09 528i CRANKS BUT WON'T START!

[carconn]

HELP !!!
Hey everybody I need some help! My 09 528i is usually a delight to drive, but every few months it gives me a new challenge. On my way to lunch the other day, it was driving along beautifully and then suddenly just cut out. No sputtering no backfiring and no intermittent stalling, it just completely shut down in the middle of the road. Tried restarting it several times, and it would crank but not start. I did not have any diagnostic tools on me so I couldn't do much except call for the tow truck which showed up 2 hours later. Once at home, I scanned the car but got no codes. I put a charger on the battery just in case, then sprayed some starting fluid in the intake and it fired up briefly so I assumed the crank sensor was good. Just to be sure I pulled one of the coils, inserted a screwdriver and had a friend crank the car and I did get a spark. I then disconnected the fuel hose from the fuel rail and cranked the engine again, but the fuel barely trickled out. Since the fuel pump was original, I assumed that it finally given up the ghost, so I ordered a new fuel pump and installed it. Cranked up the car, and it would not start again 😔.
I rescanned the modules with a BMW specific launch scanner and this time I got a code 651B EKPS Suction Jet Pump malfunction. After doing some research and removing the pump again, as well as the filter unit on the driver side, I discovered that the fuel levels were uneven and that the passenger side where the pump is had very little fuel in there. I added some more fuel to the tank on that side, cleared the codes, cranked the car again. It would not start, but I did not get the same code back this time. I pulled the fuel hose off the fuel rail, and cranked it one more time to see only a trickle of fuel. I activated the pump using the scanner, and the volume of the fuel increased. I scanned all the modules again with INPA - again no codes. I activated the pump with INPA, with the same results, more fuel, but the car still won't start. I was thinking it may be a bad EKPS module but both INPA and the Launch BMW scanner seem to communicate with the module with no problem. My scanner does not show fuel pressure reading at the fuel rail, and I could not find any function on the INPA screens that shows fuel pressure. Just the pump activation showed a full green bar at 100%. At this point I am really stumped and would welcome any suggestions. 🙏🏼

[Cfrey81]

If the pump side had a big difference in level then I think it is most likely the pump. Mine had actually gone out back in May. I would come to a stop sign and it would act like it wanted to stall. That happened twice (on same trip) that evening. The very next morning it was acting like it was out of gas and then just stalled out on me while I was driving. If course it was raining and it was 330am. I was 1.5 miles from home lol I pushed car into a driveway and proceeded to run codes with my OBDLink CX Bluetooth scanner. If I remember correctly, I only pulled one code related to the fuel pump of the about 17 or so codes that came up. And even then it wasn't an obvious code. Had it towed to the house and after troubleshooting EVERYTHING else it could possibly be, I broke down and bought a Bosch fuel pump and fuel filter. As a way to troubleshoot the pump before that though, I would let it crank over for about 10 seconds and then when I checked the pressure at the rail, it was like u said. It dribbled out at best. There was a brief 20 seconds during all the cranking and troubleshooting that it started up and ran. But like I said, it was only 20 seconds. Never started up after that until I changed the pump and filter. I use several different paid apps with my scanner and bimmertool lite shows fuel rail pressure as well as has numerous service functions it can do. The pressure normally should be 80+ psi. I don't know the exact number but mine idles around 89 I think.

I have a 2008 528i, btw. With 298k.

[carconn]

Originally Posted by Cfrey81

If the pump side had a big difference in level then I think it is most likely the pump. Mine had actually gone out back in May. I would come to a stop sign and it would act like it wanted to stall. That happened twice (on same trip) that evening. The very next morning it was acting like it was out of gas and then just stalled out on me while I was driving. If course it was raining and it was 330am. I was 1.5 miles from home lol I pushed car into a driveway and proceeded to run codes with my OBDLink CX Bluetooth scanner. If I remember correctly, I only pulled one code related to the fuel pump of the about 17 or so codes that came up. And even then it wasn't an obvious code. Had it towed to the house and after troubleshooting EVERYTHING else it could possibly be, I broke down and bought a Bosch fuel pump and fuel filter. As a way to troubleshoot the pump before that though, I would let it crank over for about 10 seconds and then when I checked the pressure at the rail, it was like u said. It dribbled out at best. There was a brief 20 seconds during all the cranking and troubleshooting that it started up and ran. But like I said, it was only 20 seconds. Never started up after that until I changed the pump and filter. I use several different paid apps with my scanner and bimmertool lite shows fuel rail pressure as well as has numerous service functions it can do. The pressure normally should be 80+ psi. I don't know the exact number but mine idles around 89 I think.

