Originally Posted by Chris99
Originally Posted by PaulV
Interestingly I had to boost my Lithium battery after a few weeks. It claimed a charge but not enough to turn the engine over... maybe the wet sumping added too much load? Paralleling my old (and by itself defunct in terms of M3W starting) Banner (technically only 2yrs old, but swapped out last year) got it started....


If it was cold, ie below about 5c then lithium batteries need to get warmed up first. Leave the headlights on for about a minute and prime the fuel two or three times. The starter may still churn for 20 -30 seconds before anything fires but it will get there.

If the engine has significant wet sumping then you'll need to drain some oil from the engine and put it back in the tank then all should be OK.

Good tips Chris. Will try the headlight tip next time it happens (next Winter?). Never been able to drain much oil from the sump, and 8 secs max gets it firing after a spell of inactivity.

Thinking I might tackle the heated seat switches from underneath if there is room (mine has no plate under the propshaft, and I suspect road spray could have shorted the connections as I did not reapply the original generous covering of duct tape over the wiring!!!).


M3W5sp 2015, MSCC, MTWC, Oxon UK