BMW 3-Series E36 (1991 - 1998) - 95 325td Cold Start Problem

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Thu 23 Jul 2009 11:47
95 325td Cold Start Problem - Stanty
I've got a '95 325td and for some reason it struggles to start cold.
Once it is warm it's perfectly fine. But the first time you try to start it, whether it's morning, afternoon or whenever, it takes a while to start.

I'll get in, let the glow plug light go off and it turns over fine, but takes quite a while to finally kick in and fire up.
I hoped cold weather was a reason, but after the weather warmed up, it continued. Once it does eventually start it billows smoke from the rear.

I hope you guys have an idea of what might be wrong with it, because I'm clueless.

It also cuts out occasionally when idling and some electrics are used. (E.g. On Idle, I can press both window switches up and it will stall out). It also stalls sometimes when the clutch is depressed when rolling up to a junction for example.

Cheers for anything you can help me with.

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 24/07/2009 at 01:26

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Thu 23 Jul 2009 14:31
95 2.5 95 325td Cold Start Problem - madf
You have 6 glowplugs which ignite the fuel when cold. At least one- and probably 2 or 3 have failed. That means difficult starting and the cylinders with failed plugs are full of fuel which burns poorly - hence the smoke.

Solution: any semi competent garage can test and replace the faulty plugs.

Ps: an excellent fault description so fault diagnosis quite simple...
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Thu 23 Jul 2009 22:23
95 2.5 95 325td Cold Start Problem - Stanty
Thanks, hopefully that'll cure it. We thought glow plugs at first, and I think we checked one. But maybe the one we checked was working.

I'll see to getting them all replaced and will update when I can
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