I have a 2008 528i, btw. With 298k.

Thanks for the reply

I did change the pump, but car still won't start! I thought it might be the EKPS fuel pump control module, so I ordered an aftermarket one off eBay, which was a total waste of time! Neither my BMW scanner nor INPA could even see the module at all, so I couldn't program it. I finally got a couple of EKPS modules from the junk yard, coded them to my car, and still no-start.
I can run the pump using the scanner or INPA, but pressure is still low.

Now I'm getting 2 codes after cranking/no-start.
651B - Suction Jet Pump Malfunction
6294 - EKPS Control current Too Low

All other modules show OKAY and no related codes.

Now I'm thinking that the leaking left/side filter assembly that I replaced a few months ago with aftermarket part has failed. There's not a lot of forum info about this, but apparently this assembly has the pressure regulator and a jet pump (to return fuel to right side of tank) built-in, and if it has failed, might be causing the loss of fuel pressure and uneven fuel level between the left and right sides of the tank.

I can't find any other causes, so I will try replacing it with a Bosch unit.

LMK what you think

[Rafichicago]

I honestly think that you should stop using aftermarket parts for anything related to fuel delivery, fuel mixture (look o2 sensors) mad sensor or cam and crank sensor (for future reference). Those are known to not work properly or not to work at all. What codes do you currently have present ?

[carconn]

Originally Posted by Rafichicago

I honestly think that you should stop using aftermarket parts for anything related to fuel delivery, fuel mixture (look o2 sensors) mad sensor or cam and crank sensor (for future reference). Those are known to not work properly or not to work at all. What codes do you currently have present ?

Now I'm getting 2 codes after cranking/no-start.
651B - Suction Jet Pump Malfunction
6294 - EKPS Control current Too Low

I am waiting on a Bosch filter/Pressure regulator assembly. Let's see if that fixrs the problem. I will post the results.

[carconn]

Originally Posted by carconn

Now I'm getting 2 codes after cranking/no-start.
651B - Suction Jet Pump Malfunction
6294 - EKPS Control current Too Low

I am waiting on a Bosch filter/Pressure regulator assembly. Let's see if that fixes the problem. I will post the results.

The problem WAS caused by the after market filter/pressure regulator/jet pump assembly(barely 4 months old). As soon as I replaced the part with a Bosch unit (made in Czech Republic), the fuel pressure went right back to normal and the car started up on the first try.

When I first researched my no-start problem, I found very little info about the fuel delivery system on the E60 N52 cars. I also barely received any helpful replies to my posts regarding the no start issue. Hence I will share my experience, hoping it will help others.

So, if you have a no-start tissue, but have a spark, but the car won't start, then if:
A. You have barely any fuel pressure at the rail.
B. The fuel pump runs, and can be turned on using a scanner or INPA
C. The EKP module is OK, and the scanner can communicate with it.
D. The left (driver's side) of the car has way more fuel than the right side

Then, your filter module is probably defective. This module has a pressure module, jet pump and a fuel level sensor built into it. The fuel is pumped to this module by the main fuel pump located on the right half of the fuel tank. The filter assembly on the left side modulates the pressure, then sends fuel to the fuel rail at the specified pressure (around 72psi) Excess fuel is sent back to the right side side via a jet pump and plastic hose within the tank. Hence if the pressure regulator fails and/or the jet pump fails, then fuel pressure at the rail is too low for the car to start. And if the main fuel pump is working properly, then all the fuel ends up accumulating in the left side of the tank and the right side is virtually empty.

If the pump or the filter assembly haven't been replaced in a while, its probably better to replace both at the same time with Bosch parts to help avoid future problems.