E39 M5 Not starting

[spike]

Had the same problem,mine was ignition switch,

[Foxhole Norman]

I had a very very very similar issue to this on my 525i. Recheck the fuses in the glovebox, I think it was Engine Control, 14/15 that had the tiniest of tiny breaks, an auto electrician missed it! I spotted it and that solved my issue immediately. I had same symptoms, all lights would work with ignition but not even a click, replaced the fuse and boom, started right up like there was never an issue.

[Murdoch]

Tried a new battery just now; no dice. Still no lights showing on the dash (except airbag)

Regarding the ignition switch, I changed this yesterday

[JohnH]

Tried a new battery just now; no dice. Still no lights showing on the dash (except airbag)

Regarding the ignition switch, I changed this yesterday

Any chance its a bad key? Or immobiliser related?

[Dave]

Tried a new battery just now; no dice. Still no lights showing on the dash (except airbag)

Regarding the ignition switch, I changed this yesterday

Did it work since the ignition switch was changed?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Murdoch]

Hi

It's starting to look that way (immobiliser/key... some authentication thing...) - though I tried both keys I have - and they work fully with all boot / lock unlock etc via remote.

Regarding the ignition switch; it stopped working on the old one - I replaced it and the problem persisteted so I suspect that it's not really to do with the ignition switch (I unplugged it fully yesterday and there are 0 lights / obd screen when it's unplugged)

Picture shows what I get when I have the key in position II, where you would normally see all the warning lights etc. The airbag light does actually show up and then turn off after 2 or 3 seconds.

I did the cluster test and all lights are working on it.

[ian.j]

did you try turning the ignition switch with a screwdriver when removed. maybe the ignition itself is the issue

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Murdoch]

did you try turning the ignition switch with a screwdriver when removed. maybe the ignition itself is the issue

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Hey

Not sure what you mean; do you mean to physically turn the back of the ignition switch when plugging in with a screwdriver? I didn't think it would work without detecting if there was a key?!

If you mean this then I will give that a go this evening

[alan b]

Hey

Not sure what you mean; do you mean to physically turn the back of the ignition switch when plugging in with a screwdriver? I didn't think it would work without detecting if there was a key?!

If you mean this then I will give that a go this evening

Ya, but leave key in ignition so the chip in key is picked up by the immobilizer ring thats around the ignition barrel

[Murdoch]

Cheers - I'll give that a try in the morning then :-)