Grumps wrote:
Hi All

I've got a 7 year old BMW 530d and it has developed an intermittent starting
issue. Normally, it will start with just a flick of the ignition, but now it
sometimes takes about 5 seconds. It turns over easily, so I don't suspect a
battery problem. The battery however, is one that has a charge indicator,
and it is black (insufficient charge). Of course it should be green, but at
least it isn't orange (dead)!

Before this car I had another BMW diesel. When starting this one, you had to
wait for the instrument panel's pigtail symbol to extinguish before
cranking. This was, as you know, to allow the glow plugs to heat up.

The current car does not have this pigtail symbol, so how does it work? It
still has glow plugs I assume?
My thoughts as to the intermittent starting problem were that there is a
loose connection to or from the glow plug relay. Any other thoughts before
Mr Local 'tie me up and steal my money' BMW Dealer has a look? Oh, and if
anyone knows where said relay is likely to be, that'd be useful too.

PS I've tried some BMW specific online forums, but these seem to have
degenerated since I last used them ('where can I find an M3 logo for my
316?' etc).

Thanks.

This doesn't sound like the problem that I had with a Peugeot diesel
but might be worth checking. It got progressively more difficult to
start and it was diagnosed as an air leak in the fuel system. The pipes
to the fuel filter were renewed but the problem persisted. It got to a
point where I had to prime the filter with the small hand pump every
time I needed to start the car. A new complete fuel filter assembley
cured the problem.

Kevin