


You can see we drilled into the starter housing a little on this picture but i don't plan on ever putting another starter on.


Messed up internals

Plastic, metal, and destroyed brushes.


my buddy let me borrow his accord while mine was out of commission and I had a chance to do a photo shoot

[DJtoad]

How in the hell can the brushes wear all the way down in only 66K miles??? I've never seen something like that. Starters are usually good for well past 100K miles.

Edit: And, kudos for tackling the job yourself! These cars are a little intimidating to work on at first, but most things are not that bad as long as you have patience, the right tools, and a good manual or DIY guide.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by DJtoad

How in the hell can the brushes wear all the way down in only 66K miles??? I've never seen something like that. Starters are usually good for well past 100K miles.

Edit: And, kudos for tackling the job yourself! These cars are a little intimidating to work on at first, but most things are not that bad as long as you have patience, the right tools, and a good manual or DIY guide.

I have to agree with this. It looks like to me the starter was engaged to the flywheel for a bit of time and got chewed up. I hope the ring gear on the flywheel is still in good shape.

Op, what did the starter gear look like?

[Bimmer Barney]

Damn, wish I had this resource prior to having the mechanic replace mine! Honestly I couldn't find anything online about 335i starters.

Oh well, live and learn. I definitely would have bought the duralast starter with a lifetime warranty and done this myself. Looks a little time consuming, but honestly seeing the location makes it look like a piece of cake. Bah!

[mike3000fl]

Let me know how the core charge refund goes.

[335scott]

Core refund was no problem. Also the starter gear was fine. I'd post a pic but i already returned it

Bimmer. It def wasn't a piece of cake. It's a lot easier than it looks. Also that intake manifold is tough to get back on!

[Bimmer Barney]

I've removed and replaced the manifold a few times and find it easier than most. After that appears to be very accessible. I'll be curious to see the failed starter on Monday when I pick up the car.

[jeremicium]

good job on the DIY. nice line up in the last pic, though that sweet Accord put the 911, GTR, and 3 to shame.

[AndreyT]

Originally Posted by DJtoad

How in the hell can the brushes wear all the way down in only 66K miles???

Er... "Wear"? What "wear"?

Take a look at the commutator plates in the third picture - they are completely burned and melted into blobs of dripping metal. Take a look at the contact surfaces of the brushes in the fourth picture - they look like someone dragged them over the pavement. This is not wear. This is total destruction.

The current that melted the commutator also burned the brushes. If it somehow happened when the starter rotor was still spinning, it would additionally rip the brushes apart as if with a cheese grater. (Which is where all that crushed graphite in the cap came from.)

Normal wear is completely out of question here.

This starter was not destroyed by normal wear. It was destroyed by a catastrophic event, that probably resulted in a rotor stall and a huge amount of current being sent through the stalled rotor. In other words, something broke in it and the whole thing seized and burned. The commutator probably fell apart .

[Wires]

Originally Posted by AndreyT

Er... "Wear"? What "wear"?

Take a look at the commutator plates in the third picture - they are completely burned and melted into blobs of dripping metal. Take a look at the contact surfaces of the brushes in the fourth picture - they look like someone dragged them over the pavement. This is not wear. This is total destruction.

The current that melted the commutator also burned the brushes. If it somehow happened when the starter rotor was still spinning, it would additionally rip the brushes apart as if with a cheese grater. (Which is where all that crushed graphite in the cap came from.)

Normal wear is completely out of question here.

This starter was not destroyed by normal wear. It was destroyed by a catastrophic event, that probably resulted in a rotor stall and a huge amount of current being sent through the stalled rotor. In other words, something broke in it and the whole thing seized and burned. The commutator probably fell apart .

+1 Either a winding shorted, or the motor was stalled (looking at it, I'd say the latter....)

I'd suspect the gear didn't disengage, starter spun at mach 400 since the engine will over-drive it. The windings pulled out of the armature, rammed into the housing, and stalled it out.

It takes a lot of current to melt the copper commuter contacts.

[A-BAMF]

Mine died last week in my driveway at 77k. I was going to do it myself, but my indy gave me a great price for a Bosch with install ($490). I had my car back the same day. The flatbed took longer to get the car there (covered by insurance roadside assistance).