Welcome to my Blog, BMW stories and more.: January 2019

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Starter Replacement E90 BMW 330i 2006

Starter E90

Starter Replacement E90
E90 330i 2006 BMW 240K miles

As I suspected and feared, my starter went out and there was no way to resuscitate it to move my car to a place where I could fix it, I got stranded, fortunately not too far from home. If you suspect your starter is starting to go out REPLACE IT! don't wait for the car to just DIE. The dealer will charge you $800 to $1200 dollars to replace, plus towing fees. It can be done at home, with some patience. For only $73 dollars, you can replace it at home. DON'T wait for it to die, or you will have to get towed home, trust me it's worth replacing before it dies. Amazon link below where I got my starter.

Symptoms of a bad starter:

Over the months: My car sometimes didn't' want to start, like when a battery is weak. I almost bought a new battery thinking it was the battery. I actually put a battery tender on the battery one time to make sure the battery was good, but the result seemed the same. In the back of my mind I knew it had to be the starter.

Last few days: A week before the starter completely stopped, I would press the start button and it would take a solid 4 seconds for the car to start, and it sounded like a weak battery still.

When you press the start button the starter does absolutely nothing. You do hear a high pitch electrical whirring, if you ever played with a toy motor, and you purposely stopped the motor from spinning, that is the noise you hear.

Quick tip to make the starter run again.

I watched a video where a guy was hitting the starter to get it going to get you out of pinch, I recommend it. I didn't try it for my car. At least try it, find a metal rod or something long to hit the starter a couple of times, it could get you out of having to tow your car home. Again, if you are stranded at a mall for example.

Do not push the car, because you will ruin the clear coat, believe me my clear coat got ruined, when I pushed the car with my GMC truck, to get it in front of my garage, it was a total mistake. Bumper to bumper.

How to replace it: Video Includes my tips to make it easier to replace

Remove the screws on the intake manifold and remove the air filter box. see this video I explain more of what I did. You DON'T have to remove the intake manifold to to replace starter.

You have to replace starter screws, they are one time use!

Note: You have to buy new screws too, the screws for the starter are one time use only. They are made of aluminium, and they stretch when they are tightened. As a result if you try to use them again, they can brake.

Starter Fuse at battery terminal

Only a few people will need this, but if you have a totalled car and the airbags deployed, (Auction Car) there is a cable that needs to be replaced. It's called the BST cable. If you have a good starter and the starter won't "start" check this cable. It has piro to deploy and open cable in the event of an accident.

Google : Battery Cable BST if you want to know more: located at the positive terminal of battery in the trunk. For the few people that don't know, I figured somebody will find this useful. If you replaced the starter and it still doesn't work check this cable.

Battery BST cable ,Screen shot

Check code:

My car did not throw a "Starter Defective" Code, not sure if there should be a code, but I scanned my car and nothing came up. The car just didn't start. But I figured it was either the battery or the starter, so I checked both and everything is working great.

A few pictures about the process and parts I used: