Z4 3.0si Coupe starter motor problem?

Cliff Robinson

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2022
Points
19
I have a 2008 manual 3.0si Z4 coupe and its the best car I've ever owned, that was until yesterday. I went to start it and it wouldn't. All the lights came on on the dash as usual, but when i turned the key to start it, all I got was a loud click from under the bonnet. Thinking it might be a low battery I tried jumping it from my wife's car but got the same result, just a loud click and nothing else.
Anyone got any ideas what the fault might be, I'm guessing its a starter motor problem. My other problem is it's parked at the top of a steep drive with its nose 1 metre from a wall, so getting it onto the road and bump starting it is out of the question.
Is changing the starter motor a big job, can it be done easily on a driveway?
Thanks in anticipation
 

iamnotme

Newbie
Joined
Aug 4, 2024
Points
3
Location
Brecon, Powys, Wales
Model of Z
E85
It can be done on the driveway. You’ll need to remove the inlet manifold but that isn’t too bad a job.

There are a few videos on YouTube that show how to do it, but it isn’t a difficult job.
 

GZed

Zorg Guru (I)
British Zeds
Joined
Jun 28, 2018
Points
95
Location
Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Model of Z
Z3 2.8 Prefacelift
I have a 2008 manual 3.0si Z4 coupe and its the best car I've ever owned, that was until yesterday. I went to start it and it wouldn't. All the lights came on on the dash as usual, but when i turned the key to start it, all I got was a loud click from under the bonnet. Thinking it might be a low battery I tried jumping it from my wife's car but got the same result, just a loud click and nothing else.
Anyone got any ideas what the fault might be, I'm guessing its a starter motor problem. My other problem is it's parked at the top of a steep drive with its nose 1 metre from a wall, so getting it onto the road and bump starting it is out of the question.
Is changing the starter motor a big job, can it be done easily on a driveway?
Thanks in anticipation
Get your battery checked first. A few years back my daily driver ( Ford focus) had exactly the same symptoms. Jump starting from another car failed. RAC came out & got it going with a super booster jump start. He said it was definitely the battery ( the clicking was the giveaway) -apparently quite common for them to suddenly fail like that, with no prior symptoms. Advised me to drive straight to a garage/Halfords without switching the engine off ,to get a new battery fitted, which I did. AOK after that
 

t-tony

Zorg Expert (II)
Supporter
British Zeds
#ZedShed
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Points
226
Location
Torksey Lock,Lincoln, England
Model of Z
E89 Z4 23i Auto
The amount of times I saw that at work was incredible.
When the starter motor failed on my 2003 E85 3.0 it did just that. It failed, no noise, nothing.

Tony.
 

Cliff Robinson

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2022
Points
19
Thanks for your advice. As an after thought I thought I'd give the AA a ring as I'm a member. Unbelievably they turned up on my doorstep within 10mins of my cal!! The patrolman (Jake) tried starting it with his battery booster without success, and after a thorough check of the electrical supply confirmed the starter motor had failed. Then the fun started. It was decided to try and bump start it down the drive, but because of its position, the 2 of us couldn't push it back from its parked location. To cut a long story short, it took 4 of us to get it off the drive and bump start it so that I could drive it to my local garage and get a new starter fitted. The garage fitted a decent Bosch starter, and managed to fit it without removing the inlet manifold, not sure how because its barely visible in the bowels of the engine bay. Anyway it now spins over like a good un; in hindsight the old starter has been sluggish for a while and I should have realised it was ready to give up the ghost.
 
Top